Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/401212
SUPERCROSS MONSTER ENERGY CUP OCTOBER 18, 2014 SAM BOYD STADIUM/LAS VEGAS, NEVADA P54 lap motos. Forget to take it like Ryan Dungey and Ryan Villopoto did last year and it will cost you five positions. The MEC also has a hefty $100,000 winner-takes- all purse and a $1 million bonus that goes to any rider who wins all three motos. Throw in a brand new Toyota truck for any rider who holeshots all three motos and you have a race where a lot is on the line. HE'S BAAACK! For not having raced in over 18 months, Millsaps admitted that he really didn't expect to get the win. "It's pretty amazing to come here and get the win," Millsaps said. "I don't think it was expected by anyone, not even my team or myself. I was just trying to come out here and get my feet wet again and just get a gauge for Anaheim I, because that's the main goal. As the motos went on, I started feel- ing a lot better and started feeling like myself again and was able to do it. It was pretty cool." Millsaps added that he en- joyed battling with Canard. "Obvi- ously, Trey had a lot on his mind, a million dollars, and he was go- ing to go for it, and I don't blame him. The mistakes he made just shows you how bad he wanted that million or the win, either one. I didn't know what happened to him, I thought he took the joker lane because I saw Tomac be- hind me, but I didn't' see him on the [infield leaderboard], which you could see down Monster Al- ley. I figured then that he went down. But I had no clue that I was in the overall position; I didn't know until they told me up there [on the podium]. Trey rode awesome tonight, you can't take anything away from him. He's re- ally on his A game and stepping it up. It's so fun to race him; he's clean and he'll run it in on you if he has to, but all in all, he's one of the more fun people to race, for sure. "For me tonight was just about being consistent and rid- ing smooth and fast at the same time. I think I accomplished that the last moto. The other motos I felt loose at the beginning and tightened up at the end, whereas in this one [the third race] I felt loose the whole way." Millsaps said he was happy to win the $100,000. "A hundred grand in my bank account is ex- tremely helpful. We don't' make that much riding dirt bikes so to get any kind of money we can is very appreciative." MILLION DOLLAR BOBBLE Without former MEC million-dollar winner and four-time Supercross Champion Ryan Villopoto, who recently retired from Supercross racing, or former Supercross Champion James Stewart or 450 National Motocross Champion Ken Roczen on the roster this year (both Stewart and Roczen elected to sit this one out), the general feeling going into the race was that the million dollars Justin Hill might've been the surprise rider of the night. He was in contention for the win until falling in the final moto. The Super Mini class crests the small rise in the MEC's unique, outside- the-stadium split start.