The List: Triple Digit Points Leaders

#100 Mike Brown and #111 Grant Langston: In 2001 two riders who had been in Europe racing the previous season—South African Grant Langston and Tennessee's Mike Brown—came back to battle Pastrana for his #1 plate, only to have Pastrana drop out late in the summer after a huge crash at Unadilla, followed by another at the X Games. So, the two old GP rivals—GL had won the title in '00 and Brownie was a close third, with British rider James Dobb between them—went at it for the AMA title. Langston had the points lead going into the final moto at Steel City, only to break the rear wheel on his KTM, giving the title to the veteran Brown on the Pro Circuit Kawasaki.

#103 Chad Reed: In 2002 Chad Reed arrived in the U.S. to race for Yamaha of Troy in the 125 East Region of supercross. He wore #103 on his YZ250F and took the points lead from the get-go, winning the opener in Indianapolis. From there he would win five more in a row and clinched the title, but he still had one more round to go in Detroit for a perfect season—only the second ever in 125 SX. Reed's run was tripped up by Suzuki's Branden Jesseman, who topped Reedy by barely a second to end Reed's run at perfection.

#259 James Stewart: Sticking with 2002, Kawasaki's precocious rookie James Stewart finished second in his first professional race, the 125 West Region opener at Anaheim, and then won the second race at San Diego to take the points lead. But he would not hold on as a bunch of crashes in Dallas ruined his title hopes. Stewart then started the outdoors with two wins (Glen Helen and Hangtown) to hold the early points lead, but then he crashed and hurt his knee at High Point, finishing 12th overall. That gave the points lead to another triple-digit number, the aforementioned #103 Chad Reed, who won his first national. Stewart would get the lead back and take the title, marking the second year in a row that a triple-digit rider who win the 125 Pro Motocross title.

Make it three in a row: In 2003, after Stewart won the 125 West Region on #259, he crashed out of the Las Vegas East/West Showdown and would miss the first four 125 Nationals with a broken collarbone. That opened the door for a thrilling showdown between Red Bull KTM teammates #105 Ryan Hughes and #111 Grant Langston, with #3 Mike Brown in there too until he was injured. In the end Langston would emerge with the title he unfortunately lost in 2001 to that broken wheel.  

Actually, four in row: #259 James Stewart won all but one moto in 2004, after winning the 125SX East Region title. So it was #100, #259, #111 and #259 again from 2001-2004 in 125 Pro Motocross. 

USA Kits in '05: In 2005 Ricky Carmichael won the 250 outdoor title on the #4 Suzuki while Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Ivan Tedesco took the 125 MX title on the #30 Kawasaki KXF250. Both were picked for Team USA and the FIM Motocross of Nations, with Kevin Windham (runner-up to RC) as the third man. Because Team USA had sat out the '04 MXON, they were assigned numbers 101, 102 and 103 for the race in Ernie, France. So they all decided to wear their Team USA kits and numbers at the final national of the season at Glen Helen, one of just two times in his big-bike outdoor career that Carmichael would not wear his trademark #4. (Can you remember the other time?)

#800 Mike Alessi: Mike Alessi won the opening round of the 2006 AMA 125 Nationals aboard his Red Bull KTM 250 SX-F and for a week or two it seemed like he was on his way to the title. But then his amateur rival Ryan Villopoto found another gear and soon took over the points lead, never to look back.

Alessi again: In 2009 Alessi was again in the points lead, this time on the #800 RM-Z450 Suzuki in the big-bike class. After finishing second to RV at the Glen Helen opener, Alessi caught a break when Villopoto pulled out with a knee injury. Alessi then won the second round of the series at Hangtown and then again in Texas and seemed primed to finally earn his first professional title. But days before the next round at High Point he was practicing when he crashed in a slick patch of grass and smacked his kneecap on a fence post, smashing his patella into pieces. Just like that, his title run was over.

More Euros in ’07: In 2007 the AMA circuit got two new international visitors, New Zealand's Ben Townley and Frenchman Christophe Pourcel. Townley had moved here full time while Pourcel was just testing the waters in supercross. Both had won MX2 World Championships, and both would ride for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki—Villopoto's team. Pourcel—#377—went first in the West Region, battling Ryan Villopoto straight up in Anaheim and Phoenix, trading wins and runner-up finishes to tie RV in points before it was time to go back to Europe. Townley—#101—raced the 125 East and won the title, and then he battled Villopoto straight up at the start of Pro Motocross, winning the opener at Hangtown and then finishing second to RV at High Point, which meant another tie in points.

#118 Davi Millaps: When Davi Millsaps joined Team Honda in 2006 he wore #118 in the 125 East Region, albeit on a CRF250. He would win the series opener in St. Louis and then go on to win the title, the first for Honda's CRF250 thumper.

#338 J-Law: And don't forget the original #338, Yamaha of Troy's Jason Lawrence. He entered the Lites SX West Region in 2008 and really, really got under young Ryan Dungey's skin. J-Law was a joker, but he was also amazing on a motorcycle. He ended with the championship, though Dungey would get the last laugh in winning many more titles in his AMA Hall of Fame career. (And if we wanted to get technical about it, J-Law also won the opening moto of the '08 AMA Pro Motocross Series on #338, so he was briefly the points leader there too!)

Alessi & Pourcel again: Finally, in 2009, AMA Pro Racing decided to start awarding the red plate on a weekly basis for the points leader, rather than the defending champion. That's why you see #800 Mike Alessi with the red plate, as well as #377 Christophe Pourcel. He had returned to America and ended up winning the Lites SX East Region, and then led the Lites MX Series until a blown engine at the next-to-last round at Southwick cost him a clear shot at the title. He would also be leading the 2010 outdoor series with #377, only to end up with some bike breaks and then a broken arm costing him the title—the second year in a row Pourcel seemed to have it in the bag, only to lose it.

Pourcel (once again) and Tomac: Pourcel in 2010 was the last three-digit rider to lead the points and wear the red plates, but he wasn't the only one that summer. AMA Pro Motocross saw the debut of #243 Eli Tomac on the GEICO Honda at Hangtown, and the kid shocked everyone by winning the first round. That gave him the points lead and the red plates for round two in Texas, but he struggled in the heat that day, got heat exhaustion and took some time to recover.

#238 Haiden “Danger Boy” Deegan: And now, 14 years later, another true rookie is leading the points and wearing the red plates with his three-digit number, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Haiden Deegan. How long will he hold on to it? We'll start seeing tomorrow with the Spring Creek National!