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AMA Chevy Trucks 125cc U.S. Motocross Championship Series Round 12: Steel City Raceway Brown crossed the finish line in third position (we'll get to that story in a moment) and scored enough points to overtake Langston in the standings and officially become the new 125cc champ. "God was looking over me there," Brown said as he was handed his new number-one Thor jersey. "I just charged as hard as I could, and something happened to his bike and he got the bad luck this time. I've never won anything like this, and it's been a hard and long year driving back and forth to Ricky's [Carmichael]. I took no shortcuts this year, and it paid off." "It's just unfortunate that this was the way that it had to end," Langston said at the end of the day. "I gave it all that I had this year, but that's racing. It was a real rollercoaster of a year. Things started off well, and then I had that injury to my shoulder. It seemed like the year was over then, but then I came back and got some better results and I was back into the championship hunt. Everything seemed fine, but to see that rear wheel collapse was just an unreal emotion. I thought that I had the Championship, but in one lap, everything went wrong." To throw yet another wrench in the whole story, newly recrowned 250cc National Champion Ricky Carmichael took a step back from the quarterliter wars in Pennsylvania and decided to race in the 125cc class for two reasons - one, to surpass Mark Barnett's all-time record of 25 125cc overall motocross wins (the two were tied with 25 wins apiece coming in); and two, to help out fellow Kawasaki teammate and good friend Mike Brown in the event that he needed help to win the title. (The ironic thing was that Brown actually assisted Carmichael achieve his goal, and in the end, it was the Chevy Trucks Kawasaki rider who benefited the most.) Carmichael was credited with the overall win with a 3-1 score, giving him sole possession of the 125cc mark. After seeing Langston off to the side of the track with a DNF, Brown was alert enough (despite his ecstasy) to assist Carmichael. Brown, who could have held on for second place in the moto and still scored the overall win, dropped off the pace and allowed Amsoil/Dr. Martens/Journeys/Competition Accessories' Branden Jesseman by for second. Brown's 1-3 score tied Carmichael's, but Carmichael's higher moto-two score gave him the overall win. Aboard his Chad Watts-tuned, Pro Circuit-modified KX 125, Carmichael took the win and goes into the record books as the winningest 125cc rider of all time. He also did it during what was his last race on the Kawasakis By DAVE DERINGER PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN DELMONT,PA,SEPT.2 n what had to be one of the most bizarre and dramatic endings to a National Motocross round, not to mention a championship-deciding race, Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/SplitFire's Mike Brown won the 2001 125cc National title at suburban Pittsburgh's Steel City Raceway, after KTM Red Bull's Grant Langston had one extremely ill-timed mechanical malfunction. Going into the race, Langston had a little breathing room with a ninepoint cushion, and after Brown won the first moto and Langston crossed in second, six points separated the two as they went into the final moto of the year. But while running in position to win the title, and with only several laps remaining in the moto, Langston had his rear wheel basically disintegrate, and he was forced to come to a stop as a huge crowd (estimated as one of Steel City's largest ever at over 20,000) watched in pure shock and amazement. Langston had appeared to be riding with a flat tire in the last few laps of the second moto, but that was far from the case. In actuality, his rear wheel was falling apart (see sidebar). Eventually, the wheel stopped working completely, and the South African dropped out of the moto to be credited with a zero-point 32nd position. I ["EUY THU[~S U.S. 115[[ mOTO[HOSS £"flmPIOn (Top) Mike Brown (100) and Grant Langston (iii) go at it in the drama-filled 125cc race, In which Brown capitalized on a mechanical DNF by his rival to overtake him and take the title. lAbove) After many years of trying, Brown celebrates his first major professional title. cue I e n _ _ S • SEPTEMBER 12, 2001 17