In the early days of rallycross in the United States, names like Ken Block, Brian Deegan, and Travis Pastrana were fixtures on every entry list. Fast forward to 2024 and there’s a sense of deja vu, because once again, Block, Deegan, and Pastrana are on track together.
As the Nitrocross fraternity headed to Salt Lake City, the Side-by-Side class was bolstered with the additions of Kira, and Mika Block, as well as Hailie Deegan, the next generation now carrying the torch.
“I think it’s awesome,” says Pastrana, now playing the role of elder statesman alongside the young chargers. “I lined up next to Hailie Deegan in (Sunday’s) Semifinal race and just to be able to go out there and see that it’s such a passion – you see it a lot with NASCAR, but now it’s awesome to see here.
“And it’s not just that they’re getting into the same sports that their parents were in, but they’re getting into all the (motor)sports. It shows that racing’s in their blood, it doesn’t matter if it’s four wheels or two wheels, supercross or TT, it’s awesome to see everyone out.”
Speaking of his time in Nitrocross, Mika Block, the youngest of Ken’s three children, says, “It’s awesome. To be able to race against all these people like Travis and Gray (leadbetter) and everybody, it’s so much fun. Especially Hailie."
“The Side-by-Sides are amazing, they’re a great way to get into racing and especially here in Nitrocross because they’re such an easy car to get into and drive and be competitive if you have a little bit of racing skill with everybody and you can be competitive with Travis and everybody in those cars.”
Deegan, the eldest child of sometime Nitrocross racer Brian Deegan, is at a different stage of her career. Far from starting out, she's been climbing the NASCAR ranks, but began her career in the off-road realm.
“It’s definitely cool,” she says of her return to where she started. “The Block kids are out here racing and they’re all great kids. We’re all here having fun, having a blast and it’s a great time.
“It’s been really cool because I like coming here and racing UTVs, Can-Ams are great fun to drive, I drive them all the time at my house, so I haven’t really got away from dirt, but I’d say (I have) the racing side, so it’s good to be back.”
SxS racing may be a different world to stock car racing, but that doesn’t mean Deegan took a lot of adjusting on her comeback, her prior experience – and the fact she drives similar cars for fun most days – coming in handy.
“I drive Can-Ams at the house, we have a track at our house so I feel like it’s more about getting used to the Maverick R because it’s a little bit more new to me. I usually drive an X, so I’m definitely getting used to that – the shifting even though it’s automatic shifting – and kind of timing it all and all the different inputs (right).”
While we’re seeing the same surnames as yesteryear, the kids aren’t feeling the pressure, with Kira Block admitting that while it’s there, she relishes it.
“It feels good, it’s a lot of pressure, but I’m here to take on the pressure,” she says confidently. “I’m ready for it and I can’t wait to climb up the ranks and start beating everyone else.
This isn’t just a case of directly following in their father’s footsteps, either. Deegan’s still aiming to reach the top of NASCAR, while the Block kids, still in their teens, have their sights set on a range of different things.
Lia is climbing up the open-wheel ranks in Europe, dovetailing a full season in F1 Academy with the odd appearance in Nitrocross’ Group E and the National stage rally championship in America, having already raced in Nitrocross NEXT and SxS. Mika meanwhile wants to continue in Nitrocross before heading to Europe, while Kira is eyeing horsepower of a different kind.
“I’m planning to go to the Olympics and horseback riding, then I’ll start racing again,” she says, adding that “the adrenaline, the speed, and the jumps” of Nitrocross will serve her well in her burgeoning equestrian career.
“But I’m excited and I’m ready to come back when I’m done and be the best,” she insists, firing off a warning shot to racers of tomorrow.
No matter where the next generation ends up, Pastrana’s is confident that the kids will be alright.
“You see with Danger Boy (Haiden Deegan, Brian’s middle child), not in the freestyle yet but learned to backflip at 10 or whatever it was, and now winning two world championships back-to-back, exceeding, if that’s even possible, what Brian Deegan did on a dirt bike. And with his daughter in NASCAR and jumping into Nitrocross, it’ll be interesting to see where Hailie goes and how far she can go as well,” he says.
“Lia Block has less seat time than anyone in any of the classes out here. Everyone’s like ‘oh she’s Ken Block’s daughter,’ of course she is, but she just has more confidence and natural ability than anyone I’ve seen in anyone. And Kira’s pretty quick but Mika is really driven as well so I’d really love to see where that goes.
“My job is to make this as exciting as possible and kind of set a benchmark so everyone knows this next generation, these top females and top kids coming up. So it’s fun for me as well.”