Monster Energy Interview: Landen Gordon

Monster Energy/Team Green/Kawasaki’s Landen Gordon definitely had one of the more interesting paths to his Loretta’s championship this year. 

Coming into Saturday’s Supermini 2 final, Gordon was in great position at the start to earn his second career title at the Monster Energy AMA Amateur Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. Taking a 1-2 finish into the third and final moto’s start gate, Gordon got the revs up on his tricked out Team Green KX85, clicked into 2nd gear and, with laser focus on the 30-second board, he dumped the hot clutch and freakin’ stalled his bike just as the gate dropped!

Dead flippin’ last out of the Supermini 2 Moto 3 start – with the championship on the line.

The end result is a great story, as the champion Gordon will tell below, beginning with a look at the up-and-coming MX superstar’s path to Loretta’s, accounts of his great first and second Supermini 2 motos and the epic story behind his Moto 3 Last-to-Championship adventure off the start.

Right out of the gate, congrats from everyone at Monster Energy on your Supermini 2 championship at Loretta’s. How’s it feel to be a multi-time Loretta’s champ?

Thank you. Yeah, it feels great having two Loretta’s championships under my belt. Definitely a lot of hard work goes into Loretta’s, so it’s awesome to finally get another championship this year. More to come in the next few years. 

Before we get into discussing the Supermini 2 motos at Loretta’s, talk about your Road to Loretta’s this year. From Districts to Regionals and your training regiment, leading into the most important amateur motocross race of the year for you and Monster Energy/Team Green/Kawasaki.

I had a pretty smooth road to Loretta’s this year. My district race for Loretta’s this year was in Bakersfield, California. The district race went well and I won all the races there. Then regionals were at Fox Raceway in California. I raced both Supermini classes and the Schoolboy 1 class. I ended up have a great weekend, winning both Supermini classes and getting a third in Schoolboy 1. After regionals, we went right back to work with off and on-the-bike training. This included running, mountain biking, core and other leg and core exercises. 

Right on. So kicking off Loretta’s, you opened with a big result, which featured a comeback from near disaster in that opening Supermini 2 moto on Wednesday. Talk about what went down in that moto, from your start to the tip over (which included losing the lead) and your subsequent rally back to the moto victory.

Yeah, had a crazy first moto in Supermini 2 on Wednesday. I got a 2nd place start in that moto made a pass into 1st within the first straightaway, and then I got three or four good laps in before I ended up going down in the mechanic's area turn, which caused me to fall back to 4th place. After that I put my head down, charged back into 1st place and controlled a demanding lead. I got a lot of confidence from that race, which helped me going into the next few days.

No doubt set the stage for Motos 2 & 3. How much of a momentum builder was that opening moto, especially considering your comeback to victory against some of the world’s top talent in that class.

For sure, Moto 1 gave me a lot of confidence in my abilities to have the speed and be able to pass the world’s top Supermini riders.

Thursday’s Supermini 2 moto had you out of the gate in a position (8th) that had you playing some early catch up. You hooked up with Seth Dennis (KTM) and went at it pretty good, but that allowed Moto 2 leader, fellow Monster Energy racer Deacon Denno (Husqvarna), to open up on his lead. You then put down the fast lap, around the race’s midway point, and moved up to 4th. Talk about your mindset at that point, and what went down from there.

(I) got a really bad start in Moto 2, causing me to mess up in the Ten Commandments (jump sequence) due to all of the rain Wednesday night. After the costly mistake in the Commandments, I fell back to 11th or 12th place. After that I was on a mission to catch back up to the front. My mindset was to catch up to a spot to where I was in contention for the championship, but also try not to make any more mistakes. 

So it’s now Saturday, and all the chips were on the table for the Supermini 2 crown. You were in the best position, with a 1-2 coming into Saturday, but a rough start (to say the least) put you outside the top ten. Talk about what went down at the start.

Kawasaki had put in a new clutch for the last race and I had rode the bike around the pits breaking in the clutch, but I guess it wasn’t enough. As the thirty-second board flipped to the side, I shifted to second and started to rev up the bike. Right then I noticed the bike had started to move and I knew the clutch was hot, I tried to keep the bike from moving, but it was too late the bike had died, and the gate had dropped - and my heart rate had spiked. It took me about 5 to 6 kicks to get the bike started, I was dead last.

Oh, $hit! What was going through your mind as you worked your way back up into the top five (5th) nearing the end of the race?

As I worked my way into the top five, with only a six-lap moto due to the rain, I knew I had to keep my head down no matter what was to happen.

Supermini Moto 3 race leader Denno went down when he was battling with Canyon Richards (KTM). That took a bunch of pressure off you. Did you see, during the race, that Deacon had gone down?

Yes. Once I saw Deacon Denno go down I knew what changed, but I keep going and made two more passes in the big sand sweeper before the finish line which secured me the championship. 

Regardless of what was going on around you, you charged all the way back to 2nd place – and not only earned the Supermini 2 crown, but put an exclamation point on it. Talk about the elation when you crossed the finish line for the third and final time, knowing that you’d won your second career Loretta’s championship.

Once I had crossed the finish line, all of the emotions had hit me. I couldn’t believe I had stalled it on the line, pretty much blowing the championship - and then coming back to 2nd place to win the championship. It was truly insane. There was also a lot of pressure on the that race, not only because of the championship on the line, but that it was my last race on the Supermini. I proved to myself to never give up, no matter how hard it can get. Hopefully I can make it easier on myself next time though. (Laughter) 

That’s awesome. So what are your plans for the rest of the summer, and into the fall with motocross?

My plans for the rest of the summer are to get comfortable on the 250 and race Mammoth with my brother. Also I plan to race Ponca and Mini O’s to end out the 2023 season. 

Solid plan. Again, congrats from everyone at Monster Energy, Landen, on your 2023 Loretta’s championship. 

Thanks Monster energy, and the whole crew for getting the clips at Loretta’s. ‘Til next time!