Monster Energy's Ryan Villopoto Comes Out Swinging At Monster Energy Cup
In only its third year, the Monster Energy Cup had already seen more than its fair share of drama. In the very first running of the event, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto made winning the $1 million grand prize look easy by winning all three main events. In the event’s second year, Villopoto took the opening main-event win before crashing out of the event near the start of the second race, and the overall win ended up going to Justin Barcia.
After surgery kept Villopoto from the Motocross of Nations, he showed up looking ready to go at Sam Boyd Stadium and qualified at the top of the charts for the night’s racing, just about a 10th of a second faster than James Stewart. As a testament to the depth of the racing field, and the track design, seven other racers qualified within a second of Villopoto.
Villopoto took the lead heading into the track’s first rhythm section to start the first main event of the night, followed closely by rival Ryan Dungey and his Monster Energy Kawasaki teammate Jake Weimer. Then came Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson, Marvin Musquin, defending event champ Justin Barcia, Ken Roczen, Malcolm Stewart and the rest of the field. James Stewart, in his first Monster Energy Cup, rounded the opening lap a dismal 14th.
Villopoto and Dungey stretched their lead over the field as the first 10-lap main event went on, and then disaster struck for Dungey, as on the final lap, Dungey forgot to enter the “Joker Lane” behind Villopoto. As part of the event rules at the Monster Energy Cup, every racer must enter the much slower “Joker Lane” one time in each of the three main events. As a result, Dungey crossed the finish line first, but was docked five positions by rule, and the opening 10-lap main-event win went to Villopoto for the third year in a row.
Musquin finished second, just in front of Weimer, Roczen, Eli Tomac, and then Dungey. Barcia and Stewart rounded out the top eight...
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