Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart celebrated a thrilling victory at a dramatic, error-strewn and utterly unpredictable Monster Energy Cup at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. The veteran produced an edge of the seat performance in his second race with Ryan Villopoto and narrowly defeated Ken Roczen for the top step by scoring 8-1-1 in the three outings.
This season-closing spectacle seems to grow every year. 5000 more tickets were pre-sold for the third edition and the rider entry list involved virtually all the major AMA athletes barring Chad Reed. Stewart was competing for the first time, as was Pro Circuit’s Dean Wilson. The fast, dumbed-down supercross track again held several features that mark the ‘MEC’ as something different to a standard AMA Supercross (indeed, the Sam Boyd Stadium has been the site of the traditional AMA finale for a number of years). The twenty metre Joker Lane with six whoops that the riders have to enter at least once in the three ten lap Main Events was complimented by the long Talledega banked turn that runs into the stands and then also the split start that sees 11 riders heading into the stadium at top speed from the outside flanks of the course. It would be the Joker Lane that became one of the talking points of the evening.
A faulty gate meant that the first Main had to be restarted twice and then the Joker Lane came into play. Riders had to make a judgement of when to enter the slow section that adds between five-six seconds to a lap-time. Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey was the first victim and ruined his chances of not only the Monster Million dollar bonus but also the overall victory (a 100,000 dollar cheque no less) by forgetting to pass through the zone. His battle in the first sprint with Ryan Villopoto was falsely ended when the KTM man inherited the lead as the AMA Champion took his turn and the crowd gasped as Dungey throttled through. Once across the finish line Villopoto stopped to congratulate his rival for his speed but also to remind him of the rules. Dungey hung his head in frustration as realisation dawned and the crowd lapped up the scenes in a mix of amusement and disbelief. Dungey punched the air several times in anger at his own error on the way back to the pits and Villopoto was bemused by the episode in the post-race interview; somewhat prematurely it would turn out. “It was the first race of year with Joker Lane but we wont make that mistake again,” said Dungey. “I got mentally messed up.”
“I’m disappointed for him because he rode really well,” said Villopoto barely able to hide a smirk. “I was able to keep pushing until the last lap.”
The second main event was simply fantastic. Stewart’s holeshot put him in contention and he was soon sharing track space with Villopoto as the pair swapped the lead four times. Again both front-runners left the Joker Lane until the final lap with Stewart having the advantage. Amazingly as the Suzuki rider slowed Villopoto sped past in an error committed by his namesake only 45 minutes earlier. RV must have sensed the vocal reaction from the stands again. The Million had gone, as well as victory on the night in a matter of seconds but Villopoto had more than his pride dented a slipped on a take off, lost his footing in the rhythm section and crashed heavily, fortunate not to be hit by his spiralling factory Kawasaki. After more than five minutes on the ground he was able to stand and be carted away.
With the evening two-thirds in the can Roczen was leading the overall standings with two solid fourth positions. The Joker Lane had proved troublesome. As Marvin Musquin pointed out after the first race. “I almost forgot about that line. My mechanic put on the board ‘Joker Lane Now!’ on the last lap and I’m glad he did.” Stewart – who had crashed but recovered to 8th in the first Main – was Roczen’s biggest threat for the vast trophy (that needed five people to carry it to the podium area). The pair duelled throughout the race distance and Stewart’s entry to the Joker Lane was faultless and fast on the last lap while Roczen could not get out fast enough at the same moment to prevent Dungey and Eli Tomac moving in second and third positions. Fourth place completed the set for Kenny. “The racing was good and I’m happy I had two good starts…I just ran out of time at the end there,” the German said. “I’ve only ridden the bike [450SX-F] for four days but it is getting better and better and I’m getting more used to it. Overall this was a super-fun event.”
For Stewart though this was a major boost after an inconsistent few years with injury and team changes meaning that the genius and speed the multi champion has become renowned for was only seen on fleeting occasions. The 27 year old was inspired in his second victory tussle with Villopoto and his use of the triple over the table-top showed that his skill and bravado in still firmly in supply. “Man, you guys don’t understand how special [this is],” he said. “There have been some weird things happening this year but we have been fighting as a team. You gotta have faith and keep believing. I’m kinda speechless right now but so damn happy. There was entertainment every race. It is a cool event.”
Dungey rounded out the podium: “All in all it is good. The hiccup in the first set us back but we rode our butts off. Good racing and a lot of fun.” Crashes for Justin Barcia forced a DNF in the final race and it was Tomac and Musquin that rounded out the top five. Villopoto did not appear for race three and had left the paddock for a medical check.
The fourth Monster Energy Cup is already locked in for October 18th of 2014 but Feld Motorsports Dave Prater hinted at the press day on Thursday that the event could travel beyond Las Vegas in the future. The combination of the novelties, the setting, the show and the entrants makes the MEC an ideal season-ending showdown for the American scene and fans.
