Brandon Layton 154

One of the few to beat out Stewart for a title at Loretta's I do believe...

Easy to say he woulda coulda etc
But that kid had incredible talent and although he may not have made it to Stewarts level as a pro he was pretty damn close as a amateur. I know we would be watching him in the 450 mains each week if not for his unfortunate accident

He used to kill it at Woodland. Jill would let him run the 125 class after he killed his mini classes. He was a super nice little kid too. The news of his death shook a lot of people up around here.

I used to watch Brandon run woodland all the time.....super fast kid. There really wasn't anyone else around the NW that could give him a descent race. If you go and walk the pits at Woodland , Washougal , PIR , Albany , ect.....you'll still see Layton 154 stickers on a lot of windows. The kid was a badass for sure!

Man, I miss that kid. Not only was he an incredible talent, but the kid and his step dad were awesome to have at the races. I remember one year at Trulson for the Pac West. It was a two day event and we all had to camp out, and there was that one group you always have at the overnighters that just would not stop partying and go to sleep. So, the next morning I come out of my tent at like 6am, and there's Brandon and his dad with Brandon's factory Super-Mini Yamaha backed up to the door of the camper the partiers were in. Brandon's dad floods up the 2 stroke nice and rich, pulls the choke, lights up the Super-mini and has someone pop open the door of the camper. He holds that thing wide open with the exhaust and two-stroke scream just filling up the camper. It was awesome!

I also remember signing up for 25+A/B on my 250, and watching Brandon jump everything on his 65 before I did. That sounds like an exaggeration, but there were two occasions (once in Port Angelas, and once at Monroe AX) that I made myself do something on the first lap because I saw Brandon do it on a 65 first. I , more than likely would of done the jumps eventually, but with a 65 doing it, I had to do it right away.

And, to put it in perspective how good he was, here's what Josh Hill said about Brandon in an interview I did with Josh in 2011.

What was your age difference with the late Brandon Layton #154? Did his death affect your racing at all?

Actually, it affects me more every time I think about it now. Brandon Layton would for sure be where I’m at now! There is no doubt in my mind he would have made it as a pro. He would have been the guy that Stewart had to worry about. He would have been that guy for sure! I look back, and it bums me out that a guy like that—at age twelve—was so committed and just got cheated. That bums me out. It’s a dangerous sport, and we know that’s the risk every time. I was so young back then, though, that it didn’t hit me that hard at the time.

Crazy lookin at these results

USSX98/3-3
OFFICIAL RESULTS
U.S. OPEN OF SUPERCROSS
MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 10, 1998
80cc 10 LAP MAIN EVENT
POS NUM RIDER NAME HOMETOWN MACH LAPS PTS SPONSORS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 321 BILLY LANINOVICH RAMONA, CA YAM 10 25 Yamaha Factory Racing/FMF/Troy Lee
2 100 JONATHAN SHIMP CANYON COUNTRY, CA YAM 10 22 Yamaha Motor Corp/Answer/1000 Oaks
3 116 RYAN MORAIS TURLOCK, CA YAM 10 20 Yamaha/Chaparral/Merced Power Sport
4 134 SHANE BESS OXNARD, CA SUZ 10 18 Suzuki/Sinisalo/Scott/N-Style
5 179 ADAM MENNENGA MOODY, TX KAW 10 16 Team Green/LCS/FMF/Answer/Silkolene
6 182 MICHAEL BLOSE PHOENIX, AZ YAM 10 15 Tom Morgan Racing/Yamaha of Arizona
7 125 DATON BEAVERS HEMET, CA KAW 10 14 Team Green/Pro Circuit/AXO Racewear
8 163 SEAN COLLIER SAUGUS, CA KAW 10 13 Team Green/AXO/Pro Circuit/1000 Oaks
9 121 NICK ALVAREZ HUNTINGTON BCH, CA HON 10 12 Chaparral Racing/AFAM/ZLT
10 168 SHANE LUSK BAINBRIDGE, GA HON 9 11 Honda/Fox/Shoei/Troy Lee Designs
11 112 DARYL ECKLUND LANCASTER, CA YAM 9 10 Team Chaparral/Noleen/Troy Lee Design
12 110 EDGARDO ROJAS MIAMI, FL KAW 7 9 Team Green/D&S Kawasaki/Fox
13 154 BRANDON LAYTON PALM SPRINGS, CA YAM 6 8 Team Yamaha/Lynwood Yamaha/DeVol
14 259 JAMES STEWART WINTER HAVEN, FL KAW 3 7 Team Green/Fox/Oakley/FMF

