Carson Brown is the rare supercross racer who makes mains but is actually known more for his riding away from the track. His skills on pit bikes and two-strokes, any kind of dirt bike, really, are legendary, and you can follow the madness on his Instagram account (@carsonbrown_910), where he rips on RM85s, KDX200s, and CR125s.
We checked in with Brown last summer when he ripped a two-stroke at the Washougal National.
At one point Brown was going to try a Yamaha YZ125 in supercross this year, which would have made for two two-strokes out there along with Gared Steinke. Then the AEO Powersports KTM Racing team called Brown with a 250F offer. Austin Black had gotten hurt and Brown got a fill-in ride. Brown crashed out of Anaheim 1, but has gone 13-10-6 in the three races since. The sixth-place at Anaheim is a new career-high. Brown spoke to Steve Matthes after the race.
Racer X: Carson Brown! Sixth place! You’ve got to be stoked!
Carson Brown: Yeah, we actually had a pretty rough day in practice and qualifying. I was stoked to turn it around in the heat race, got a good start there and ended up fifth in there. Had a good gate pick for the main, and just kinda’ worked my way up to sixth, there were a few guys that passed me a few guys that went down and honestly I just stayed up, rode consistent, and had the best night I’d had in a long time.
Where you doing the math a little bit? Looking at [Jo] Shimoda and Vince [Friese] [crashing] and thinking of where you might finish?
Yeah, I knew that guys would be going down at the end of the race at some point, I just didn’t know when. I saw Jo’s pit board say he was in sixth, and I saw [Jalek] Swoll not that far in front of me those last few laps. I put in a charge there at the end but I couldn’t quite get it. Hopefully we can throw ‘er in the top five at the last couple of rounds.
I liked this track tonight, the whoops were big, which they have been at all the rounds. The track just looked fun and I know you’re into that.
Yeah, honestly when we were at track walk today, we were all saying, “Man this is your kind of track!” It was tight rhythms and weird jumps that don’t flow very well, so I was like, “Yeah this is it man!”
You had the wall double jump….
Yeah it is just like my house. So it ended up being good. Like I said, I struggled in practice, but once I got out there in the heat race I was like, “Here we go.”
Look, we know you have great skills on a bike, we know that. You can lay down a lap time. Is there a snowball effect sometimes that can go either way? You get that good lap time, you get that good gate pick. It can go that way, but it can go the other way.
Absolutely. At every round I’ve bettered myself this year so hopefully we can keep that momentum going. We’re feeling good. We’re consistent, not out of control. In year’s past, lets face it, I’ve had some sketchy moments out there. I haven’t really had that this year. Just been putting in consistent laps.
![Brown's AEO Powersports KTM Racing KTM 250 SX-F.]()
Brown's AEO Powersports KTM Racing KTM 250 SX-F. Align Media ![Brown]()
Brown Align Media ![]()
"Eventually we’ll do that [YZ125] but we’ve got to race when we can." - Carson Brown Align Media
Yeah the first round was not good for you [Brown crashed in the whoops and didn’t make the Anaheim 1 main event] but other than that, it’s been good.
Yeah, I had that one freak incident. Everyone has something happen at some point, and I’m glad I got that out of the way at the first one. Hopefully we can keep it out of the danger zone.
A lot better on this team than on a YZ125, right?
Yeah, the YZ125 would have been epic and the fans would have been stoked, but these guys gave me the call up to ride this bike and I knew I had to take it. Eventually we’ll do that [YZ125] but we’ve got to race when we can.
