Davi Millsaps collects a $100,000 payday in his first race aboard the Monster Energy Kawasaki KX450F.
Going into the third and final 10-lap Main Event at the Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Davi Millsaps came to Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas just hoping to put in a solid ride and guarantee himself a podium finish at the Monster Energy Cup.
In his first ride back after a year and half of recuperating from injury, Millsaps had been getting more comfortable aboard his brand new Monster Energy Kawasaki factory ride through the first two Main Events. He was healthy and happy, having just celebrated the birth of his second child, and he was hoping to finish the night on a high note with a podium finish if things went well.
Things couldn’t have gone much better for Millsaps, who scored a crucial win in the third 10-lap Main Event to hoist the Monster Energy Cup for the first time in his career and claim the $100,000 first-place money.
“It’s amazing to come back after 18 months off and on a new bike, on a new team, and to come out here, feeling so tight and going through the motions, but to come out with a win is pretty amazing,” Millsaps said.
By stark contrast, after two clean holeshots that culminated with wins in the first two Main Events, Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard seemed like an odds-on favorite’s chance to win the Monster Million, awarded to any rider who can win all three 10-lap main events, if not a new Toyota pickup truck for netting the holeshot in all three main events. Instead, Canard’s fortunes went from boom to bust, as he not only missed the holeshot in Main Event 3, he crashed while trying to keep pace with Millsaps and lost his chance to win the Monster $1 million dollar bonus. Then, things went from bad to worse, as he also lost out on the Monster Energy Cup win when he crashed a second time in Main Event 3. Boom to bust.
But such are the fortunes won or lost at the Monster Energy Cup, which is so fittingly held in Las Vegas. The race has arguably become the most unique—if not yet most celebrated—singular supercross race on the planet. With its big money prizes, Olympic-style three-race format and unique sections, such as the split-start section known as Monster Alley, and the Joker lane, which riders are forced to take once during each main event, the Monster Energy Cup is about as predictable as hitting a triple 7 on a slot machine. Just ask Trey Canard.
Main Event 1
Another attractive feature of the Monster Energy Cup is that it affords race fans the chance to see most of the sport’s top riders in their new factory livery. Thus, when Canard, who finished the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship on a very high note, grabbed the holeshot, he led former teammate Justin Barcia, now on the Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing Yamaha, through the first rhythm section in Main Event 1. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s new 450cc rider, Jason Anderson, and privateer Honda rider Malcolm Stewart were also in the mix, while Red Bull KTM’s new 250cc recruit, Justin Hill moved into second place, behind Canard. Barcia moved into third, ahead of Davi Millsaps and his new Monster Energy Kawasaki ride, while behind them there was a brilliant battle for fifth-place between Yoshimura Suzuki’s new hire Blake Baggett and GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac. Millsaps slipped past Barcia to take over third place with five laps to go.
But Canard continued to inch away from Hill throughout Main Event 1, and he crossed the line about 3 seconds ahead of Hill to set himself up as a potential winner of the Monster Million, awarded only if a rider wins all three 10-lap main events. Millsaps held on for third place, followed by Tomac, who passed Baggett on the last lap when Baggett had to take the Joker lane.
Canard was happy to win the first race, but if he was thinking about his chances to win the big money, he didn’t let it show.
“We’ve got two more of these things, so we’ll try just to focus on the starts and on the race, and hopefully the rest will come,” Canard said.
One area where Canard clearly excelled was the rhythm lane that featured three triple jumps sprinkled in its path.
“I have to go so slow through there,” he said. “It feels painful, but I botched it so many times in practice, trying to race it. I even messed it up that first lap. So, hopefully we can just be calm and cool and hit that thing every lap.”
Hill, who is slated to contest the 250cc class for Red Bull KTM in the 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, looked fantastic on his KTM 450.
“It’s not a big adjustment for me,” Hill said of the switch. “The 450 has always suited my style. I ride the bike a little bit low in the rpm, so getting on this big bike really felt [like] home to me. Plus, I’ve got a good team. I’ve only been on the bike for a few weeks, but they’ve really made everything easy on me. I’m really excited for the future with them.”
Millsaps said that finishing third helped to get rid of some of the nerves he felt coming into the Monster Energy Cup.
“It was nice to get the monkey off my back and get that first one out of the way,” Millsaps said. “We still have two more, so obviously all the nerves aren’t going to be gone tonight, but there are still two and a half months until Anaheim I to get the nerves all the way gone.”
