Meet Pierce Brown

October 10, 2019

The steady stream of young riders that enter the talent pool each year is one of the unique things about pro motocross. Can you think of any other professional sports that have as many high school-age athletes as ours? Next year’s starting line will feature a handful of new names in high-profile spots with factory-backed teams, with Pierce Brown being one of them. The Utah teenager will start his 250 career in 2020 with a spot at Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM, a deal that helped him seamlessly transition from amateur to pro this past summer. “This has been in the works for a while. I signed my deal in 2017 or 2018, I can’t remember, and it was to carry me through my first year of racing pro,” he shared at the Red Bull Straight Rhythm. “I’ve known since then that this is the team that I’m going to be on, so I’ve spent the last couple of years building a relationship with everyone on the team. There’s no other team I would rather be on.”

As an A Class rider, Brown’s 2019 program was aimed at peaking in August for the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Motocross and the final three rounds of the 2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. When injuries blasted the TLD KTM’s initial line-up early in the summer, the team decided to make use of an amendment to the rule book that allowed current amateurs to try their hand at pro racing and signed Brown up for the 2019 Florida Motocross in June. An unknown to the majority of the people that watched the race, Brown held his own in the heat against the 250 class. “Florida was the one race that I got to do and it was really good, but it was a brutal weekend. I came away with a top-10 in the second moto and 12^th overall on the day. So I was stoked on that,” he recalled.

The finish in Florida gained Brown some more attention ahead of Loretta’s and he was expected to be a contender for the A Class honors, but a shoulder injury kept him from making the most of the momentum. “I broke it a week after the race in Florida. When I went to the doctor, they said it was going to be an eight-week recovery,” he explained. “But we had Loretta’s in four weeks, so we cut the recovery in half and did everything we could. By the time Loretta’s came, I was nowhere near where I needed to be.” Brown raced four motos between the 250 Pro Sport and Open Pro Sport classes, but as the injury worsened and the chance at a top finish went away, he decided to sit out the final motos and spend the rest of the summer properly healing the injury. “It was so heartbreaking for me, because that was my last Loretta’s and I hated to go out the way that I did. Luckily, I have an amazing team behind me, from the mechanics to TK (team manager Tyler Keefe), that showed me there is a bigger picture. Going pro next year is what I need to worry about, because Loretta’s isn’t going to define who I am, but the pro career is. So, I just had to let go and forget about Loretta’s. It could have gone worse in some ways. We’ve just moved on since then and put the focus elsewhere.”

Back on the bike, Brown has relocated to Southern California in order to be part of the team program. “When I was younger, we would drive down to California every other to hit a Gold Cup race or something like that, so I’m familiar with the area,” he said. “I just moved down here full-time, at least until Supercross starts, so it’s been a change but I’m liking it so far.” The “until Supercross starts” note is important, because at some point in the next nine months Brown will move across the country and train at the Baker’s Factory in Central Florida as part of a reformed 250-centered program that will be led by Mike Brown. “The deal is that I will be working with Mike Brown, which will be under Aldon. I think we will move to Florida, for sure when the outdoors start, and maybe if I do East Coast for Supercross,” Brown explained.

But that’s a long ways away. For now, Brown’s focus is on learning the rhythm and setup of Supercross with the team. The Amateur All-Stars class at the 2019 Monster Energy Cup being the last race of his A Class career and he will go full-time pro in the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross Series. How does Brown like the shift to SX? “Supercross is fun [Laughs]. I feel like my style leans towards Supercross, how I ride the bike. I hadn’t put my full focus on Supercross until now. I have been on it a couple of times in the last few years, so it’s nothing too crazy for me. I’m trying to get everything dialed in.”