The Truth of the Claim Against Haiden Deegan's Bike | Part 1 - Schofield, Deegan, Burkeen, & Cotter

We've been digging and digging to get to the bottom of the claim against Haiden Deegan's Star Yamaha YZ250F at the 2022 Loretta Lynn National. In part 1 of our investigation, we talk to Brennan Schofield (the one who claimed the bike), Tim Cotter (MX Sports), Mike Burkeen (AMA Official), and Brian Deegan. Part 2 will feature Matt Walker and Donnie Luce (Yamaha).

Intro 00:00 - 06:17
Brennan Schofield 06:18 - 44:09
Tim Cotter (MX Sports) 44:10 - 1:20:00
Mike Burkeen (AMA) 1:20:01 - 2:04:49
Brian Deegan 2:04:50 - 2:08:36

[MichaelLindsay]

Couple key things I found while conducting these interviews: Brennan does admit that there was an offer of sort from Yamaha of engines to replace so damaged ones he had along with an opportunity to test the bike at Goat Farm.

Burkeen states that the AMA rules relating to a claim will only penalize another party if they counter claim a bike to interfere or if a rider is directly threatened by the claimed party. Negotiating a deal to receive some level of support in return for dropping a claim is NOT against the rules.

Brennan also admits that he actually doesn't know if his bike sponsor / dealer was threatened by Yamaha, it was assumed.

Cotter and Burkeen speak very highly of dealing with Brennan and his handling of the situation.

Cotter and Burkeen both speak about the engine builder trying to be involved a decent bit.

Cotter and Burkeen both state that they were told his parents "weren't around" and in retrospective they both wish they would've asked further on this.

Both admit to not realizing that Brennan was under 18 in the moment.

Burkeen states he didn't deny the kid the ability to make the claim without his parents around as he didn't want to run down the clock and risk the kid not being able to make the claim against the bike. He absolutely didn't want to interfere with the process and have it look like the AMA / MX Sports would deny a legitimate bike claim.

Cotter, Burkeen, and Deegan all match up with a much shorter time line for the conversation with Brennan in the office. Their versions of Deegan's questions all match Brennan's.

[cryptotroll]

Classic Brian Deegan, calls the kid dirty for wanting to do a monetized youtube video about the bike, when he himself has the biggest monetized channel in the sport. Whats dirty is blackmailing a 17 year old out of his sponsorships. I sure wish the kid would have gone thru with it and revealed why Star could not let that bike be claimed.

[ghpjerry]

EDIT: Brennan respecting his Sponsors request, was stand up, but for the Sponsor to drop him afterwards is cowardice and BS! That dealer needs to feel what it feels like to be betrayed, do not buy a damn thing from that dealer.
This is less of an interview & more of Michael doing as he does, loves to listen to himself talk. You are truly a lover of the sport & have great connections, but man c'mon, let someone speak their own words, every question you had was "Leading" and not in good form for an interviewer.

Brennan is getting a bad rap from this and should sue. Any man interrogating a child that is his childs competitor is not ok, never, without formers parents being present, punk move by Big B! Pushing around a child. Nice. Yamaha has lost a lifelong customer from this.

[bobbybishop]

If nothing else comes out of this situation one thing is made as clear as it could be. The playing field is not level. The factory teams are in a position to compete on equipment that a large portion of families could not even have access to even if they had the money to . That's really a situation that needs to stop.

[lectn]

I’ve heard from multiple sources when Brennen, Derek & Brennens dad, went to Matt Walker’s Pitt & met with Donnie Luce he said two very interesting things;
*1.)* _”there’s technology in the motor we don’t want released to the public”_
*2.)* you won’t be able to service this motor…not even to he will _[points at motor builder Derek Harris]_
…what I’m hearing is the engine’s got something along the lines of Electronically-Controlled Valves which operate independently from a camshaft & require timing set up from a Laptop using specialized proprietary software (which would be totally unattainable for Brennen & Derek).
Beyond that, Moto 3 was a throw-away moto for Haiden, which, In my opinion makes it a good time to test the feasibility of a prototype system… & _Electronic Valve Control _ is technology which already exists, Honda’s _iVTEC_ system utilizes Electronic Valve Control, the advantage being that you could have Variable Valve Timing which could be continuously variable (with system’s like Honda’s Standard VTEC, you’re limited to a _REGULAR_ cam lobe half & a _VTEC_ cam lobe half…there’s no more, no less & nothing in between, so it would offer superior versatility in the valve timing department, & the camshaft would be a bare _dummy_ camshaft with no lobes (so lower rotating mass therefore greater acceleration).
The bad Press on Yamaha from this is going to be unrecoverable…the only way they can make this right is for Brennen to be on a _Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha_ in 2023

[jamescutting]

What’s with questioning the kid so much.

