Original subtitles

- Freestyle motocross pioneer Brian Deegan.

- Oh Deegan.

- For most of his life his own wellbeing

was not forefront in his mind.

Both on the back of a dirt bike and his lifestyle off

of it, it made him one of the most glorified,

honored, and admired action sports athletes in history.

A legend, an icon, a hero, and to some a villain.

The story could've easily ended there.

But eventually taunting death led him to see life

as something bigger than just himself and a place

to battle his demons.

That the true definition of hardcore and extreme

means more than just twisting the throttle

without a care for the consequences.

That in the seemingly ordinary there's a the extraordinary.

And it's a story that begins in the most unlikely

of places, the wind swept cornfields of Nebraska.

- Brian Deegan.

- You know growing up in Nebraska, it's hard to explain.

You know it's just not much there.

Do you remember begging my parents for a dirt bike.

As a kid, I was always small.

Football really wasn't an option.

I always loved sports.

Like I as super athletic, always outside.

But moto was perfect, you know?

You get on a dirt bike, and you're kind

of equal with everyone.

- He's said let's go buy a bike.

So I bought a little MR 50.

- They got it from my neighbor, and we were

so excited and just always were working on it,

cleaning on it.

We had to share it, me and my brother.

Christmas the next year, my dad bought me

a Yamaha 60.

I finally had my own bike.

That's where the adventure began.

And the local track was called Fort Calhoun.

And I got to see all these other kids.

I'm like whoa there's all these other kids

that ride dirt bikes.

It was just a whole new world.

Eight, nine, 10 is when I really got into dirt bikes.

And then that's the time I think when my mom

and dad were starting to not get along so great.

- We started going to races to get involved.

She went to a couple races, but she always acted

kinda, her mind was somewhere else.

- My parents started arguing a lot.

I remember when my mom told me she was leaving.

She came, and she's like, "I'm gonna go

"back to Texas."

And I was like what?

And I thought about it.

I was like am I going?

Is that what's gonna happen?

Am I going with her?

It didn't make sense to me as a 12 year old kid.

I was like oh man, I gotta talk to my dad,

and dad was distant.

You know like dad was, I couldn't just run to dad

and go, "Dad, what's going on?"

And so my mom basically told us.

I can't believe this.

Like I don't want my mom to leave.

And you think like so many people get divorced,

and if she, I don't know I just feel like

she should've stayed, you know?

I never did get over it.

It's hard to deal with your mom leaving.

And not just leaving.

She didn't move down the street and divorce

and like, "Oh come see your mom half the time."

She was gone, and I felt like we did something wrong.

I felt like maybe it was us and then we got mad.

We just moved on and focused on dirt bikes.

Which sucks, so that's not how it should've been.

- 12 years old, Brian loses his sense

of security with family, but the trauma

of abandonment sends him down a new path.

He finds that his first taste of the narcotic

of fame helps him escape the pain.

- I just wanted to be the center of attention,

and I knew that being the best was the goal.

Moto brought me the first sense of fame,

first sense of people knowing my name.

- Number three is Brian Deegan.

Again, that's the second place.

- It was so cool to show up to the tack

and people like, "Oh my gosh, Brian Deegan's here."

It was like a local track in Nebraska

with a cornfield.

There was a sense of urgency at some point.

You know being in Nebraska, and my mom leaving,

and having this anger and this aggression.

And I'm like, "Man, I just don't wanna stay here.

"This place is too slow."

And then I started seeing okay there's way more stuff

going on than Nebraska.

When I graduated high school, I told my dad.

I'm like you have to give me one year

to chase this dream of racing in supercross and motocross.

I'm gonna chase this dream.

- We went up to the Ford dealership

and bought an old Ford pickup, and he put

the bike in the pickup.

He loaded everything in.

I gave him a box of tools to take

and said, "You can go out to California

"and see if you can make it.

"If you can make it and stay with this, kid.

"You can stay there."

- And he said well all right it you can't do it

in a year come back and go to college.

He was really adamant and really against me

not going to college.

I went to California, raced a year.

I did get in, I was top 10 on the points.

- Brian's performance on the bike

catches the attention of a well-funded team

which seems to be his big break

and a ticket for his dream to come true.

But it turns out opportunity sometimes comes

with unexpected obligations.

- So Chaparral was like you're fast.

You're the first kid on our list for results,

and you come ride this Honda, and we'll pay

for everything, but you can't have colored hair,

no piercings, no tattoos.

They gave me a whole contract to sign.

I hated it.

But I was like I have no choice.

I'm gonna have to go home.

I have no money.

I don't have any way to live if I don't.

So I sign the contract, and then I'm like

okay, shave my head.

And I went out and raced and had

a not great year.

I was just so bumped.

I'm like, man, I just wasted a whole year,

and that's when Moto XXX was around.

- The loss of a legitimate ride

seemed a dead end, but he was quickly embraced

by a team that fit his punk rock attitude.

The rag tag team of Moto XXX.

Though they didn't have the resources

of a full fledged factory backed team,

it still was a stepping stone towards that goal.

- We talked to Deegan, and we decided to start

this team, and we were gonna make a team

that was gonna make a statement.

And we came in with all of our punk rock ideas.

- And they were an edgy team, Jordan Burns

and some of his musician buddies.

When I knew that they were kinda buddied

up with Deegan, and I kind of got to know Brian

a little bit more.

Know their box band would show up

at the supercross races, and there would be

punk rock blaring out of the back of it,

and they'd be throwing stickers in the crowd

and basically pissing people off.

- While the Moto XXX team

provided the perfect image for the angry young rider,

if not the best equipment, winning

was still Brian's focus.

So he went outside the team looking

for some premium horsepower from the legendary

motor builder Mitch Payton.

- I remember Mitch Payton telling me

oh you have the same stuff as Carmichael, on yeah, yeah.

And I got mad I remember.

I remember grabbing Carmichael's bike off the stand

and pushing on it and feeling it.

I'm like dude, that is not like my bike.

It was freakin' totally opposite.

And Mitch, I remember Mitch going, "Fuck you!"

Then I was like, "Fuck you!"

And we just got into it.

- And I'm like, "Really?

"Like why?

"What's the deal with that?"

- Super bad decision, super bad career decision.

- Brian was holding out hope

that his dream of riding with one of the big four

Japanese factory race teams, Yamaha,

Kawasaki, Suzuki, or Honda would come to fruition.

Despite his punk rock attitude, Deegan

remained serious about training and winning

hoping that results alone would land him

that coveted factory ride and the chance

at a real racing career.

Heading into the 1997 season, Deegan

looked to make his mark at the historic

LA Coliseum, the former Olympic venue

hoping to scratch out a top 10 finish

to catch the eye of one of the big budget factory teams.

- So I go to the start line for the main,

and all the heavy hitters.

It's like Windham, Vuillemin, Carmichael, Ramsey.

- We're set and ready to go

for the 25 main event--

- You come out of the gate, and then someone

just banzais, hits the whole pack

and takes down a lot of the guys.

They all go off to the right.

I come out on the inside, and I come out

like third place.

And then I end up passing, I think the guy for second.

- Brian Deegan in second place.

And Vuillemin is starting to close in now

on Brian Deegan, number two.

- The leader's Robbie Reynard.

He's gone.

He's out, and I'm like nervous 'cause I'm in second.

