Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE R yan Villopoto continues to rack up amazing numbers in Monster En- ergy AMA Supercross. The highlight of 2014 was RV earning his fourth straight AMA Supercross Champion- ship. That gives the Kawasaki ace a share of one of the most impressive records in the five-decade history of the series. Four straight titles moves Villopoto out of a tie with Bob Han- nah and Ricky Carmichael (who both won three straight) and moves him into a tie with the King of Supercross Jeremy McGrath, the only other rider in history to win four consecu- tive titles. That record alone should easily earn Villopoto a future spot alongside McGrath in the Motorcy- cle Hall of Fame. The very fact that in 2015 Villopoto has the opportunity to break one of the elite records of McGrath's is quite a state- ment of his place in history. Villopoto's championship run was for the most part fairly typical for him. He won seven races en route to the championship. That's a bit off the pace from his 2012 and 2013 campaigns where he won nine and 10 Supercross races, respectively, but it was more than his 2011 championship-winning season when he won just six rounds. One thing that does stand out is the fact that Villopoto went through a mid-season slump where he went five straight rounds without a victory – his longest win- less stretch since 2011. The very fact that he was able to win the championship and seven races in spite of suffering through a fairly significant drought is a sign of Villopoto's resilience. One other surprising stat that emerged from the 2014 season is that in spite of winning seven Supercross races, Villopoto did not move up the list in all-time Supercross wins. RV, with 41-career P114 THE 2014 AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES FROM HISTORY'S PERSPECTIVE wins, is still fifth among all-time winners behind McGrath, James Stewart, Ricky Carmichael and Chad Reed. Villopoto might have caught Reed this season on the list, but Reed scored a pair of to- tally unexpected victories in Anaheim II and III. So Reed, for at least one more season, holds onto fourth on the all-time wins list with 43 victories. Just where Villopoto will end up on the all-time wins list at the end of his career is an interest- ing stat to consider. He's just two behind Reed and seven wins from tying Carmichael for third. So it seems Villopoto at least has a decent shot of passing Reed and Carmichael and ending his career as the third-ranked rider in terms of Su- percross wins, but it's not a given at this point. Going beyond third will be a lot tougher. James Stewart is now second with 50 wins and appears very likely only to add to that number in the com- ing seasons. And, of course, King Jeremy looks down from his throne with that iconic number of PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY LAWRENCE