VOL. 52 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 20, 2015 P53
Briefly...
As GI Joe used to say, "Knowing is
half the battle." In the morning at the
Monster Energy Cup, prior to the
start of the races, rumor had it that
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Jason
Anderson knew that the top of the
event's unique downhill start was go-
ing to utilize a starting pad covered
in metal grates, and he practiced
starts off of the material quite a bit
prior to the race. The same mate-
rial was used a week earlier at the
Red Bull Straight Rhythm, but ap-
parently not everyone was made
aware that the Monster Energy Cup
would also have that type of a start-
ing surface, as some competing
teams complained (off the record)
that they didn't think it was exactly
fair that Husqvarna got a heads-up
like they apparently did. The end re-
sult, though, was a trio of holeshots
for Husqvarna's Jason Anderson,
which landed him a free 2016 Toyota
Tundra. Whoever Husqvarna crew
chief Steve Westfall knows, it seems
it would help other teams to get to
know that person, too.
Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan
Villopoto turned a few heads during
practice at the Monster Energy Cup
when he went out with the 450cc
racers in every practice in prepara-
tion for doing a parade lap before the
night show began, but you could tell
he wasn't really out there trying to
take it easy. Although there weren't
any official laptimes because he
didn't have a transponder, Villopoto
went around quite a few established
racers during practice and was jump-
ing anything that anyone else was
jumping. He was also notably upbeat
during his pre-race interview, where
he talked about his retirement. It's
THE GOOD
With a 1-4-1 score in this year's
Monster Energy Cup, Roczen
was obviously the big winner
in Vegas. A poor start in the
second of the three main events
cost him a chance, in the end,
of becoming the second racer
to pull down the Monster Million
(which goes to winner if he tops
all three main events), but Roc-
zen still came away $100,000
richer than he went in.
"I'm ready for the fourth
[main]," Roczen said. "Let's
have a Joker Main Event since
I messed up that second one. I
wish I would have gotten a better
start. Other than that, obviously
the last one was the best moto
from my side. I got a good start
and just got out front. Especially
on that track, it was really impor-
tant to get a good start."
There are some others who
could come away believing they
were winners at the ME Cup,
though.
the event, would've put him on par
with Zach Osborne, Broc Tickle,
Justin Brayton and a few others.
"Man, it was really about the start
and just being smooth," Forkner said.
"The track is pretty tough but it's pretty
tacky tonight. You get good traction
everywhere and there're a few slick
spots, but the track is really good. I
just got good starts both times. Over
the gate, you don't want to really jump
off that. You just want to do it perfect,
almost like the downsiding a jump.
I did that both times and got off to a
great start. I can't believe it. I'm so
stoked right now."
Factory Connection Honda's
Chase Sexton (2-2) and Star Rac-
ing Yamaha's Mitchell Harrison (5-3)
rounded out the podium.
Trey Canard was at times the fastest
rider of the night, but a harmless
slide-out ruined his night.
continued on next page
