The everyman when it comes to riding any bike you give him might just be Carson Brown. Yeah, he top-tens it in Monster Energy Supercross on a 250F, but that’s not even half of his story. Brown’s specialty is ripping on different bikes, from 1970’s pit bikes to two-strokes. That makes him the perfect candidate for Red Bull Straight Rhythm and the Pacific Northwest native weathered some late rain at Saturday’s Red Bull Straight Rhythm to claim the victory in the 125cc class. From riding old twin shock bikes on his tight supercross track back home to winning the Pit Bike of Nations for Team USA just a few weeks ago at RedBud, Carson Brown will ride anything anywhere. And fast.
So when a 125cc two stroke class on the beach came calling again, Brown answered the call and took on some really talented riders to claim top spot at Huntington Beach. Afterwards, we caught up with Brown to hear about his day.
Racer X: Alright Carson Brown, your 125cc class winner! Well we know you can ride everything, but how much different is trying to ride a 125 on a track like this?
Carson Brown: Yeah, you know, it’s gnarly! Especially with that rain there at the end, it was going to be all about who could do the rhythms consistently and luckily, I was able to get the triple-triple both times there and get ‘er done. But man, it was slick through the whoops and a couple sections. Especially off that starting grate there but it ended up good. It’s such a cool event and I’m so happy to be here.
How much of a challenge is it to learn this? Because it’s pretty big! They almost cater a little bit more maybe to the 250cc class. There’s some big hucks to do on a 125 out there!
Yeah honestly! There’s the three big singles and then the next sections ahead and you lose track because you’re so focused on riding and doing everything that you’re like, “Oh wait, which section is next and where am I on the track?” It took a while to dial it in. Especially some of those bigger rhythms because you really had to be on point. It was cool and like you said, it caters to the 250s so getting some of those rhythms on a little bike was a stretch.
And how does it feel compared to a supercross track? You build up speed as the lane continues to go on, so you’re cooking pretty fast by the end of it. How hard is it to meter that you’re not going to triple something too far, for example?
Yeah exactly, especially on the practice sets, I kept overjumping some stuff. Like after that big tabletop, you have to really slow down for that next section and a few of these lanes were like that. So it was really like a thinking game because you’re not worried about the corners and you’re not worried necessarily about line choice because everyone is in their lane. It’s all just about who can keep the momentum and keep the rear wheel driving.
Like you said, it rained there towards the end so the grate up top also got difficult. On a 125 it’s not easy to start on a grate in the first place but then it starts raining. How difficult was it to not lose grip and still get that step down clean?
Honestly, I was sitting down there, it started raining, and I heard some of the guys saying, “Oh my gosh, we’re going to endo off that thing!” because they were going off and they were saying how sketchy it was. I was sitting there biting my nails. I went off that right side first and I spun all the way off that thing and kind of cased that first jump a little bit. I was like, “Man, if it rains any more, the left is going to be worse.” But luckily the left was better and honestly it just was so slick on the backside of those single. You go down them a little crooked after scrubbing and you really had to straighten it out quick.
Did it make it tougher to stay in your lane, too, with it being slick at the end?
Yeah absolutely. Especially in the whoops. The whoops no matter how straight or fast I went into them, it just wanted to drag you into the middle. And you see that clean spot in the middle and you’re like, you know it wouldn’t be slippery there. So, it was really hard to stay in our lane.
Obviously winning this is pretty cool but is winning Pit Bike of Nations better or is this still better?
You know, honestly any win is amazing. The Pit Bike of Nations, the crowd was absolutely insane, but this one was cool because it’s on the beach and everything. They’re both super cool events.
We see on Instagram; you ride just about everything. So riding a 125 at this event, how does what you do at home and riding all those different bikes kind of carry into doing well here too?
Yeah, I’ve got a super technical track at the house, and I’ve got little transitions and stuff on different bikes. It helps because you’ve got to be really precise at that place or else you’re on the ground quick. It definitely helps with the supercross and just being aware of what the bike is doing and whatever it is, it’s cool just to feel all the different settings and get one dialed for a race.
Alright, big win here, what’s the plans for 2023?
You know, we’ve got the Australia WSX next weekend and then we have a little bit of time. I’m going to do west coast supercross. I’m not signed with a team or anything yet. Worst case, I’ll just do it on my own. So either way, you’ll see me on the 250 at west coast supercross races.
[Main Image: Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool]
