Pierce Brown

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post-race show presented by decal works Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the VitalMX post-race show, recapping the first playoff of the 2026 SMX World Championship post-season.

Plenty to discuss and therefore I think this is going to be a slightly different post-race show.

Perhaps less emphasis on the results, the format does of course call for that, and a little more focus on SMX as a whole, as Columbus certainly...

i think so i i get my counter immediately is i think it's a it shows me there's still a problem all the way around yes outdoors is is a bit flat in terms of venues and locations

so i get what you're getting at okay so let's start with the elephant in the room and this doesn't even need to be said columbus's historic cruise stadium not the vision for smx not fit for smx and i am willing and judge this harshly if you'd like, I am willing to give Feld the benefit of the doubt, because I do not believe that they think that this was awesome.

I do not think that they were there like, why is everyone unhappy with Columbus? This is exactly what we were dreaming of.

I look at it, and I think they would admit this as a stopgap.

From the LCQ.

I'll go Pierce Brown.

That's a good one too.

I like Pierce Brown for a lot of the same reasons that Steve said.

Great starter, a lot of sprint speed, can get the start.

And listen, every time the guy's freaking been healthy, he almost wins Supercross races.

And don't forget SMX playoff races a la Vegas 2024.

That is the greatest shout out to the Blue Crew because Pierce Brown was a horrible starter his whole career.

Listen to some of these names.

Max Anstey and Pierce Brown, they're racing in the wildcard.

They won Supercross races this year.

Nick Romano, I believe, is going to be back.

This is going to be almost main event looking with some of the talent on the line.

Well, you nailed it because we have race winning capable guys in the wildcard, especially in that 250 class.

You think about McAdoo, Anstey, Pierce Brown, all three of those guys have been in the fight to win races this season.

Now it's going to be difficult because every single weekend they're going to be 17th gate pick at best, most likely.

I'll pick a 251.

Honestly, I think I just picked this guy because of where he currently sits, and it's Pierce Brown.

He has to go to the LCQ every week.

Now, at the moment, I think five riders will go through the LCQ every week, maybe six.

So it's not going to be excellent for him to find good opportunities to get good starts.

I don't think he's necessarily that great of a starter anyway.

And while Pierce Brown isn't a name that you maybe put up there with Davies or Shimoda or someone who could or should win this thing, he has won an SMX race in the past.

And so I feel like he deserves a little bit of credit to maybe be in that discussion.

Looking back at Iron Man, you know who didn't have a poopy Iron Man in JT's words? It was Paul Perabinos.

524 on the day uh paul crushed it uh good job for that we all got ffl one moto i think it was probably um hunter maybe um or davies i don't know um 524 for paul 388 for marks 360 for me 342 for dan 323 jt uh clayton 214 good god clayton 214 214 holy shit um yeah jesus um well and for me i had pierce brown awesome 100 points he qualified well he had a really crappy iron man 2025 but i thought he could uh could be better i got that that was great uh kilroy uh came down from canada to race he's a The hard charger guy, 78 points.

That was great.

And that's it, man.

Dan, who'd you have for Ironman?

And it was a rough go for me.

I could not pick Pierce Brown or Landon Gordon.

Had him the week before, so that was a bummer.

He's a start guy.

Well, I mean, think about was it Pierce Brown that in the playoffs last year just came alive, right? Had some good races throughout the season, but then, okay, now it's only a three-race championship essentially, right? And so you've got to be thinking, okay, maybe not a fully clean slate.

He's going to be – Five points down on the lead, but five points when we've already established the first race is going to be single points, double points, triple points.

Yeah, it doesn't take much.

He's

definitely shown enough to get a guaranteed contract.

Pierce Brown, another star kid who's got tons of speed.

Injuries have knocked him down a bunch.

Yeah.

Pierce Brown.

Thank God for Pierce Brown getting a clean couple of motos in his, in his comeback.

Is he, is he with the team next year or so?

Yeah.

I mean, do you know how hard it is to get a fourth in that class? Super impressive.

Pierce Brown, I was stoked for him in fifth.

He was kind of, I don't want to say invisible in the motos, but he didn't get a lot of press.

But fifth overall, good for him.

That would be my early tip, let's say.

Congrats to Pierce Brown back in the top five.

He wasn't really close to that pre-Ironman, so that was a big step for him.

It's just littered with Yamaha riders, this top 10.