He followed the rule and paid up, shouldn’t have been any questions asked. He could have stripped the motor and shared secrets with his engine builder, built his own engines to the same spec, sold it on or just kept it for himself. If it’s his bike he should be able to do what he wants with it...

Who is behind the claim also shouldn’t matter, this rule exists to keep amateur racing honest. The kid should have been able to claim the bike even if he was sponsored by another manufacturer

[paulhockman]

The claim was done correctly and fair. When the first conversation happened in any way other than yes or no as a response about the claim, money and politics won out. The Deegans fame and Star Yamaha and US Yamaha used their power to crush it. Shame on them. Riders is the B class with full factory bikes. It has always been this way but truly pathetic.

[SYNCROORG]

Brennan should get a lawyer and sue the pants off of Yamaha for extortion. Threatening him and his sponsor the way they did is indeed extortion, perhaps even criminal extortion. Yamaha’s lawyers are probably very nervous and very concerned. What they did is the epitome of thuggery and the antithesis of professionalism. It’s a disgrace. Same with what Cotter did. Sue them all, Brennan! They surely deserve it. And the AMA should fine Yamaha and force them to give the bike to Brennan or be banned from racing for a year … like the rule book says.

[seancrowley]

Where were all of the Deegan cameras when this went down? 😂

Lot of naïve people in these comments that have no comprehension of how the sport (or the world, for that matter) really works.

The little guy gets squeezed and the big guy gets away with it. Rules for thee, not for me. Maybe don’t put a $70k bike with proprietary technology in an amateur race…this is what ruins the sport at an amateur level.

[chupacabraracing]

Matt walker, Brian deegan, TC, Yamaha are all guilty of punking a kid out of using an ama rule. Plain and simple. Totally disgusting

[njmxjunkie]

I think more
People should be using this rule to
Their advantage. For many reasons. One it would really level the playing field and force these guys to be better riders. Two Over time if enough people claim bikes it would eventually bring the costs down
On bike and aftermarket oarts

[jamesanthony]

The only positive I can take from this mega cluster is that it does seem like the AMA tried to do all the right things & it’s obvious that Yamaha had a race bike at Loretta’s that they shouldn’t have been there & they were going to do anything necessary to keep that bike in their possession to include destroying a kids dream while putting hardships on a family when he did all the right things & followed all the rules.. it’s also very disappointing Brian Deegan didn’t do more to keep this poor kid from being ruined by Politics & Corporate Bureaucracy which is something I thought the Metal Mulisha was founded & stood for.. Travis Pastrana said it best, “Who’s The Real Sellout”.. I hope the Deegans use their Influence, Platform, & Connections to right this wrong & help make sure this kids name is restored & he gets a fair shot for a decent ride!! The Dealership that sponsored Brennan is a spineless little weasel. To go & threaten the kid to drop his Claim for the Bike than you go & drop his sponsorship after blackmailing him is such a Coward thing to do!! This is why less & less people are into motocross. The crazy expense it takes to be mid pack competitive, the politics, the corruption, the bullying of small teams, riders, & mechanics, etc.. it’s really become a rigged corporate shit show!! Seems to get worse every single year!!

[doctodd]

Too bad they can’t make a claim
anonymously directly wit the AMA especially if it’s a factory team. To protect the amateur riders from the powers that be

[tommypetrie]

I would like to see more bike claiming!!! Wouldn't that keep things in check!

[levonstilson]

There is a reason they didn’t want it claimed. The reason is because they were running stuff that this rule was intended to prevent them from running.

[BAYAREAMX]

He claimed the bike, he should own the bike. Star racing messed up and do anything they could to prevent the claim from happening.

[dragonbreath]

What in the hell made this guy think that it was the right thing to do to bring that kid into a room alone for 20 minutes without waiting for his father or requesting his father sit

[cjwright]

According to the rules the kid dropped the $$$, the talking should have stopped then. His money and the rule book should be all the talking that was needed. If there was nothing to hide then Star and Yamaha would have just let it go in accordance with the cash and the rules. I would carry that $17, 000 to every track for the rest of my career just to keep them honest.

[jconstantine]

Should bring Matt Walker on to see if he is down to really fight someone who paid him?

[daveb]

Let’s face it, the whole thing is a complete cluster