I'm going I'm gonna get on the podium.

Deegan riding good.

This is the best I've seen him ride in a long time.

He's starting to close in a little bit on Reynard now.

- So I remember kind of hanging, hanging,

but he was fading so bad that I had to go by 'em.

- Reynard has got a battle

on his hands from an unexpected rider Brian Deegan.

Whoa, what an upset of events right here for Deegan.

- I could hear the crowd cheering,

and like the whole stadium erupting.

And my heart just started racing super fast.

- The spotlight is on Brian Deegan.

And he looks inspired.

He's starting to pull a lead.

- It's coming to the finish line,

and all these ruts.

I'm like trying so hard not to crash,

and the finish line double, and I don't know

what to do.

I'm like, "What do I do?"

- The checkered flag

as Deegan lets his bike fly into the air.

- I just ghost rode my bike.

- I hadn't really heard a crowd

erupt in that way maybe ever.

- Stylin' with his arms in the air.

- It was such a euphoria of like my whole life

compounded into this one accomplishment.

- Now to Davey Coombs, Davey.

- All right, thanks people.

Hey listen, Brian Deegan congratulations.

- God declared this to me, kick everyone's ass.

- Okay, thanks Brian.

- And the excited win as we see him

launch the bike in the finish line.

- That was a big FU to the industry.

The AMA chased me back to my truck,

took my prize money, tried to DQ me.

And at the track, it was AMA ran the show.

Like AMA had all the rules.

You didn't cross the AMA.

If you mess with them, your career was done.

- It was a pinnacle moment for Moto XXX to win

and Brian Deegan to have that kind of fuck you guys.

This is how I'm doing it, and I don't care

what the rules are.

Made his statement right then.

- Let's get somethin' straight, that moment

when Brian launched his bike I think that was

the kick start of his career.

- Still to this day, that's the most brought up

moment in my career out of everything I've done.

That moment, I go to the grocery store,

I go here, I go there, always someone will roll

up to me and go, "I was there that night

"you ghost rode your bike."

- Greatest thing ever!

Yeah!

- That's it, no one's done it yet.

My kid'll do it next.

- Despite ruffling feathers, Brian

was under the illusion that performance

alone was what counted and a full fledged

big budget factory ride would finally materialize.

A ride where the best bikes and a healthy travel budget

were all part of the deal.

The days of being a struggling privateer

were hopefully over.

With the Coliseum supercross win under his belt

and a timely spot opening up on Team Suzuki,

Brian was convinced his factory ride had finally arrived.

- And I remember kinda talking to Suzuki a little bit.

And they're like, "Yeah well, you know,

"we'll give you a call."

Next thing I know I look on the roster for the next race,

and it says factory Suzuki bike, Ryan Huffman.

That must be wrong.

That dude's like nowhere near me in the points or speed.

That is the final straw.

- If you didn't know Brian and you weren't in his group,

He wasn't a fun guy to be around.

Like he didn't like nobody.

So people were probably like I don't want

to work with that dude 'cause he's got a bad attitude.

- This would've likely been the last

anyone every heard of Brian Deegan.

But instead of fading into an obscure footnote

of supercross, timing is everything,

and along came a new video medium.

VHS tapes and the Crusty Demons of Dirt.

Two snowboard filmmakers John freeman and Dana Nicholson

in the era well before social media

released a tape that took not only the motocross

world but youth culture by storm.

In a pre YouTube era, VHS was a medium

controlled by the viewer and the creator.

And motocross riders found a way to express

themselves with raw honesty.

And the Crusty films became a platform

for Deegan and the birth of the sport

of freestyle motocross.

- Crusty Demons really took the industry

which was the people with the suit and ties

that had money invested and shook 'em up.

- That was the stupidest thing I've ever seen.

- I know.

- Pro circuit Mitch Payton, one of the biggest voices

that screamed out in the industry says,

"Those guys are fucking idiots."

- I was one of the naysayers you know in the beginning

for sure, and I said that those guys

are just wasting their time.

They're just jacking around.

They're gonna be nothing.

They're just blowing it.

And they're all partying, they're having fun,

and they're still riding dirt bikes.

They just don't wanna get a job.

- The Honda and Yamahas and Kawasakis of the world,

it's like oh my God this is a liability nightmare.

This is not what you do on our bikes.

- People in racing were like, "Oh my God man, chill it out."

We're not supposed to let people know

we really have fun.

- While dirt bike manufacturers

feared for the image of their industry, rebel riders

like Brian finally had a way to let

their punk attitude shine.

- The early days of Crusty Demons

was purely just having fun.

Back in those days, you didn't have the internet,

and to captivate some of that stuff

in one film, you know from the skills

to the thrills to the destruction all in one

was like whoa, people just couldn't walk away.

- The explosive popularity of Crusty

brought the intoxicating fame that Brian desired.

The only thing that would take away his pain

from childhood and keep his dirt bike dreams alive.

- Crusty one I think set a standard

for really showing people like this is who we are.

This is the characters we are.

- We really like to tune into like what that athlete's

character is like.

You know Travis is the clean cut American kid.

Deegan's a little bit darker with the spikes.

- It was really the start of my career and really what

people thought, man, this is a freestyle kid

when really I was just trying to impress Brian Deegan

and have a little fun out of Beaumont

with stuff that I'd never seen before.

I'd never experienced anything like that.

- We had no clue that filming these videos

would lead to birthing a whole new sport

called freestyle motocross.

And actually making a way for us to make a living.

- This became such a discipline

that it separated and became its own style

of motorcycle riding in a sport.

- The punk rock music, the videos, the jumps,

the big air, and the dirt bikes, I mean

there was such a cool movement there.

And that's when I was really realizing

that there's a future there.

- ESPN had launched a new network, ESPN2.

And the center piece would be a global

Olympic style event, the X Games.

In 1999, they took it to a new level

by bringing dirt bikes and provided Brian

with the media platform he instinctively understood.

He jumped at the opportunity to monetize

his persona and attitude.

- Hi above the sea, San Francisco Bay

look down there pier 30, 32, I give you MotoX.

- We show up with dirt bikes, and all black, spikes.

Like I was like we're going to the biggest crowd,

the biggest TV time.

Like we have to just take it over.

- Representing all that is evil

in the world, Brian Deegan busting the mini spikes.

- I wanna say I don't think X Games knew

what they were in for.

They were the rogue athletes.

They're not the ones that you could control.

- I felt like I had to carry the torch.

I was the guy that was close enough

to Pastrana to try to beat him.

- And you have to see this guy

right now Travis Pastrana.

If you wanna see someone that knows how to jump.

- And it made this good versus evil mentality

that people just, they loved it.

And it brought freestyle motocross

to a whole 'nother level.

- He is on the staff.

This is the first time he's come back to .

Oh my God, did you see that?

- The Motocross background Pastrana

will not stop.

In between hits, he's wide open.

- I can't even say anything when he's up.

- You know Dan, just lean back.

- X Games made Freestyle Motocross official.

Here's this new sport, and look what they're doin'.

- He hangs out a run,

and Ray Charrule says he's always smiling

when he does it.

- We were the first motorized sport at X Games.

Skateboards, BMXes, they're all quiet.

And then all of a sudden, pop, pop, pop, pop.

- Check it out.

Deegan out there.

He wanted to blow it up, move out from third.

Look at the stalled superman.

