VOL. 51 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 21, 2014 P53
THE CUP
In only its fourth year, the Mon-
ster Energy Cup (MEC) has
grown to become one of the
most popular races of the year
for both the competitor and the
fans that filled the stadium. It's
a one-off race that many of the
racers use to gauge their prepa-
ration for the 2015 Supercross
season, and, for many, it's also
their first chance to perform in
actual racing conditions on new
bikes and/or teams, and there
was a lot of that going on this
year. And since the MEC isn't
part of any series, the race has
its own unique style and rules.
The course itself blends a little
bit of motocross and Super-
cross together, there is a split
start and, perhaps most unique
of all, a joker section—a short,
but time-consuming, portion of
track that each rider must take
one time in each of the three 10-
Briefly...
ster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki
Teams chose to keep their guys off
the more competitive 450s for this
race and have them sit it out. The
GEICO Honda team, however, was
on hand to support Eli Tomac, of
course, and the Pro Circuit team was
present to support Monster Energy-
sponsored riders Jake Weimer and
Josh Hill who both competed on
450 Kawasakis and are looking to
sew up new rides for the 2015 sea-
son. Parked under the GEICO Hon-
da roof with 250s were Amsoil Hon-
da amateur riders Jordon Smith
and Tristan Charbeneu.
Perhaps the most noticeable no-
show was last year's MEC Champion
James Stewart. Since his situation
with the FIM regarding his failed
WADA test that was administered on
him last April hasn't been completely
ironed out yet, he did not ride. Even
though the MEC is not an FIM-sanc-
tioned race, it is, however, run by
the AMA, which has close ties to the
FIM (as does Feld Motorsports, the
promoters of the Monster Energy
Supercross Series), so the AMA ba-
sically did not want Stewart to race.
And with an important hearing com-
ing up with the FIM this week, it's
probably safe to say that Stewart did
not want to ruffle the FIM's feathers,
who reportedly was not happy with
the AMA for allowing Stewart to com-
pete in the outdoor Nationals. The
FIM could ban Stewart for up to two
years for having taken an illegal, but
prescribed, substance (Adderall).
He has since been granted a thera-
peutic use exemption (TUE) from
both the FIM and WADA.
This time Smith would have
much better luck and keep
it on two wheels but was still
back in sixth. Another favor-
ite coming in was Alex Frye
who just had some troubles
putting down consistent laps
on the Vegas track.
The Aaron Plessinger
show made waves as he
scrubbed by Sanayei in the
rhythm section, taking the
lead and never looking back. The
crowd erupted into a frenzy on the
last lap when Smith worked his way
up and snuck to the inside of Sanayei
with one turn to go, snagging second
place. Fourth would go to Bloss, who
secured the third step of the podium
with his consistent rides. When the
dust settled it was Plessinger, Sanayei
and Bloss standing tall on the stage
with smiles as big as their futures.
Mike Emery
Aaron
Plessinger
dominated
the Amateur
All-Star class.
Ryan Dungey was
a favorite to win
but bad starts
kept him off the
podium.
continued on next page
