Monday Gate Drop

Still my favourite Las Vegas Hotel.

Hello and welcome to another edition of Monday Gate Drop. Sorry for my tardiness this week as this is more like a Tuesday Gate Drop, I really have no excuses except for a little city in the Nevada desert called Las Vegas. I’m sure it’s the same for everyone who travels to Vegas, you arrive at McCarran International Airport full of energy and excitement. Since the airport sits a poker chip throw away from the famous Las Vegas Strip, it’s easy to see just what’s in store for your stay. However, a few days later after this town has chewed you up and spit you out, you find yourself sitting back in the airport, exhausted and counting the minutes until you can get home. That is Las Vegas, a one of a kind city that hopefully never changes.

My reason for going to Vegas this past weekend was the same at it was for all the supercross loving people that went, to take in the sights and sounds of the 2014 Monster Energy Cup. While I had been to a few US Open SXs when they were held at the MGM Grand, since the venue changed to Sam Boyd Stadium and the name of the event changed to the Monster Energy Cup, I have not been to Vegas. I was also excited and feeling very privileged to be at the Monster Energy Cup to do and in depth story on Pirelli Tires. For this upcoming story I was given VIP, behind the scenes access to Pirelli and the teams they support, including the JGR Yamaha Team, TwoTwo Motorsports and Pirelli’s newest team, Canada’s own Rockstar Energy Drink OTSFF Yamaha team. Both Pirelli and the OTSFF team are extremely excited to be working together again, and with their team of Bobby Kiniry, Matt Goerke, Kyle Chisholm and Shawn Maffenbeier, they will no doubt be a formidable force in the 2015 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals. With Kiniry, Chisholm and Goerke all competing this past weekend at the Monster Cup, it was a great chance for them and their new tire sponsor to get to know each other under pressure of race conditions.

For practice at the 2014 Monster Energy Cup Pirelli supplied their teams with these one off cool yellow tires.

Right from my arrival on Thursday night, Pirelli was a gracious host for my first trip to the Monster Energy Cup. Some of my highlights included meeting all great people from Pirelli USA, Australia and Europe, overloading my brain with a massive amount of tire information that the teams, riders and Pirelli use every weekend, and also a huge group dinner with the JGR Yamaha Team. Sitting at dinner, eating steak and talking about moto, football and his kids BMX racing with JGR Team owner Coy Gibbs was a very cool experience. I can tell you that with the signing of Justin Barcia to the JGR team for 2015, these guys are very excited and are looking for nothing short of wins in 2015. If Barcia can ride like he did on Friday’s Press Day, he’ll have no trouble winning at least a few main events next year.

So in between all the dinners, socializing and just basically hanging out in Las Vegas, there was a race on Saturday night. One of the many unique aspects of this race was that there were a few riders who were using the Monster Energy Cup as their first race on their new bikes. Dean Wilson, Blake Baggett, Justin Hill, Weston Peick, Davi Millsaps and the aforementioned Justin Barcia were all coming into this weekend on new machines. I think it’s always exciting when these top riders are testing out their new bikes for the first time, especially in a low pressure event like this weekend. There is so much relationship building that must go on between rider and bike and the rider and team. There are new engine technicians, sometimes new suspension people and, as I was a part of this weekend, new tire personnel to get to know. Testing new tires for these guys is like trying out a new pair of shoes; they’re made differently, the feel is different and there are different models to get used to. For a team like the Rockstar Energy Drink OTSFF Yamaha team who just started using Pirelli Tires this past week, the learning curve is definitely a steep one.

During Saturdays track walk all the riders spent a lot of time checking out the tough rhythm section.

