Thomas Brown Takes Fourth at Underground MX
Tuesday, April 19, 2016 | 1:00 PM
Root River Racing/ Maxxis rider Thomas Brown competed at his home state of Texas in the second round of the AMA ATV Motocross National Championship. The event was held at Underground MX. Brown persevered through difficult track conditions and mechanical issues to finish fourth.
An unexpectedly quick gate drop on the first moto caught several riders off guard, including Brown. “We came out bad, they dropped the gate too quick. I did my count, its supposed to be 5-10 seconds, and I don’t think it was even 5 because as soon as I looked down it was falling. I wasn’t ready, so I got a bad jump,” said Brown.
Despite the difficult start, Brown put his head down and pushed through the pack. “I went out there and charged up to third. I was pretty pumped on that. It was not where we wanted, but it wasn’t a bad moto, so we will keep working forward.”
Before the start of the second moto, Mother Nature unleashed buckets of rain, saturating the track. Thankfully for Brown, his Maxxis tires were ready to handle anything thrown at them.
“My Maxxis tires are hooking up great. We almost went with the big tires for that mud race, but it looked like it was going to dry out, so we went with the smaller tires. Then as soon as we got back from the site lap the sky opened up again, but the Maxxis tires hooked up great with the top three all running Maxxis tires at the start.”
After a good start to the second moto, Brown’s bad luck struck in the form of a mechanical issue that lead to a crash, not that it kept Brown down long before he remounted and charged forward.
“I holeshot third and then I had a little technical difficulty. I lost my front brakes right on lap one and then I wrecked trying to figure it out. I regrouped and just rode with out them, and was able to work up to sixth. I was so mad at that point, and I had to calm down just to get back to where I did. We were trying to push forward but it was tough with no front brakes. We are going to take a look back and see what happened and fix it.”
Brown is left hungry for more after a difficult weekend, and looking forward to podium finishes and wins in the upcoming rounds. “It was a little behind where I was expecting myself to be, but hopefully that will be our bad race and we will just keep moving forward. I was hoping for that moto win this weekend and starting this championship hunt getting up towards that red plate, but it’s a long season,” stated Brown.
Brown is very happy with all the sponsors and supporters behind him this season, and gives them the credit for his success. “A big thanks this weekend is to DASA Racing. We went out to California last week and we found a whole bunch of power. The motor ran great. Also, the JB racing and FOX combo is by far the best I have rode. I am really happy with all my sponsors this year, and I just want to prove to everybody they are the best out there and prove that I can get up there and win races.”
The next round of the AMA ATV Motocross National Championship will be held on April 23-24 at Muddy Creek Raceway in Blountville, TN where Brown will be looking for a win.
2016 Thomas Brown Sponsors:
Root River Racing, Maxxis, JB Racing, DASA Racing, FOX, HiPer Racing, FLY Racing, SSi Decals, Pro Motorsports, Hinson Racing, Yamaha, Yamalube, GYTR, Rath Racing, Precision Racing Products, Fuel Customs, FourWerx Carbon, CP Carillo, Power Madd, Tire Balls, Ride 100%