Look at him hold it.

Look at that.

Listen to 'em.

Let the wusses keep walking, and the crowd

do the talking.

- Brian placed himself on the podium,

and Travis won gold with the first of two runs

sparking their decades long rivalry.

But the day would be remembered for something

entirely different that even Deegan would respect.

- He was unassailable.

Travis Pastrana was going to win.

So his second run was for the glory,

and he's in the start house, and it's like

oh yeah, have a good time.

Slap him, and he's soft.

And he's put on about 20, 30 pounds.

It was the sudden realization

of like oh my God, he's got something underneath his jersey.

So I start sprinting.

And I'm literally running as Travis comes

past me and just disappears in the air.

- Pastrana always had to one up everyone.

So he takes off and back flips into the bay in the water.

At that point, we were anti Pastrana just because.

And I was like that was pretty sick.

That was pretty cool when he flipped

into the ocean and almost got arrested.

- Despite Travis's victory, Deegan

announced himself on the world stage

by introducing the idea that theatrics

are the perfect complement to athleticism.

- You can call it It.

Certain people just have whatever It is.

And people want to emulate them,

or they wanna be around 'em.

Right away, Brian just seemed to have It.

You know after I met him in person,

it was clear that what he was doing

was in part an act.

You could liken it to big time wrestling.

You know when the guy went on, when he

gets in the ring, he puts on the character.

And to a certain extent you know what you saw

Brian perform under a bad boy, that was his character.

You know he was a businessman underneath that probably

early on thoughts of making this into a career.

- We started talking about X Games and freestyle.

He was really into Ffeestyle and thought

the movement was cool.

And I was kinda like, wasn't sure

'cause it was this business guy.

Then he's like, "Well would you be interested

"in doing a deal with Hansen's Energy?"

What does this entail?

He's like, "Probably around 25, 30 grand a year."

And I was like, "What?"

From that point, I was like, I'm gonna make money.

I'm actually gonna be able to do this.

- While the X Games would provide

the premium platform for global exposure.

Ongoing coverage of the sport and lifestyle

had continued in a steady stream of Crusty

and other films as Brian expanded his character

into the VHS medium.

- What's up?

- Yo, ghetto man, me and you are battlin'

all the way to Harlem.

- Oh we can do this, baby.

- Crusty Demons was probably one of the sickest movies.

It showed the lifestyle of what guys were really doing.

The partying, the crazy stuff along with the free riding.

It wasn't about racing.

It was about just having fun and being yourself.

Within the Crusty Demons movies,

we had the Militia who was just a little more edgy,

and a little more uncensored than everyone else.

And so we used Crustys as a sounding board to carry us.

We weren't dumb.

We knew.

- Brian was able to have a business mindset early in.

That's why I think he was smart enough

to birth Militia as a business.

And we didn't even think that.

I wasn't thinking of business.

I'm thinking these are my boys, dude.

- I think the whole group of the riders

who got together with the Militia

had a big flare and a big style and a big impact

know that they were written into the storylines.

They were talked about everywhere they went.

It almost like a movie role was made for them.

All the guys had the attitude, the swagger, the style,

the walk, the look.

- Yeah what?

- Everyone had black vehicles, black Harleys.

No one wore anything but black.

Like no one could ride it, like we set up

so like we had a whole look, but it was us.

We weren't fakin' something.

At that time, that was who we really enjoyed being.

- Whatever you like, we don't like.

Whatever you are for, we stand against it.

That's kind of the way it started,

and honestly just turned into a kind of a family

like a group of guys.

And all these guys I feel like came

from just to be honest dysfunctional families.

Like that was our crew.

- Besides emerging as a marketing juggernaut

and the basis of a lifestyle,

the Metal Militia was also a surrogate family for Brian

and a group of lost boys on dirt bikes.

- It's crazy how the need for attention

and fame overtakes you.

- It started getting wild pretty quick.

You know between the punk and all the girls,

and all these people from the action sports world

and all these companies.

Everybody was starting to get in on it,

you know the glitter, and the party, the girls.

People were partying.

People were partying.

- We had this high of getting noticed

and having people yell and scream your name

and wait in lines to get your autograph.

When you show up, people are in tears crying

because they think we're rock stars.

Like we took full advantage of that.

- Along with the often wild lifestyle,

the other constant was progression in the X Games.

- Yeah basically I came here with the Metal

Militia behind me.

We don't accept losing or losers.

So I had to come home with a victory

or don't come home at all.

- Deegan played the game better than everybody else.

He became this larger than life character.

You know he shows up at the step up in San Francisco

in an open faced helmet with a cigarette.

- You know open faced motocross helmets

had gone out of fashion you know 20 years ago.

And he comes riding out, and he's got a cigarette.

And he's smoking a cigarette.

And he rolls on top of the jump,

smoking his cigarette.

- And I had a cigarette chilling out in my mouth

like kinda cool guy style just hanging

out the side, you know?

In front of all the cameras, and in front

of the whole crowd, and I pull up to the start.

It's just one of those moments where I look around

and half the people are just bumped,

and like the other half think it's funny.

I take off, and I remember I hit the step up

like to see me and cleared the step up.

And something in my head told me

you need to put on a helmet.

And then the next round, I put a normal helmet on.

I took the step up, looped out, crashed,

and knocked myself out.

But yeah, all that really mattered

was me and my friends were laughing at the time.

- Brian found that the closer

he lived to his hardcore persona,

the more he fell into fame and success.

But riding the knife's edge comes at a cost

which Brian would become far too familiar with.

- The crazier I am, the better it is.

I go all right this is pretty cool.

Why did I not get scared to get hurt?

Why did I tough it out?

Why did I build this personality of not being scared

to take chances?

It really was about who cared less

about their wellbeing.

Those are the guys who rose to the top.

It escalated so fast.

For awhile it was just him and Joe K.

You just do a few tricks and you had an image,

and that was the thing.

Then all of a sudden, the sport started progressing.

- In 2000, Freestyle pioneer Carey Hart

set out to push the progression of the sport even further

attempting a trick that most people

thought was impossible.

- This has never been attempted before.

Carey Hart.

- While he may not have ridden out of it.

Carey Hart proved the back flip was possible.

A new bar had been set and created

two paths for freestyle riders.

Evolve or get buried in the dust.

Inspired by Carey Hart, another leading rider

of the era, Mike, the Godfather, Metzger

would push freestyle even further

by setting a new standard of what was

possible in competition.

- I had been thinking about doing a back flip

since the movie Rad came out as a kid.

You know like I can remember being like 14 years old

probably seeing that movie and being like

dude they're doing back flips on bicycles.

I'm gonna do a back flip on my bike one day I know it.

It was always in the back of my head.

- Metzger took his dreams

to his backyard and pulled a back flip

in front of an ESPN camera crew.

- And we worked a deal out basically for them

to come to my house and film me actually doing

the first flip in any game in my backyard

riding away from it.

- I get this call that Metzger's gonna do

the back flip.

Could I come out to his house?

And if he can prove he can do it, he wants

to do it at the X Games.

- ESPN shows up with all the camera men,

and by the time they got there, I was

already in the backyard watering,

prepping the landing, prepping the runway.

- Role Camera, action!

- Yeah.

- Next thing you know Metzger's upside down,

in the air, and pulls off the 45 foot back flip

smooth as silk, and everybody's jaws just dropped.

