Travis Pastrana and Brian Deegan: 'With Age Comes Cage'

The two extreme sports stars reunite to not only win a $1 bet, but continue a friendly rivalry that is almost three decades old

Travis Pastrana (right) puts his money where his mouth is at -- even if it's just a simple dollar bill -- and Brian Deegan (left) says "You're on, that's a bet." Photo: Long Nguyen

Travis Pastrana and Brian Deegan continue to duke it out three decades since their initial grunge. The two star athletes bet each other a dollar for their recent desert race in twin Can Am Maverick-Rs.

This past December, in the hills of California, Deegan and Pastrana celebrated their joint history and rivalry. Twenty years after one of their most explosive battles during the 2003 X Games, the duo met to rip it in the desert outside of Ocotillo Wells, Calif.

Both athletes were provided with Can Am’s new Maverick-R to settle a score three decades in the making. With age comes knowledge and grudges that once might’ve been settled on a dirt bike with each rider trying to push the other, now have the safety of a cage.

Voila, that explains "With Age Comes Cage" means, in other words, having the safety of a roll cage in a vehicle as compared to nothing but air around you on a motorcycle.

Brian Deegan (right) and Travis Pastrana (left) go through their pre-race strategy before flying through the sand dunes in Southern California. Photo: Long Nguyen

Can Am, Deegan, and Pastrana used Nitrocross Round 6 and 7 at Glen Helen as a backdrop to stoke the rivalry, as both athletes were presented with liveries and fire suits based on their 2003 dirt bikes and riding suits.

The yellow 199 and black 38 have become synonymous with the two personalities.

"The rough dirt bike dudes,” Deegan described himself and his persona at the time. “The all black, spikes on our shoulder pads, heavy metal was our vibe.”

Deegan continued, saying of Pastrana, “He was the howdy doody dude. I get it he was young and we were two opposites when we first started. It started through competition and it was built through X Games for many years. It just continued to go back and forth and then we got into car racing.”

They've been rivals for 30 years, but more importantly, Brian Deegan (left) and Travis Pastrana (right) have been friends first. Photo: Garth Milan

Select members of the media came out to meet with Pastrana and Deegan before the Nitro round and took to the short course in the Mavericks. Auto Racing Digest was lucky enough to be one of the organizations invited and my first ride-along came with Pastrana’s hands on the wheel.

When I first walked up to Travis, I instinctively tried to shake his right hand, not noticing the cast around his wrist. This, along with every ‘good luck’ I got from friends of the daredevil in the weeks leading up to the event, could’ve been viewed as a red flag. But I went into the evening with full faith knowing the safety of the vehicle and the caliber of the driver.

A quick two laps around the short course proved to be exhilarating and oddly calming. It was not until I watched footage back that I really understood how fast we were going and how high we were jumping.

Auto Racing Digest's Victoria Beaver (left) gets set to go play in the sand with Travis Pastrana behind the wheel (right). Photo: Long Nguyen

A few days later the athletes, each with a dollar on the dash, took to the desert to race and perform tricks in the newly released Maverick-R.

There are two versions of the “With Age Comes Cage” videos, one edited for Pastrana’s Channel 199 and the other for “The Deegans” YouTube channel. Both were produced in the image of the athletes as a way to show how their rivalry made them two sides of the same coin.

A Rivalry Remembered

Before strapping in with Pastrana I heard the story of the rivalry from Deegan’s point of view.

“The deal with Travis has been going on since the beginning of Freestyle Motocross,” Deegan explained. “I’m talking about the mid-90s, almost three decades.

"It’s pretty sad because that means we’re getting old, but it started at the beginning of Freestyle Motocross. He was young, he was probably 14 or 15. It all started out when we were filming for Crusty Demons of Dirt, which was the first real action sport movie.

"That showed free riding and having fun on dirt bikes besides the racing aspect. It was the first big action sport video that came out with free riding. We were out in the hills and I had heard of Travis because of amateur motocross, but he was in a different generation, a younger generation.”

Nine years separate the two athletes and at the time it felt like an ocean separated them in personality.

“We were out in the hills jumping and we found this crazy downhill jump they called it the diving board. It was this massive step down, like 100-feet down this mountain. No one wanted to jump it, and I think he says he jumped it first, (but) I think I jumped it first. I hit it and then he hit it and tried to do a trick but ended up a little long and ended up breaking his arm. That’s how it all started.”

