http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/902/14656/Motorcycle-Article/Monster-Energy-Cup-Results-2012.aspx Little interesting results ...I'm not sure on the bike sizes raced here ...Was everyone on a 450cc machine? First and foremost... RV2 is back ... Next, apparently Barcia is ready to step up ... And finally, maybe the 450 pumkin is over-rated at this point in time ... CR is apparently gonna race this year and I hope to see Canard back come January ... ---------------------- Main Event 1 Defending champion Ryan Villopoto kicked off the 2012 Monster Energy Cup with the win in Main Event 1. The 2012 Monster Energy Cup kicked off with a mechanical issue on the start line when a gate failed to drop, forcing officials to red flag and re-line the riders. Once underway it was a familiar face, Ryan Villopoto, who took the checkers in a commanding performance, beating out Barcia by over seven seconds. 2012 AMA Motocross champion Ryan Dungey trailed in third. Action was heated right from the start with JGRMX Yamaha's Josh Grant earning the early lead ahead of Dungey, Villopoto and Barcia. Three laps in RV had taken the front and started to build a gap on the field. Villipoto is the defending champion at the Monster Energy Cup, having taken the million dollar prize in the inaugural event in 2011. He sat out the 2012 Motocross season due to an injury sustained during Supercross earlier in the year and Main Event 1 marks his return to competitive racing. Monster Energy Cup Main Event 1 Results 2012: 1. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) 2. Justin Barcia (Honda) 3. Ryan Dungey (KTM) 4. Eli Tomac (Honda) 5. Chad Reed (Honda) 6. Josh Grant (Yamaha) 7. Mike Alessi (Suzuki) 8. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha) 9. Jake Canada (Suzuki) 10. Justin Brayton (Yamaha) 11. Kyle Chisholm (Kawasaki) 12. Jake Weimer (Kawasaki) 13. Antonio Balbi (Kawasaki) 14. Killian Rusk (Honda) 15. Vince Friese (Suzuki) Monster Energy Cup Main Event 2 Results 2012: 1. Justin Barcia (Honda) 2. Ryan Dungey (KTM) 3. Mike Alessi (Suzuki) 4. Eli Tomac (Honda) 5. Josh Grant (Yamaha) 6. Chad Reed (Honda) 7. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha) 8. Justin Brayton (Yamaha) 9. Kyle Chisholm (Kawasaki) 10. Jake Canada (Suzuki) 11. Christian Craig (Honda) 12. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) 13. Antonio Balbi (Kawasaki) 14. Austin Politelli (Honda) 15. Ben LaMay (Yamaha) Monster Energy Cup Main Event 3 Results 2012: 1. Eli Tomac (Honda) 2. Justin Barcia (Honda) 3. Ryan Dungey (KTM) 4. Chad Reed (Honda) 5. Josh Grant (Yamaha) 6. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha) 7. Jake Canada (Suzuki) 8. Kyle Chisholm (Kawasaki) 9. Vince Friese (Suzuki) 10. Jake Weimer (Kawasaki) 11. Killian Rusk (Honda) 12. Christian Craig (Honda) 13. Ben LaMay (Yamaha) 14. Austin Politelli (Honda) 15. Gareth Swanepoel (Suzuki) Monster Energy Cup Final Results 2012: 1. Justin Barcia (Honda) 2-1-2 2. Ryan Dungey (KTM) 3-2-3 3. Eli Tomac (Honda) 4-4-1 4. Chad Reed (Honda) 5-6-4 5. Josh Grant (Yamaha) 6-5-5 6. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha) 8-7-6 7. Jake Canada (Suzuki) 9-10-7 8. Kyle Chisholm (Kawasaki) 11-9-8 9. Mike Alessi (Suzuki) 7-3-19 10. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) 1-12-DNS -----
Here's the on-hand account of the MEC accoriding to yours truly!!! Bagget elected to ride a 250, but broke his wrist during practice and didn't race. There really weren't any constraints as to what one could/could not ride - pretty open event. The invites were sent but those who accepted still had to qualify (except for the pro's of course). We took the kid and one of his buddies - quite a spectacle for such a small stadium. The Super-Mini and Amateur All-Star events were AWESOME It was a lot of fun to see the kids out there gett'n after it. Plus, it was awsome to see Reed, RV and K-Dub all back in the lineup...though K-Dub would end up with another concussion and not racing and RV would bail out on the main event (he was booed for that, by the way). The dual starting gate was so-so, the Joker Lane, while somewhat exciting, wasn't necessary and we grew VERY tired [quickly] of the announcers droning on about the "Joker Lane" every moto. Some of the coolest things were RC coming out mic'd up, talking to the crowd and describing the track while riding it and throwing whips, Austin Politelli (a local kid from where I live) Kill it in the LCQ and move up to take on the big dogs and watching Dungey tear it up while reaching down to shift in mid air (broken shifter) and STILL make podium My Wife got to meet Eli Tomac and got her pic taken with him - humble kid and always has time for military folks. She REALLY wanted to meet K-Dub but he never came out of the Asterisk Medical Trailer. She was pretty bumbed about that. Tomac and Barcia are both ready to make the jump to the SX Class. Both ran hard and looked good. Barcia, in my opinion, is going to give the big boys fits. The kid is a beast! Oh, Adam Ciancerillo is the real deal...............in case anybody has doubts. There were alot of kids from my area there. Craig, Politelli, Canada and Champion to name a few. My Wife and I would do a two-person waive whenever their names were called. We used to live down the street from Champion in Sun City/Menifee. We always want him to do well and keep hoping he'll have breakout season. Will we go again? Yup! Was it worth the money, time spent and drive (about 4.5 hrs)? Yup?