- But a backyard is one thing.

It doesn't mean a damn thing until you've pulled

the trick for real on command

with the cameras rolling and the crowd

putting on the pressure.

- Look at this crowd, people.

There is only one rider left in this competition

here in the X Games, and it is The Godfather himself,

Mike Metzger.

- I had a handful of big tricks leading

up to knowing that the run was coming to an end.

And I set up for the rhythm section.

- All right, under 30 seconds,

looks like he's thinking about it.

Travis, here we go.

Back flip number one.

Will he do it again?

- Wow, that was a perfect back flip.

Here he goes.

Oh my gosh! - Oh my gosh!

- Ladies and gentlemen,

I'm not even waiting for the judges.

- I couldn't believe it.

Like when he started doing it over and over and over.

I'm like man the dude makes it look so easy.

- It was that moment that set the ground rules

for what everyone was going to have to do

in freestyle from that point on.

- This is somethin' everyone's going to have

to learn if you want to be relevant

in the game of freestyle motocross, game changer.

- If you wanna do it, you're gonna have to just find

somewhere that's somewhat, I guess, safe and go for it

to where you think maybe, you know you're going

to crash for sure.

So can I survive 10 crashes or 20 crashes a day

and just keep trying it?

- So there was no foam pits, and X Games

was comin' up.

I just remember I have to learn to back flip.

If I don't, I'm losing.

There's no way I'm gonna even come close to winning.

I might as well not even go.

Piled wood chips in my backyard, hit the ramp up to it.

- And I watched him create all kinds

of sketchy setups.

I saw the determination that he had.

- I'd go up to the ramp.

I just didn't know what to do.

And I go up the ramp, and I just like hang on,

and I couldn't.

I couldn't hang on.

I had to let go.

I just couldn't force myself to hang on.

- I watched him have so many gnarly,

sketchy crashes to where I'm like wow.

- I couldn't, just couldn't commit.

And I did it two or three times.

And man, dude, if you do not learn this, you're done.

What are you gonna do then?

Like what's your next step?

You know?

- When the back flip was introduced

to Freestyle in 2001, it retired

half the field fearing serious injury and even death.

Deegan wasn't the only rider struggling with the flip.

Top rider Nate Adams first attempt

to go upside down did not go according to plan.

- Probably one of the toughest things

I ever had to do learning the flip.

But just decided to go for it.

I probably hesitated with my throttle.

I just didn't have it pinned off the ramp.

My body positioning wasn't right.

The whole thing was just extremely embarrassing for me.

- There's a lot of guys that just packed it up.

- That was a tough part of Freestyle,

and it retired probably half the field.

Half of the guys retired because of that deal,

and I wasn't ready to retire.

- I saw it in his eyes like he would not give up.

- Put the ramp up, and got a filmer

'cause I'm like I'm probably gonna crash,

so I might as well film this.

Just remembered sitting there going

dude, you're about to get really hurt,

or you're gonna pull this off.

And if you ride away right now, your career's done.

You're done.

Like it's over.

I just remember sitting there going, "Ah,"

getting so mad that I was just like go.

And I turned the ramp, and I go up to it,

and I just hanging on up the ramp,

and I just held it wide open.

And I just remember looking back and hanging on.

And the bike's all,

and I remember before I knew it,

I was like and land.

And right away I was like whoa, I can't believe

I did that.

And I was like I don't even know how I did that.

I don't even know how I did that.

Like it just happened.

So I forced myself to do it again, do it again.

And I just sort of kept flipping and doing it.

And eventually

coming in on the front wheel and just smashed

myself and crashed super hard.

But that was when I was like okay, okay I got

it good enough.

I'm in this game.

And that's when I came to that event in Bakersfield.

- While Brian had the back dialed

in his backyard, coming into an LXD X Games

qualifying event in Bakersfield, Brian had

to take it to a pressure cooker of a full fledged

competition to keep his career on track.

- And I come out, and I was all right, I'm gonna flip.

And I went and I didn't gas it enough

'cause I hadn't had it mastered, and I just came up,

flipped and was upside down.

I remember pulling and revving the bike,

and I under rotated it and came down and crashed

into the ground.

I remember it tore my knee up

and jacked my ribs up.

It like knocked me out, and it was a bad one.

That was like a bad crash.

Like back flips are really, really bad

when they go wrong.

When you under rotate, it is bad.

Right after that, I'm like okay I got away

with a few injuries nothing too crazy.

- Brian had the back flip,

but he also didn't.

With his career in limbo, a phone call

would put Brian's skill and his determination to the test.

Later that week or so was when I got the call

from Crustys like we want you to back flip

on every show, every night, and when the show ends,

you're back flipping.

And that was the big crossroads where I really had

to think about it and say all right dude,

well you're gonna man up if you're doing this.

You sign this contract.

It's game on.

You're gonna go there and do this thing.

There's no backing out now.

So that's what I did.

I signed the contract and went to Australia.

- So the first show went off, and it was crazy.

It was like every Australian wanted a slice.

- We feel like we're these mini celebrities,

and like we're gonna tell these people what's up.

They're having private parties for us.

We're owning it.

We're like this is cool.

So we're having fun tearing up the hotel rooms,

freaking getting nuts, and you know limos

take us out to the course.

And we start riding.

We're hitting jumps, and it's just a big, open field.

And it just starts filling in.

There's thousands and thousands of people showing up.

We're doing burnouts and flipping the bikes

and just destruction, blowing stuff up, fire, explosions.

- We'd bring him out.

He'd shoot the gun.

You know he'd come out in a tank, and the whole thing.

But I think in the back of his mind

there was something else going on

through Brian Deegan's head.

Like what did I signup to do here?

I'm going to go out and do a back flip every night?

You know that's a gnarly trick that I don't quite have yet,

but he's the guy that you know if he says

he's going to do something.

He isn't gonna back out of it.

- Every night, I was so nervous to back flip.

When you come out in front of a crowd

that's cheering, you have 10,000 people,

20,000 going, ah, freaking announcer

saying your name that I was gonna do the flip.

Everyone hype him up.

Something about that energy makes you go

all right, I'm throwing fear out the window.

I could break myself off right now for these people.

I don't even care.

That's freestyle motocross.

You're going all right I'm in front of this crowd.

Hey if I crash, whatever, they're gonna cheer anyway.

And you're ready to break bones for it.

It's a weird feeling.

- The general has landed.

Metal Militia Chief Deegan.

- We're gonna do this!

Line up to the ramp and .

- Let's hear it for Deegan.

- Before even halfway through it,

you can hear the crowd just going nuts.

Landing it is such a feeling of excitement

that you can't even put words on.

It's like you're the hero for that moment,

and the crowd's lovin' it.

- Brian would go on to pull the back flip

for two weeks landing every one.

And his career forged on.

The flip became a required part

of every riders repertoire.

Brian reestablished himself as part of the vanguard.

However, the essence of the sport is progression,

and the notion of a new trick even more perilous

than the back flip started filling the rumor mill.

- So I mean there is things that will beat the flip.

People just have to step up and do it, you know?

It's just gonna take one of the OGs to step up

and shut everyone down.

- The trick was the 360, a flat spin

on a horizontal axis on a 250 pound dirt bike.

No one was sure if the rules of nature

would allow this to be possible

or whether trying it was going to be radically hazardous

to your health.