Time: 00:06:27.370

Margin Of Victory: 00:00:00.112

PRELIMINARY EVENTS
Heat 1 Heat 2 Last Chance
1-laps top 6 to Main 1-laps top 6 to Main 1-laps top 2 to Main
Pos # Name Pos # Name Pos # Name
1 116 RYAN MORAIS 1 110 EDGARDO ROJAS 1 259 JAMES STEWART
2 154 BRANDON LAYTON 2 179 ADAM MENNENGA 2 100 JONATHAN SHIMP
3 321 BILLY LANINOVICH 3 134 SHANE BESS Time: 00:05:27.290
4 125 DATON BEAVERS 4 182 MICHAEL BLOSE
5 112 DARYL ECKLUND 5 121 NICK ALVAREZ
6 168 SHANE LUSK 6 163 SEAN COLLIER
Time: 00:08:19.210 Time: 00:08:17.790

MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 11, 1998
80cc 10 LAP MAIN EVENT
POS NUM RIDER NAME HOMETOWN MACH LAPS PTS SPONSORS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 100 JONATHAN SHIMP CANYON COUNTRY, CA YAM 10 25 Yamaha Motor Corp/Answer/1000 Oaks
3 179 ADAM MENNENGA MOODY, TX KAW 10 22 Team Green/LCS/FMF/Answer/Silkolene
2 321 BILLY LANINOVICH RAMONA, CA YAM 10 20 Yamaha Factory Racing/FMF/Troy Lee
7 110 EDGARDO ROJAS MIAMI, FL KAW 10 18 Team Green/D&S Kawasaki/Fox
4 134 SHANE BESS OXNARD, CA SUZ 10 16 Suzuki/Sinisalo/Scott/N-Style
9 154 BRANDON LAYTON PALM SPRINGS, CA YAM 10 15 Team Yamaha/Lynwood Yamaha/DeVol
6 182 MICHAEL BLOSE PHOENIX, AZ YAM 10 14 Tom Morgan Racing/Yamaha of Arizona
5 116 RYAN MORAIS TURLOCK, CA YAM 10 13 Yamaha/Chaparral/Merced Power Sport
8 121 NICK ALVAREZ HUNTINGTON BCH, CA HON 10 12 Chaparral Racing/AFAM/ZLT
13 104 JOSH HANSEN ELBERT, CO YAM 10 11 Donnie Hansen Motocross Academy
10 168 SHANE LUSK BAINBRIDGE, GA HON 10 10 Honda/Fox/Shoei/Troy Lee Designs
15 144 KYLE PARTRIDGE LAS VEGAS, NV SUZ 10 9 Team Suzuki Sports/Fox/FMF/PJ1/UFO
16 189 MATT GOERKE PORT ORANGE, FL YAM 10 8 Fox/Performance Engineering/Zing/ARS
18 800 MIKE ALESSI SIMI VALLEY, CA KAW 9 7 Team Green/R&D Racing/Curnett Shocks

PRELIMINARY EVENTS
Heat 1 Heat 2 Last Chance
1-laps top 6 to Main 1-laps top 6 to Main 1-laps top 2 to Main
Pos # Name Pos # Name Pos # Name
1 116 RYAN MORAIS 1 179 ADAM MENNENGA 1 189 MATT GOERKE
2 321 BILLY LANINOVICH 2 134 SHANE BESS 2 168 SHANE LUSK
3 154 BRANDON LAYTON 3 110 EDGARDO ROJAS Time: 4:10.220
4 100 JONATHAN SHIMP 4 182 MICHAEL BLOSE
5 104 JOSH HANSEN 5 121 NICK ALVAREZ
6 800 MIKE ALESSI 6 144 KYLE PARTRIDGE
Time: 5:08.220 Time: 5:14.490