RV ruled the first race while Dungy was stuck in 2nd or 3rd gear with a bent shifter. RV went over a tuff block and off the track and rung his bell while leading race 2. Barcia is no joke and going to give the top dudes a run for their money. Dungy spent a good part of the 2nd race with a bent shift again This year is going to be real good with Dungy, RV, Barcia, CR, Alessi... stacked field. Going to be fun to watch, hope they don't all push each other to crash out again. would like to see lots of straight up racing this year with all the players.
wow, you make it sound like a very exciting trip... The first time I went to a race I was blown away by how close you can get to the riders ... I saw nothing about Kdub crashing... Hope he is doing well.... The crowd was a little rowdy over RV2? ... I can understand that ... He's like scary fast sometimes ... One good thing that does come of him not racing is it allows another ~new person on the podium with RV2 not standing there... This guy doesn't seem like he is obsessed with winning every race ... RV2 1 -- Bar 1 -- No pics?
The dual starting gate , the Joker Lane, and the Talledega turn are all gimmicky and not required or even desired in my opinion. None are necessary and hopefully are not a sign of things to come. (have seen dual gates and banked turns before) Where will it end? The triple over the bengla tiger pit and through the flaming hoops? I mean those flame geysers that would go off when a rider went through the banked Talledaga turn.....c'mon....really? Lets get back to racing
Oh ya, it was REALLY exciting!!! My Wife had never been is now hooked. She commented, "God, you act like such a kid!!!" It's Supercross man !!! Pics coming later this evening. I tried to get some action shots but the camera is feeling a little old these days. Still, some cool stuff.
Forgot all about Talladega - I did like it. Blowing through Talladega and into a huge jump that even the Super-Mini's were skying off of?!?!?!? Pretty cool stuff. True enough about the pyro though.......but it is Vegas and flash is King.
RV fell in moto 2. I didn't think it was that bad of a crash, but what do I know? I was way over in section 104 and caught the tail end of it. Alessi's wipeout, I thought, was way more gnarly and he got up and tried to charge back.
How good is Dungey? I mean, serioulsy!?!?!? 2nd gear and he still makes it to the podium - SICK!!! If everybody stays healthy the indoor season is going to rock!
It is a Vegas show with no points. Big money show, nothing more. Race got great reviews and it was some of the funnest to watch racing I have seen in a while. Riders seemed to like it. I liked it, it is all in fun.
I'm sure it will, to apply that to real points racing would be ridiculous and would not fly. for Vegas it is FUN though.
It was pretty awesome for sure. It made my Wife a fan and she's now hooked! Until Saturday night, her exposure to MX was following the kid out to places like Racetown, Comp Edge and Pala every Sunday. THis was quite a step from amatuer racing. This was MX/SX at its best and she saw it up close and personal - no better way to introduce somebody to our sport.
i thought a was a pretty good event to watch for the most part aswell. definately bummed i didnt get to see windham race though. impressed that barcia seems to be maturing a little and not acting like such an idiot. also tomac seems to be one of the most level headed kids out there (at least from what i can tell the interviews).. was js7 invited? how bout rc and zuki hookin up with hart and huntington, i guess we know why they didnt go with husky last year. those super mini races were just brutal lol kids were freakin haulin!
He is looking for his manhood... It looks like Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart will not be racing this weekend at the Monster Energy Cup in Las Vegas. It was posted on James Stewart’s Facebook page this morning that he is going to keep it safe and prepare for the 2013 Supercross season. Looks like we’ll have to wait till A1 to see him shred the new Suzuki under the lights. “Doesn’t look like I’ll be at MEC. Not going to rush it. Have a goal and a plan and we’re sticking to it. A goal without a plan is just a wish!”
My Wife did ask why JS7 and Mookie were both not in attendance. All I could do was shrug my shoulders. As for playing it safe, RV and K-Dub didn't and now they're both out again. There's still time though as A1 is a few months off yet. Ya, the Super-Mini's were DA BOMB The track was brutal but they gave it everything. So much fun to watch. And, at the end, when they interviewed the little Japanese kid who spoke little/no english the crowd cheered for him all the same. I think partly to applaud his efforts and partly to drown out the idiotic announcer.
As promised, pics from the Monster Energy Cup Lots of cool stuff from bikes to trucks to free swag to Monster Energy Girls to Speed's Erin Bates (hubba hubba!!!). Here's a pic of Sam Boyd around 1230 in the afternoon. And another The Monster Energy Cup K-Dub Christian Craig My Wife with Eli Tomac RV