- I remember seeing Travis before X Games

doing some tricks in his foam pit.

And I was like man, what's he doing?

I was kinda trying to figure it out.

It looked like he was doing 720s and 360s,

and I'm like, man, studied it.

And I'm like all right, well I see

what he's bringing.

- X Games is like this weekend.

That week Brian went to the foam pit

and started doing 360s.

He didn't have 'em by any means.

Like that trick's hard.

- I was always working, always trying to be better,

always trying to learn new tricks.

- The setting was a familiar one

to Deegan, the LA Coliseum where he had made

his mark with his infamous ghost ride

during an AMA supercross race.

Now the question would be whether he would be

making history again or be going to the hospital.

- The two guys that are really at the top of the sport.

There's the obvious Travis Pastrana

who's everybody's darling.

But there's this awesome marketing force

of Brian Deegan with the Metal Militia behind him.

So everybody wants to play this up

as the bad guy versus like the good guy, Travis Pastrana.

- But he needs to nail a good run.

In his first run, he kinda stunk up the place.

I don't want to dis him too hard,

but he needs to nail it much harder here in this final.

- I wasn't even sure if I was gonna do it,

but I just knew like through my run.

I was like I need more.

This ain't gonna win.

And I knew that there's not a great chance

I was gonna land it.

But figured, cameras are on, the ambulances are there.

And if I'm gonna crash, it's gonna be on TV,

and if I get hurt, the ambulance is right there.

So it's kinda that's the way I justify it.

You didn't master it before you left.

That was the old way of freestyle.

- When you're doing something you haven't landed

to dirt, you're scared.

- He's gonna bust something new.

Oh Deegan, he landed the 360.

- The whole place went crazy.

- Brian Deegan has just landed

the first 360 on a motorcycle ever in competition.

Listen to the crowd here.

- The crowd knew the energy that I was feeling

that this is a big trick.

No one's ever seen it.

No one even knew it was gonna happen at all.

No one knew.

Jerry, unbelievable.

I can hardly speak.

People said back flips would be impossible.

360s we thought were way harder.

- How do you feel?

That just catapulted you into first place.

- Well let me tell ya, I never done that on dirt,

and no better place than here in front

of this crowd to either crash or go big.

- I don't know how you rode out of it,

but it looked amazing.

- Skills, baby, skills.

- Brian Deegan.

- Five minutes before I go out for my final run,

Jim, my best friend comes in and goes,

"Deegan did a 360.

"It was the coolest thing ever."

What?

You're telling me I'm risking my life

to go out here and do this trick

that I think's gonna set the world on fire,

and Brian Deegan's already done it?

And he named it the Militia Twist.

So a trick that I invented and figured out how to do,

I now have to call a Militia Twist?

He was like, "Yep, it was awesome."

- Pastrana lines up, and in his head, I know

what he was thinking.

He was like now I have to do that.

I have to do that trick.

- Cameron what's he gonna do to beat Deegan?

- We know that the 360 is possible.

We know Travis Pastrana has been working on it.

Will he throw it down in the game?

Oh, Travis Pastrana upping the anti on the flips.

- He goes out, and he's stomping his run.

And he's hyping the crowd up.

I'm like all right he's gotta do the 360 now.

- Let's see what he's got here.

He's slowing down.

He's making the turn.

Will we see the 360?

- The bike gets away from him, and I'm like

yeah for surely he's toast.

And he gets up Travis style running,

all like telling the crowd, waving the crowd,

claiming timeout, stop, stop, stop.

And standing there going, "What's this dude doing?"

- Travis, 'cause he's a smart kid.

He knows the rules.

He actually calls timeout.

And officially when you call that timeout,

you get two minutes to figure out

what your problem is.

- So of course my levers were bent.

So I had to knock my levers back straight.

So I got one more jump according to the rules.

- And he gets on his bike, then he comes around.

We're like he's going for it again.

- For the bonus session.

And he pulls it off.

Gets a little squirely into the wall.

- I landed the trick, crowd goes nuts,

ended up winning the gold medal.

And Deegan will never let me live it down.

Every time something happens, he's like

oh timeout guys, timeout.

- At that moment, I think it was just a cool moment

for the sport.

Two guys competing against each other.

It wasn't about the money.

I don't think at that point it was

about much more than the old school style

of I'm gonna one up you.

And now it's freestyle motocross.

- Even after landing the 360, even after having

thought up the trick, even after having

figured out all the bugs on the trick,

the Militia Twist will always be

Brian Deegan's baby.

And whenever people talk about the 360,

the first person they think of is Deegan.

- All the props to Brian Deegan, man.

I usually don't want to support the Militia.

But dude, throwing it down first that's awesome.

- I claim it 'cause I did it first,

and that's the rule in freestyle motocross.

Whoever lands it first to dirt, claims it.

- As the first rider to ever land

a 360 on a dirt bike, Brian found himself

leading the progressive charge.

- Oh Deegan, he landed a 360!

- With Deegan's name now solidified

in the freestyle history books, a sobering reality

for the young, edgy star starts to emerge.

- The pressure was on.

Look at that.

People want more.

I gotta step up my game.

I gotta back this up.

- ESPN then took the sport to another level

bringing dirt bikes to the snow.

There may have been reasons to think twice

about staging an event for desert rats

at altitude in an alpine environment.

But once it was on, Deegan was on top

of the FMX world drinking in the fame

and still motivated by the lingering

inner demons from his childhood abandonment

would do anything to stay there.

- And they started building these ice jumps

'cause they don't bring ramps out there.

It's just straight ice.

They water the jumps and they form 'em

out of snow and keep watering and watering and watering.

- If you're not scared, you should be.

Cam, look at this.

The snow deck landing, it stands

about three stories above my head.

- I shoulda at that point just said,

hey really at this event you're not feeling it.

This is not right.

Because the variables are too gnarly.

Line up, okay it's time to go.

I just remember them calling me.

All right go, it's live TV, go.

So I start going at the takeoff

really like second, third, hauling ass.

I think I got so nervous and so excited

that I just kept gassing it.

I come off the lip, and I'm just going forward.

I'm not like turning.

The rotation's not happening.

And I'm like kinda going backwards at this point.

So I got real nervous, real quick.

And I remember landing on my hip on the ice,

and it was like landing on a blacktop.

Hit the ground and slid on the ice.

And I went to try to get up, and my arms were crooked.

You know both arms were crooked.

Hard to explain, but it was unbearable.

Like where I had so much pain that I couldn't handle it.

So they come up with the stretcher,

and everyone's quiet.

I'm like, man, why did I do that?

That was so dumb.

And I went straight to the hospital into surgery.

They ended up putting plates and rods

and pins in my arms and hip.

So I was at the Aspen hospital for a long time.

Everyone went home, and I didn't.

I learned a little bit of like you know not pressuring

myself into a situation for nothing.

Like that was a little bit, but still

not enough, not enough.

Broke my femur five weeks ago.

What's up now?

- Think of all the things

going through Brian's head right now.

Well Brian obviously suffered last year.

He called us every week talking

about the build of this course.

He was very concerned that we get

some of the ramps smaller and more consistent

than last year.

- I mean a lot of riders pulled out.

A lot of riders didn't even go back to Winter X.

But for me, I felt like it's a big event.

I need to go back.

You know the fame and the money and all the press.

So I train for it, and I go back the next year.