U.S. OPEN OF SUPERCROSS 80cc OVERALL POINT STANDINGS
POS RIDER NAME, HOMETOWN WINS PTS
1 JONATHAN SHIMP. CANYON COUNTRY, CA 1 47
2 BILLY LANINOVICH, RAMONA, CA 1 45
3 ADAM MENNENGA, MOODY, TX 0 38
4 SHANE BESS, OXNARD, CA 0 34
5 RYAN MORAIS, TURLOCK, CA 0 33
6 MICHAEL BLOSE, PHOENIX, AZ 0 29
7 EDGARDO ROJAS, MIAMI, FL 0 27
8 NICK ALVAREZ, HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA 0 24
9 BRANDON LAYTON, PALM SPRINGS, CA 0 23
10 SHANE LUSK, BAINBRIDGE, GA 0 21
11 DATON BEAVERS, HEMET, CA 0 14
12 SEAN COLLIER, SAUGUS, CA 0 13
13 JOSH HANSEN, ELBERT, CO 0 11
14 DARYL ECKLUND, LANCASTER, CA 0 10
15 KYLE PARTRIDGE, LAS VEGAS, NV 0 9
16 MATT GOERKE, PORT ORANGE, FL 0 8
17 JAMES STEWART, WINTER HAVEN, FL 0 7
18 MIKE ALESSI, SIMI VALLEY, CA 0 7

I had never seen that video Ezza. Thanks for posting it.

I didn't get to race Brandon much growin up as I only got to the Socal races. But I always knew when we did meet up at a race it would be a good one. Its good to see im not the only one who still remembers him

None of our fallen brothers and sisters are ever forgotten.

Damn straight

Brandon was an incredible young rider. His potential was pretty awesome and he was on his way too greatness.

I remember this story like it was yesterday and it was almost 20 years ago. I also remember that same weekend watching Brandon beat everyone in the the older 80cc divisions easily and then doing heel clickers off the the big table top by the start.

I've been lurking here on Vital for a few years now, but have never posted anything. I came across this thread, and couldn't resist making a profile to put my .02 cents in on this topic.

BL154 was the absolute most talented, smoothest, fastest rider I've ever seen. I'm honored to say that he was a good friend, and It's an absolute shame that we lost him so soon in life. I honestly never saw him crash.

If any of you on this board are from WA, and were in the Motocross scene in the Mid 90's you immediately knew who BL154 was. He was the kid that would go down to Woodland during the Winter, and beat every single Pro on a Supermini. Such as real fast local legends like Tracey Johnson, Brad Hagseth, and even Jason McCormick.

My Dad owned a Suzuki Shop in Federal Way, and MX was ingrained in me from birth. Every Friday we would pack up, and head out to SIR for Friday Night Races. Brandon Layton was the first kid to ever jump the huge triple in it's day on a KX60. It was about 85 Feet. I only know of two other riders that jumped that triple. RV2 being one & myself being the other. Although Brandon still one upped us. He was throwing Heel Clickers over it at 8 years old. It's kinda funny because I almost like to think that BL154 was the first to throw a Heel Clicker before Kevin WIndham.

I also remember in 1996 we were all at Loretta's Racing, and it was Brandon's last race on a 60. He ended up going 1-1-1 that week only to get disqualified for having a stiffer fork spring in his stock bike. Who was second that week, but inherited the win after his disqualification? James Stewart...

The best memory I have a BL is from Washougal one year right before he got off of 60's. He was Blitzing the Whoops 6TH tapped on a KX60. This was the real deal. He was literately skimming the tops of those things gaining momentum. I've never seen anything close to that till this day. No one. Not anyone has even come close to astonishing my sense of reality like that. It was unbelievable how amazing it was to watch him blitz those things. It was funny because second place that day was Shon Wilson who is a great rider in his own right. He won multiple District 27 Championships over the years, but was doing the classic double, double, and double through them. Which is what all the kids now days still do on them despite the drastic advancement in technology and equipment.

I have no doubt in my mind that if things would have played out a little differently we wouldn't be talking about JS7 or even RV2. We would be talking about how many more titles can BL154 win before he retires? He would have been a multiple time champion there is absolutely no doubt in my mind.

So cool seeing this thread. I started racing in 1998 (12 years old) and bought MWII one day seeing Brandon Layton in it. My original number was 4 but after seeing BL ride I wanted to have 154 so damn bad so I made it mine to. Mind the fact I am all the way in NC and never got to see him ride. After I heard the news about him dieing I was so upset. I had went to LL's in 1999 and I could only think how awesome it would of been to see him ride. I remember Sean Hamblin at the podium talking about him but could not remember how it went. The stories I have heard about him are so sick. I can close my eyes and just imagine how it went down. His style was so bad ass and would of loved to see him on a 125. The motocross world was robbed when Brandon Layton lost his life. If I am not mistaken didn't his dad die in a plane accident as well. I wish I could get my hands on some raw BL154 footage. I remember MW3 doing a tribute at the end of him I would just play and rewind over and over. It is so sad to know the kids growing up watching the up and coming riders will never know who, how fast, and awesome BL was.

