Stoppin’ In: Mike Brown

Brownie talks X-Games, MX and Off-road

By:

Stoppin’ In: Mike Brown

Story and Photos by Shan Moore

Mike Brown waits for the start of RedBud this past weekend.

Mike Brown is one diverse dude! After winning a national motocross title in 2001, the Tennessee native switched gears and moved into the world of off-road racing in an effort to prolong his career. You might say it was a successful move. Since making the switch, Brown has added a WORCS off-road title, and most recently he won this year’s X-Games EnduroX race, which is remarkable considering he just turn 40 in May!

Brownie is also a veteran of ISDE and will be traveling to Germany this September as a member of the U.S. World Trophy team. But to get ready KTM is allowing him to contest a few of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross rounds in the 450 class. Motocross.com caught up with Brownie at the RedBud round of the series to talk a little shop.

Brownie will be going to Six Days in September.

Let’s start off talking about your X-Games win; how big was that for you?

It was big. I won a national championship in motocross years ago, and then I moved into off-road and won a WORCS title. But that was my first-ever EnduroCross win and it was huge for me. That series is hard. I hate watching it on TV because it looks easy compared to what it’s really like.

It was a long time coming. Were you getting a bit frustrated?

I’ve won a lot in other forms of racing, and that one eluded me for a while, but it all finally came together. I was focused from the start and I just put it all together in the heat and in the main.

So what are you doing here at RedBud?

I just wanted to race. KTM pulled out of the WORCS series and I wanted to go racing so Antti Kallonen said he would take me outdoor racing, so the plan is to do four or five of these for the rest of the year. It’s good because I want to keep racing because it keeps my speed up. If I sit at home them you can lose some of that.

How does it feel to be back on a motocross track.

It’s good. I haven’t been on a motocross track in a while, I’ve been busy with the off-road stuff: Endurocross and Baja. I rode the last two days back home in Tennessee and it’s good to be back. I enjoy it; it’s all the same but a bit different at the same time.

The last time I saw you on a motocross track you were riding a 250.

Yeah, this is my first time to race a 450 in motocross. I enjoy riding the 450, it’s not exactly a lazy man’s bike, but on the 250s the kids let it hang out too much.

You’re going to the ISDE again, this year it’s in Germany.

Yeah , that’s a big deal for me, I like Six Days. It’s a lot of hassle going over there, but this year the AMA is raising the bar we should have a good team. They are really putting in a big effort and it will be great if we could go over there and get a win. The goal this year is to be at least top three, but we really want to win that thing.

You’re not afraid to race anything, are you?

No, that’s what keeps me going. Everything I do week in and week out is a little different and that keeps it interesting. I don’t think I would like to do the whole outdoor series, which would be tough at my age, but going back and forth and doing this and Baja and EnduroCross is fun. I’m probably having the best time of my racing career right now, doing all of these different races.

You just turned 40. Is it getting harder to do this?

Nah, it’s okay. I don’t feel 40, that’s for sure. I can tell I’m a little older than I was and I don’t take as many chances as I did. But I still feel good and I still enjoy it, and as long as I still enjoy it I’ll keep doing it.

Related Posts:

Add a Comment

By submitting a comment you grant Motocross.com a perpetual license to reproduce your words, name and web site in attribution.
Comments may be removed at an administrators discretion. Your email is used for verification purposes only and will never be shared.

Fantasy Corner