- Well Brian Deegan is the most decorated

X Games medalist in Moto X including summer

and winter together, he has nine total medals.

- Crazy blizzard happening, and I'm like

you can't even see the jump.

Like I can't even see it.

- Ladies and gentlemen,

now's a good time to stand up.

- Coming back a year later to win the gold,

it was a huge accomplishment for me

just mentally to go all right you went

through a career ending crash, and you came back to win.

It could've almost been bad in a sense

'cause it let me go okay let's

get back into this.

- With Winter X redemption behind him

and perhaps the most dramatic comeback

in action sports' history, Brian struggled

to learn from his past mistakes.

Unable to let go of his teenage angst,

and with an air of invincibility, Brian's blind thirst

for fame continued.

- My career, I always felt like I was

trying to impress everyone with the next trick,

or you know trying to make everyone happy

with what I was doing on a dirt bike.

You go through that whatever it takes to get famous.

Whatever it takes to be the most noticed guy

in this whole spot.

And as I got it, it was like a drug,

and you just keep going, going, and going.

And you're like at what point are you famous enough?

I got a call from Bam Margera to go to his house

and do this MTV show, Viva La Bam.

And it was me Bryce Twitch, Beau Manly,

Colin Morrison.

They're wild.

They're crew's wild, but our crew,

we're gonna show 'em we're even gnarlier.

So we go head to head, and we start

doing all this stuff.

- I wanna be in Metal Militia.

What do I gotta do?

- I came down to the shoot, and Gwar's playing, the band,

and the bam's skating.

And they're like oh we need you to flip

at the end of the show, you know over the whole show.

And I was like yeah all right.

- It was windy that day.

I remember I didn't even want to ride.

Brian's like, "Dude, let's just get it over with.

"Let's just get it done, so we can be done."

- It's gonna be a magical day in the history books here.

Once again, my mind going ego over brains

and just going I can do it.

Line up for the jump, go

come normal, take off the ramp,

and I just try to flip, and it just doesn't rotate.

And it comes in short.

And then the handle bars quick go like bam,

jab my stomach real hard.

It felt like I got shot in the stomach with a shotgun.

Like it felt like just .

I hurt my ribs.

I didn't cut my stomach, but inside I had

internal bleeding.

I tore my artery, and Ronnie I remember standing there,

dude, I can't my stomach's.

And I'm like dude, get an ambulance now.

Minutes were going by.

- Dude, I'm dying like get the medics here.

It's almost like he knew something was wrong.

- I could barely talk, and I'm like I think I'm gonna die.

I can't like stay awake.

And I was thinking about my wife, thinking

about my daughter Hailie.

- I got the call from the doctor

that said your husband's gonna die.

And I remember just dropping everything and running

out of the house like panicked.

In my head, I'm thinking oh my God

my little girls' at home.

My husband's dying in the hospital.

Like what's going on?

I was so scared.

- They run me into the emergency surgery room.

The doctor's like is there anything you want

to tell your family?

Whoa, this is it.

Just tell 'em I love 'em.

I can't believe this.

I can't believe I'm gonna die.

And I let the pressure get to me,

and all the stupid, stupid decisions.

I just remember going please God, please if you're real,

don't let me die.

And I woke up, and there was tubes everywhere.

Like my stomach was cut all the way down.

I just remember looking up, and I'd see

Marissa standing in the room, and I see my dad.

- I just sat by his side and just you know

I remember him saying like I'm done.

I'm not doing this again.

Like I gotta change you know?

I gotta find a new mission.

I gotta change my ways.

That was it, you know?

That was the big turning point for sure.

Like 100% I will never forget it.

I built what I have through the risk I took.

I took a lot of risk and did a lot of things

most people wouldn't do.

For me it was finding a new focus and surrounding

myself with positive people.

Through freestyle you know I was able

to meet Jeremy Lusk you know I invited him to ride,

and we started riding together.

And at that point, I was kinda on my way out,

and he was on his way in.

So I thought, man, this would be kinda cool

to hand off a lot of the stuff I earned to him

and help him elevate quicker.

He put in the work.

He always rode at my house.

He got better and better, and he ended up rising quick.

He goes to X Games, and he just starts laying it down.

One run left, Matt or Beau or whatever has got the lead

or however it pans out.

And he's gotta stick a good run.

And I'm like dude this is a lot of pressure

on this guy right now.

- I wanna see him stomp it.

He needs this.

This could launch his whole career right here,

gold medal.

- Lusk just came out and put it down.

- Under flip.

- Under flip.

- I think the world was just like holy crap

Jeremy Lusk is the guy.

- Flip neck, getting it over,

close out of the bike.

I'm gonna say he took it.

You know it's still close, but, his wife's nervous.

- He needs an 89.01--

- Oh, he did it.

- And a gold for Lusk at 92.40.

- That's what's up, gold medal.

- This dude just won X Games like his second time there.

- This guy Jeremy Lusk just added

his name alongside of Mike Metzger, Travis Pastrana,

Nate Adams, and Adam Jones as the only people

to ever get gold in Freestyle Moto X.

- Just a ramp kid coming out of the middle

of nowhere and coming to the top that fast

was pretty cool, and we got pretty close.

Like we became really good friends,

and his wife became really good friends with my wife.

So I just saw this relationship going on for a long time.

He went down to an even down in Costa Rica.

Someone called me and left a message

like hey you need to check on Lusk.

He's at the hospital.

I'm like whoa really?

He had a lot of good crashes.

I mean he'd crash really hard, but he always got up, always.

So I was like how bad can it be?

- You get like kind of a scattered report.

You're not really sure what's going on,

but it was real serious.

I felt like I needed to go there.

- We have to go down there.

So we booked flights, got on a flight,

and we go to the hospital.

We walk in, and then walking down the hallways,

there's like holes in the walls.

And there's dirty floors, and this place is just bad,

like a bad movie.

He's in the corner by himself.

Like no one's around.

He just didn't look like him at all.

It was real at that point.

What can we do?

What can we do?

And there was just at that point

all I could think of how can we help him?

And there's really nothing you could do at that point.

His dad got there and was talking with him and praying.

I was just freaking out, and then just that was it.

And then an hour or two later it was just red line.

And I sat there, I'm like dude this stupid sport, man,

freakin' killed my best friend, you know?

It made me hate the sport really.

It affected a lot of people you know?

But I think the positives that came out of it

were that it opened a lot of people's eyes I think

I mean that was probably one of the heaviest

moments of my life for sure.

I just remember sitting by the bed in pain with him

just sitting there going, man all this shit

in life that I thought was so important,

all this stuff that was so big in my life

that I put so much detail and attention into,

at that point, I was like it doesn't mean shit.

It made me think that the only thing

that truly mattered are your family, you know your friends,

and the people your love.

And all the other stuff was nothing.

I was like it's not worth it.

I looked at him, I'm like that could be me.

That could easily have been me.

And like it could've been my wife standing there

or my kids.

And I'm like it's just not worth it.

It was kinda that moment where I'm like

if I'm gonna continue to make a living

with what I built, I gotta do something safer.

So I started finding a new direction.

- Between the harsh reality

of Lusk's passing and the awareness

that the risks of FMX outweighed the rewards,

Brian needed to find a way to take his childhood

passion of racing and forge a new career.

It's said with age comes a cage.