Several times Brandon and his dad would drop down to my place in Estacada - Brandon and Rory would ride Saturday evening and Sunday... then they were off to go home or to their next stop. Brandon had just starting riding his 80's.....we had a big triple that he jumped his first pass.... did a one hander and looked back at us

Great video. Brings a tear to my eye but a great video. Brandon and I rode on the same team at a few dealers challenge races at SIR as well as seeing him quite often at Lynnwood Yamaha a lot just hangin out.. Such a polite young man for his age and so down to earth overall just a great kid who respected others. I rode the BL 154 memorial race at Devols house and remember it like it was yesterday and still have the brand new Fox Layton #1 jersey from that day.

May I ask how he passed?

something along the lines of someone going backwards on a track, they hit head on....

I never came across this thread before today. I never met Brandon or his family personally but always heard about him and how awesome he was on a dirtbike. Not to mention I've heard his family was just as great. My friend was unfortunately out there that sad day (happened in Beaumont hills) and drove him and his dad to the hospital. My friend, who was awesome on a bike, lost interest in riding due to the bad accident that Brandon had. He did say it was due to someone going backwards on a track they made in the hills. I hope his family is doing ok this day and age.

I heard that Brandon was doing a jump in the hills and someone came over the landing going backwards and they hit head on. Either way, always sad to think about those situations, at any level.

That's what my friend told me also. I guess the person didn't know it was a landing or anyone was jumping it at that time and Brandon jumped and they collided. I think the other person also had really bad injuries from what I remember. Sad deal to hear about at the time let alone to this day.

They were out riding in the hills of socal. They had a line through the hills doing some jumps they made. Some guy watched what they were doing as group then decided to go the opposite way and brandon did not see him going the opposite way and hit him. The guys front wheel hit brandon right in the face and it was instant for Brandon. My dad sponsored him with grips cause he knew Brandon was going somewhere. Sad day when we got the news from my mom that got a call from someone(believe it was the ted devol). My dad and myself were in palm springs at a Fred Meyer in 2006 or 2007 and noticed a sticker in memory of brandon so we waited for 2 hours until someone showed up. It was Brandons moms new husband. We talked for several hours and then met up with his mother and talked with he for a while. Caught up with her to see how she was doing. Brandons father (I cannot remember his name for the life of me) has since passed away in a plane crash a few years after Brandon. Miss them and will always remember both Laytons.

Brandon's mom, Lori, worked as a dental assistant for my dad. One day my dad asked me if I would take Lori's boyfriend (whose name I cannot remember, but soon after became Brandon's stepdad) out and teach him how to ride. I didn't really want to, but Lori kept bugging my dad to talk me into it, that her boyfriend was really into MX. I was already retired from motocross, but I borrowed a KX250 from David Callaway at Kawasaki of Riverside and took him out riding somewhere in the Coachella Valley. It seems like he had an accent and was maybe Australian or something. Anyway, he said he wanted to teach Lori's kid how to ride so they could do the father-son thing. After that day, that was it, I never heard anything more about them, other than my Dad said Lori had quit and moved out of state, I believe.

Flash forward to 1998 and me and Marty Moates were playing in a moto celebrity golf tourney at Shandin Hills GC, put on by Chaparral. Afterwards at the awards deal, Bruce Flanders started talking about how the proceeds were going to benefit Brandon Layton's family. It wasn't until I saw Lori sitting right in front of me, wearing a Layton 154 jersey that I realized it was her kid and that I had inadvertently started her boyfriend and son down this moto path that ended badly. We talked for awhile and she told me all about Brandon, I had known nothing about him, since I pretty much stepped away from the sport when i retired. It was and is a very sad thing. Here's a picture of Lori from the golf tourney...

To give you some idea of how long ago 1998 was, here's another pic from that golf tourney...

Wow that's crazy Bauer. Thanks for sharing the story. Still see a lot of "in memory of 154" stickers up here in Washington. Never got to see the kid ride in person, as he passed 2 months before my first race, but the amount of love he received around here is undeniable. If anyone that has pics or video of him I'm sure I'm not the only one that would appreciate it.

That second picture is looking like a young Travis Pastrana. Travis was really good friends with Brandon. Davi Millsaps was devastate when Brandon passed also. Davi stopped racing and riding for months after the accident.

Wow Bauer, Thxs for sharing that story. What could have been