Main Event 2
Canard didn’t get the best of jumps off the gate to start Main Event 2, but he fought his way past Millsaps down the right side of Monster Alley and managed to knife under the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider to bag his second holeshot of the night. Hill owned the left side of Monster Alley, and he slotted into second place, right behind Canard once again, with Millsaps, Tomac and Barcia completing the top five. Stewart got off to a sixth-place start but tripled to the inside of Barcia and made an aggressive pass in a left-hand corner to move into fifth place.
Barcia appeared to be struggling, and he was passed by Dungey, who in turn yielded three positions to Barcia, Anderson and Baggett by taking the Joker lane. Anderson made an aggressive pass on Baggett to take over seventh place, but he also dropped back again when he took the Joker lane on the next lap.
If Canard hadn’t felt the pressure to win the Monster Million after winning the first two Main Events, he had to be feeling it now.
“I’m just trying not to think about it,” Canard said. “This race, we’re here and trying to make good progress, but I’d be lying if [I said] it’s not in the back of my mind a little bit. That was a fun race with Davi. I actually didn’t know that he hadn’t taken the Joker lane, so I was kind of confused. But man, I was pumped to pull that one off.”
Hill was disappointed at not being able to run-down Canard and having to settle for second place again.
“He is riding really good,” Hill said. “We keep getting good starts together, and we keep tangling. He’s on it. I’m going to have to go back and watch some video and figure out what I’m doing, and just try to chop away at him. I think if he comes behind me in this next one, all I’m doing is killing his $1 million, not getting the overall, so that’s something to think about.”
Tomac acknowledged that he caught a break to finish second, but he was looking forward to Main Event 3.
“There’s a lot of good battling going on right now,” Tomac said. “That time I was able to capitalize on a mistake from Davi. That’s how I’m here in the third spot. I feel like I’m getting looser and looser, so hopefully my best showing will be in the third moto.
Main Event 3
The Monster Million wasn’t all that was on the line for Canard as he lined up for the start of Main Event 3. If Canard could pull off his third consecutive holeshot, he would also lay claim to a brand new Toyota Tundra pickup truck. Setting right next to him on the starting line, Hill wanted nothing more than to keep him from both.
It was clear that Canard would miss out on the truck when he tangled with Jason Anderson as the two rounded the turn to head down the left side of Monster Alley. Canard had dropped back to fourth place, behind Anderson, Millsaps and Tomac when the field joined together through the first rhythm section. Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey was fifth, followed by Stewart.
Millsaps dove under Anderson to take the lead at the end of the section while Canard moved into third place. Canard then wasted no time in dispatching Anderson to third place as they crossed the finish line jump to complete the opening lap. The Monster Million was still very much in play.
However, Millsaps was getting stronger and stronger out front in the first two laps of the race, leaving Canard to run between five and 10 bike lengths behind him, depending on the section of the course. With a three laps in the books, Canard had not yet found a way past Millsaps, and neither man had moved toward the Joker lane yet.
But then it all started to come undone for Canard when he tagged a Tuff Blok outside the stadium and crashed, losing positions to Tomac, Dungey, Anderson and Stewart. Instead of reeling-in $1 Million, Canard was now in jeopardy of losing the Monster Cup and the $100,000 payday that goes along with it. Canard was visibly out of sync, as he nearly crashed again on lap six while urgently trying to pass Stewart. Canard took a shot at Stewart in the left-hand sweeper inside the stadium, and this time he did go down again and lose another position to Jake Weimer.
“I’m definitely bummed,” Canard, who would end up third overall, said after the race. “I was really hoping to get that win—if anything just for the win and that million dollars was going to be a bonus. I’m grateful that I’m okay. That was a hard crash. Davi charged im there hard, I charged in there hard, and that Tuff Block just barely grabbed me and threw me on the ground. I got up quick and tried to get up and recover, and went down again, but, man, I am so grateful to be here.”
That left Millsaps with a seemingly insurmountable lead. But if Tomac, who was running second, could pass Millsaps and take the win, he could steal the Monster Energy Cup title. Millsaps took the Joker lane just before taking the white flag, but there would be no dramatic race to the finish, as Tomac elected to follow him. Millsaps went on to win the race and collect the Monster Energy Cup in his first race aboard his new factory Kawasaki. But more than claiming a $100,000 payday that comes along with the Monster Energy Cup, Millsaps sent a message that he is going to be a threat aboard his brand new Team Green machine in 2015.
“My team is amazing,” Millsaps said. “They’ve been supporting me for a long time, and I can’t thank Monster Energy Kawasaki enough for the opportunity…My mechanic Ezra…My trainer Ryan…It has been a long road, so thanks for sticking with me.”
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