And Brian turned to off-road trucks.

But success was by no means assured.

Many before him had tried and failed.

It's expensive, technical, and brutally competitive.

And newcomers aren't welcome were seeking

their piece of the prize money, sponsorships,

and the limited limelight of legit but niche sport.

But he was at a crossroads and determined

to succeed at any cost.

- So I got into four wheels, and I was

able to start racing trucks, rally car.

Rally car got big into X Games.

- When Brian made that transition

to go to off-road racing, I think

more than a couple of us scoffed at it.

We were like no way.

- I couldn't look back.

I had to make it work.

I got an offer to race trucks, and I remember

I sat for weeks and months and studied tape.

I studied the best guys.

I studied their equipment, studied the tracks,

and I said how do they win?

And I started figuring it out.

When I first started truck racing, I was mid pack.

I was like 18th, 20th place.

I sucked.

My first full season, I realized I needed good equipment.

Car and truck racing, I'd say it's like

50% driver, 50% equipment.

I have to make this work, so I bought the truck.

I took the money out of my savings I had

from dirt biking, and I went all in.

- Despite the many hurdles that came

with adapting to four wheels, the once angry young man

had learned to refocus his aggression.

Brian used a methodical approach

to give himself a competitive advantage.

In doing so, he paved a new path for himself

in both rally car and winning championships

in off-road truck racing.

- It worked.

I won the championship, and then sponsors came.

- Brian's a smart guy.

Brian knows what sells.

Brian knows what works, and he has

an authenticity about him.

What Brian accomplished and the things

he did in motor sports and continues to do racing

is the real thing.

- A lot of competition, you got all the top guys

here in off-road.

I mean you gotta be on your game to win.

And then you gotta run a team on top of it.

- What's great about Brian is that he's made

that conscious decision to keep it going

instead of letting it go.

- I reinvented myself in four wheels

and brought my image with it, but I was

able to kind of reinvent my image.

I didn't have to bring the '90s Militia thing.

I brought the Deegan thing.

I brought Brian Deegan.

I am a racer.

I've always been a racer.

You know going into a sport, I realized

that I didn't wanna just be a paid racer

just to have a spot.

I knew I had to run the ship.

So I invested in my own team, brought in

all my own sponsors, same managers,

same people that helped me and my same system

around me that from moto came to trucks,

and we rebuilt it our way.

Here everyone's working as hard as me.

- Brian used his three plus decades

of dirt racing experience to launch

both his Deegan 38 brand, and his signature tire line

with Micky Thompson tires.

His new attitude paid off winning X Games gold

in rally cross as well as nothing less

than six off-road truck championships.

None of it would've been possible

if not for the love and support of his wife Marissa.

- Marissa and I, we've been together half my life

and through a lot of crazy stuff and every injury,

all the events, and all the tours and parties.

She hung in there that whole time, you know?

And so that was cool, you know?

'Cause easily she could've bailed.

- I don't take his crap.

Maybe because I dealt with his crap back in the day,

and did deal with it.

And today, he's a totally changed person.

He's a Christian.

He's a dad.

- I don't think anything could be thrown at us

that we couldn't deal with.

I don't know hopefully at this point.

I mean you get married, you get married,

and you become one.

But once we had Hailie you know the direction

I've really focused on the family, the kids,

their upbringing.

There's time I spend with them.

That's good time invested.

And when you don't, it's time you'll never get back.

- Brian and Marissa have dedicated

themselves to building a home and raising

their three children, Hailie, Hayden, and Hudson.

They had hoped the kids would stay clear

from racing, but dad's status as a motorsports

legend combined with an ironclad work ethic

paved the way for his children's futures.

- He was on a dirt bike at a young age.

And I honestly didn't want him to race motocross.

- Being that that's what Brian always did,

I always said no way my kids ever gonna

race their bikes, never.

- He kept asking me to go to a motocross

track to race, and I was like nah.

He just kept asking, asking, asking.

Finally I said okay.

So I took him to a beginner race.

He had a blast.

He raced, did well.

- And he comes home like freakin' out.

Like Hayden's got it.

He's got it.

He can race.

I'm like what?

I remember.

I was standing in the kitchen right there,

and he was so excited.

And I'm like wait I thought like we were

not gonna have our kids race.

- He was just unnaturally fast.

He ended up being the best kid in the nation.

So once that happened, it was on.

- Went from Hayden putting in the yard

to this full, gnarly race schedule at seven years old.

- Well it's Sunday.

It's gonna be a good day.

I'm just gonna go win.

- He's got so many championships it's crazy.

Like I raced amateur motocross as a kid.

And he won more championships in one year

than I won in my whole amateur career.

His training, the way he takes it serious

is super motivating.

I mean it's cool that we get to spend

that time together.

- I just want to do supercross.

That's like my main goal.

I want to make it in supercross and win

as many championships as I can.

- This year, Hayden put on

a dominating performace and swept all three motos

at the national championships to remain

number one in the nation.

Brian and family were there to support and celebrate.

Despite Hayden's dedication to racing,

he still wanted to pay homage

to his dad's freestyle legacy.

At 10 years old, he became the youngest rider

to ever pull a back flip on a dirt bike

becoming a social media sensation overnight.

- I'm sorry.

My only kid.

- Freestyle.

I wanna be the first one to do like a quadruple

back flip on a dirt bike.

- Racing runs deep in the Deegan family.

Brian's story might have started with dysfunction,

but he was at heart a racer.

The passion and lifestyle has been passed

to his daughter Hailie, and the Deegan

legacy is now moving the to biggest stage

in motorsports, NASCAR.

- With Hailie, she's been such a good kid,

perfect at school.

Her grades have always, she always got A's.

She's just really easy going.

And I'm glad Hailie came about first

'cause her personality really helped

you know like get through the times we had

when she was young.

We got her into car racing for fun

like when she was like seven, eight years old.

Here comes Hailie practicing in Milestone

in her car.

Each year, she started getting better and better.

And then at some point, she started winning races.

And we where like whoa.

When she races, she's a totally different person.

She's super competitive and started

beating all the boys.

- Hailie excelled through the amateur

ranks for four wheeled racing up to

off-road trucks where Brian would become

her teammate and coach teaching her

the importance of mastering dirt as a fundamental step

in a racing career.

- Main thing is think in your head straight exits,

both wheels to the ground.

Once I engage the cushion I went

and come off straight.

- How see I am behind, so I can

open up my corners a little bit more.

- Very good, running, running, running.

Good job.

Good job, good job.

- Despite her pleasant, easy going

disposition, on the race track, it's a different story.

Like her dad, Hailie has the mindset of a champion

focused on her goals and the dream

of one day racing at the highest levels.

At the age of 16, Hailie is one of a handful

of female drivers Toyota selects

to evaluate for the NASCAR Next Youth Program,

the gateway into auto racing's most prestigious series.

- Toyota sought her out, found out about her

and tested her.

I think she'll surpass everything I've ever done.

She doesn't get affected at all by pressure.

It's weird.

- In a high stakes tryout

at Irwindale Speedway, all eyes were on Hailie

as she strapped in behind the wheel

of a 650 horsepower K&N race car.

- The philosophy my dad has passed down

is to look for these moments in your racing career

where it comes down to the last moment.

The pressure's on, but to not let that pressure

make you crack.

You live for those moments to come down

to the last head to head race where it's tied

for the championship and winner takes all.