A few years down the line once Pastrana made his AMA Motocross debut in 1999 the duo would face each other again with the addition of the Freestyle into the X Games.

“We went into the X Games in '99, it was our first year at X Games. (Brian) ended up winning the first event.” Deegan recalled. “He was quick to learn a ton of tricks. He was the guy to beat when it came to freestyle motocross. It really came down to he was the good guy. I was part of the Metal Mulisha, the guys in black. The rough dirt bike dudes, the all black, spikes on our shoulders pads, heavy metal was our vibe.”

Brian Deegan (left) talks about his race strategy with Auto Racing Digest's Victoria Beaver. Photo: Garth Milan

The ‘99 X Games were the first time that there was a MotoX Freestyle event, and Pastrana became the first winner, with Deegan taking bronze in the competition.

Five years later Pastrana was attempting to reclaim his throne on top of X Games freestyle after missing ‘02 with an injury. Before this forfeit he had won the three years prior. Deegan entered the event driven to get his first gold in MotoX Freestyle at any cost. Night one took place at the LA Coliseum, the site of Deegan’s first and only Supercross win where he infamously ghost rode his dirt bike at the finish line.

Deegan went for it and was the first rider to complete a 360 in competition, a skill that he had only practiced in a foam pit and never attempted on dirt.

“I came around to the last jump and I knew my run wasn't enough to win, and I was like, ‘Alright, I'm going for it;’ I was all or nothing and I went for a 360 off the last jump, and I'd done it in a foam pit before I went to X Games, but never on dirt.”

Now that same kid, the kid that could pick up skills so quickly during the 1999 X Games, what were the chances that he wasn’t going to try the same thing?

When Pastrana went for his final run he attempted and pulled off a 360 as well, becoming the second rider to successfully complete one in competition -- but the first to secure a gold from it.

“I was able to land it and then he came out and had to do it,” Deegan explained. “He was like, ‘I gotta do it’, went out and, you know, he tried it, fell the first time, ended up coming around and doing it again and landing it, which I thought it was just a cool night, you know, overall. I feel like I should, I probably should have won.”

Deegan went on to win best trick the next night with a 360 a few miles down the road at the Staples Center. Moments like these are what fuel a rivalry for three decades. While Deegan and Pastrana might not care, or care to the same extent, who beat who when and where, you bet the fans do.

“It was such a cool moment,” Deegan said. “And it was one of those epic moments where two guys are head-to-head. It wasn't about the piece of the gold medal, it wasn't about winning the trophy, it was about old school who is going to throw down the gnarliest trick first. And that's what it was about.”

Travis Pastrana will not be behind the wheel for the near future, recovering from recent surgery. Photo: Garth Milan

Deegan and Pastrana: the Golden Years

Now both athletes are focused on different but similar endeavors and show support towards the other whenever possible.

As the founder of Nitrocross, Pastrana tries to steer it into a new sustainable direction, trying to keep the high octane vibes of the series while championing electric vehicle racing and development. He also travels the country running Nitro Circus with his wife, fellow action sports star Lyn-z Pastrana, with two competitive cheer daughters in tow.

A week after the videos above were shot, Pastrana went into a scheduled surgery for a knee replacement and has announced he will be away from bikes for the foreseeable future. This also means that he will not be racing Round 8 of Nitrocross this weekend in Calgary but will be at the event as an ambassador.

Travis Pastrana leads Brian Deegan in their jaunt through the Southern California desert. Photo: Long Nguyen

Earlier this year Pastrana told ARD that he would be returning to the Subaru factory team full-time to attempt to capture the ARA Championship in 2024 against his teammate and two-time defending champion Brandon Semenuk.

Deegan’s focus is largely taken up by his children’s endeavors as his two eldest are making headway into the top of their respective motorsports. Hailie Deegan makes the jump from NASCAR Trucks to the NASCAR Xfinity Series this year with a full-time ride with AM Racing.

Brian’s middle child, Haiden Deegan is primed to start his sophomore season in SuperMotocross when takes on the 250 East opener this weekend in Detroit. Haiden’s sophomore year is highly anticipated after he secured the inaugural 250 SMX championship last August. The youngest of the racing Deegan brood, Hudson, is currently racing Amateur Motocross with the hopes of turning professional.