- Putting up impressive times,

her high racing IQ, and her ability to communicate

with the team, Toyota taps Hailie

for their NASCAR program.

Starting the 2018 K&N Pro Series West with confidence,

Hailie gets seven top 10 finishes including

a second place finish at Douglass County Speedway.

Hailie's racing prowess quickly gathers media attention

turning heads like NASCAR 44 time winner

and cup champion Kevin Harvick.

With her goal to be the first female driver

to win a K&N Series race, Hailie has become

a role model for female racers creating

her own, unique personality in NASCAR.

- You're already being compared to Danica.

Do you get asked about that a lot?

Or what's that like being compared?

What's your thoughts?

- Yeah I get compared to her a lot 'cause the thing

about it, she's the only girl that's ever made it

in NASCAR to the big show of Sundays.

But I'm my own person.

I wanna be a whole different personality,

came from a different background of racing,

different type of driving style.

We don't really act the same off the track.

So I'm kinda making my own image for myself.

I don't really wanna follow someone else's.

- During a Q and A promotion

for the NASCAR Next program, Hailie passes

on racing advice she inherited from her dad's

racing experience.

- The biggest thing my dad's told me I feel like

is just go out there and have fun,

but remember you're having the most fun when you win.

I feel like that's the kind of thing

we always say before the race.

And it kinda just sticks.

And hey, you always have the most fun when you win.

My parents are the reason why I am racing,

the reason why I have this career.

They're the ones that got me into racing.

They're the ones that supported me to fall in love with it.

- I would hope that like with the strong family

foundation that we have and she has,

and we've all kinda built together that our racing

is like a family sport that it will

always continue to be a family sport.

- Hailie takes a hopeful glimpse

into the future by visiting pit road

at the Monster Energy NASCAR series race,

the Daytona 500, a place where she aims

to take the Deegan name mainstream.

- He's evolved to that crazy party guy,

what he looked like on the outside

to this guy who wants to raise his kids in the right way.

- For Brian, what matters more

than endorsements and results is instilling

strength of character in his kids.

- I try to explain to Hayden who's got

a massive social media following.

I said D at the end of the day,

that's nothing.

That's all just hype.

The way you talk to people, treat people, that's everything.

What honors me the most is when you're a good person.

- Brian's investment in the growth

of his children demonstrates that the heart

of a champion racer is one that balances

competitiveness with compassion.

- You okay?

You okay?

You okay?

You okay?

Okay.

- They're gonna have a lot bigger influence then me.

Hailie's influence is gonna be way bigger than mine.

So I have to make sure she's got that instilled in her

that she's gonna wanna be a positive role model

and do the right things.

- If you looked at him,

all the tattoos, scars he had, you'd think

oh this guy looks a little scary,

maybe a little cautious around him.

Don't judge a book by its cover.

It's like what's inside really counts.

- Brian has transformed himself

through his hard work and determination

to grow as an individual.

Jaded at first by his hardcore persona,

even Brian's father-in-law has learned

from Brian's transition.

- In time, I understood that tattoos don't make the person,

the haircuts don't make the person.

And now I look at these guys and Brian past the tattoos.

I look at the person himself and understanding him

as a person that's what I look at.

Mostly the inside of a person, now the outside

doesn't matter to me anymore.

- Brian had taken the angst

of abandonment and launched and nurtured

a career where the price of fame was

to disregard his own wellbeing.

One final brush with death and then the actual death

of his closest friend set him on a path of change.

And he became a father and a husband.

But there was an unclosed chapter

to his life, closure with his mother Irma.

He brought her to his house to explore their past

which revealed not only a surprising ethnic family heritage,

but that in fact, she never stopped caring.

- Growing up in general I know dad was Irish.

The Deegan name comes from Irish, and his mom

was Agretkin was German.

- French and Indian, and the Indian had

a Hispanic surname.

- Oh really?

So I have part Indian in me?

- On both sides.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- That's cool.

I had no idea.

- Here is your grandmother when she was 15.

Older brother's uniform from World War II

when he was in the Army.

- Yeah I recognize her face, you know?

She had that certain look.

- This is the only picture I have

of grandpa Tony when he was older

which is my dad's dad.

- This is down at the house.

- This is in front of where I was raised.

- I wish I would've been more involved in the family

like getting to know everyone, you know?

But once I started riding dirt bikes

I was just so on a mission.

- They all followed you.

Looking at those pictures not only helped me,

but also helped me understand Brian.

I'm relieved and happy that he wants

to get involved with my side of the family

and learn more about himself.

In that sense, it gives me peace

that he has come a full circle

and is coming back to his mother.

- Brian returns to X Games

to pay homage to the sports property

that truly launched his career.

- Oh Deegan, he landed a 360.

- First thing that comes to mind

when I think of Brian Deegan is legendary

as it relates to the X Games brand.

- Brian Deegan is the most decorated

X Games medalist in Moto X.

- Some of the memories are sweet.

Gold medals on two wheels and four,

but it also brings back some pain.

- This sport is a dangerous sport.

At the end of the day, you know I had

one of my best friends, Jeremy Lusk,

freestyle motocross end up getting him.

I miss Jeremy so bad like sitting there

watching the crowd, just all the memories

we coulda had you know up until this time

was taken away you know because of freestyle motocross.

- He finds special joy and some angst

in once again mentoring a young freestyler,

another edgy young man willing to put

his physical wellbeing on the line

for X Games glory.

Aussie bloke Jackson, Jacko, Strong.

Ironically, it was a 10 year old Jacko

who was inspired to first twist

the throttle and dream of the big time

when he saw Brian back flipping

amid the maelstrom of the early Australian Crusty shows.

Now Jacko finds himself on the global X Games stage

with Brian supporting him.

- This is my favorite event.

It's best trick.

It's where the guys go the biggest.

Jackson is the guy, gold medal last year.

He's gotta step it up this year.

I'm sure he's nervous.

Jackson has the fever, you know, like I did.

Jackson wants to win.

He's got that fever.

He's won gold medals, so now he's on that mission.

Whatever it takes, I gotta win the gold medal.

This year at X Games, he went out and was

gonna do this double back flip trick

that I knew was crazy.

And to top it all off, he had a broke wrist.

But he was still amped on going.

- I just pretty much just like being scared

and like being nervous.

It makes you feel something real.

I think it's one of the only things

that you can feel that's real.

- Getting ready to send it.

The calm before the storm you know?

It's like nerves are going.

This is always the gnarliest part

before going and competing.

You can always pick the easier trick

that like yeah I can do that.

Yeah at times I'm like is this where you're

just pushing him into an injury?

Is this the wrong thing?

Has he pushed it enough?

Has he done enough up to this point?

Get it done all day, all day.

Handle it.

The whole point of best trick

is thinking of something different, man.

I'm really nervous for this kid right now.

He's a good dude.

- Here we go.

- Come on, Jacko.

There you go.

Come on, Jacko.

Yeah, he got it.

Yeah!

Yeah!

Yeah!

Fuck yeah!

Yeah!

I knew you had it.

Once you took off, I was like he's got it.

- Punk kid to an action sports legend,

now champion racer, devoted husband,

doting father, and a role model to a past

generation and to the next.

Exactly how the Deegan legacy will unfold is untold,

but one thing is for sure, it will be written

with passion that's in the blood.