Since this was my first time at the Monster Energy Cup and also my first time at Sam Boyd Stadium, it was interesting to see the infamous Vegas dirt in person. Right away it was easy to see what all the fuss was about as it reminded me of the soil in Nanaimo, minus the shale rocks. With the dry desert air, the dirt dries out in minutes so it’s tough for the track personnel to get the proper amount of water on the track; too much and it’s so greasy that the riders can’t even do the jumps, not enough and it’s dusty in five minutes. It’s wasn’t hard to see why you hear the riders talk about dreading racing on the Vegas surface. The Ricky Carmichael designed track was a little different this year as it was a lot faster than years past. With only one very difficult rhythm section and more than one long straight, many riders mentioned that it was very difficult to pass. As it usually is in Supercross, a good start on Saturday was a must if a rider wanted to be successful. I wasn’t a big fan of the track, I thought that the way it was set up lacked a little creativity. As I said, the rhythm section was extremely tough with very little room for error so the riders seemed happy just to get through it in one piece; the last thing on their minds was attempting a pass. However, the one impressive thing about the track was the raw speed that the riders were reaching down the straights, especially the one coming back into the stadium. Since the riders were out of the stadium and out of sight, the crowd could only hear the bikes gaining speed and then boom! They appeared travelling about 75mph wide open down the one long straight and up into the big sweeper in the stands. It was a very impressive sight for sure.

For the race taking place on a one lined, relatively easy track, the racing was actually pretty good all night in every class. Even though Trey Canard almost won the big million dollar prize, Davi Millsaps ended up winning the overall and the one hundred thousand dollar prize. The most impressive rider throughout the night, I thought, was newly signed KTM rider Justin Hill who was moonlighting in Vegas on a big 450. All through the practice sessions and during the first two main events, Hill looked incredible. I thought his turn down whips to stay low over the big triple jump were way more impressive than the actual jump contest. However, in the end, it was the experience and smarts of Davi Millsaps that outlasted everyone to win the 2014 Monster Energy Cup. As I said, Canard did almost everything right and was running second halfway through the third main event. All he had to do was also play it smart by continuing to put pressure on Millsaps and maybe strike on the last few laps. However, like he’s done on more than one occasion during his injury plagued career, Canard made an unforced error and let Millsaps off the hook. All of the riders who rode near the front on Saturday night looked great and it certainly bodes well for the upcoming 2015 Supercross season.

Newly signed Red Bull KTM rider Justin Hill rode a 450 in the Cup Class on Saturday night and looked absolutely amazing on it. This kid has to be one of the favourites in the Lites class heading into 2015.

As you might have heard in the weeks leading up to the 2014 Monster Energy Cup, there were a few Canadians competing in the support classes. In the Super Mini class we had Casey Keast, Tanner Ward and Christopher Fortier all out there representing the Maple Leaf, and riding in the invite-only KTMJRSX race was eight year-old Ontario rider Preston Masciangelo. I can tell you that all of these young riders did a great job representing this country and by the end of the night were all crowd favourites. Whether it was Casey Keast ‘s holeshot and aggressive riding all night (even after a huge, painful practice crash) or Preston taking home the win in the KTMJRSX race (and getting to keep his winning bike as a prize from KTM), there was excitement surrounding our Canadian kids all night. If you take a look at how good Casey Keast’s indoor skills are already, and the list of today’s top riders that have also won the KTMJRSX race, the future is very bright for Keast and Masciangelo, not to mention the great experience that Ward and Fortier got on Saturday night.
When all was said and done, it was a great night at the 2014 Monster Energy Cup and a terrific weekend in Las Vegas. Not only was the racing exciting on the track but spending time with old friends as well as making new ones was a lot of fun. Where else would you hear Ryan Lockhart say “Palms, I’m buying you a drink”, or Iain Hayden say that we’re all going to the Aria to “fist pump” at a club? Only in Las Vegas could those words be heard. That’s what kind of a weekend it was. I’d like to thank Pirelli Tires for the opportunity to make the trip to Vegas. Stay tuned for a feature story on my experiences in the next issue of MXP Magazine.

Seven was definitely a lucky number for Preston Masciangelo in Las Vegas as he took home the KTMJRSX race.

Well, that is it for me this week. Again, I apologize for getting it to everyone a little late. I haven’t even touched on the upcoming Canadian Future West Arenacross that begins this weekend in BC. With names like Hoyer, Maffenbeier, Maier, and defending champion Ross Johnson, the action is sure to be incredible inside the small arena in Armstrong, BC. I think this series is so important that I’ll give it its own story later in the week. Also, be sure to tune into Brent Worrall’s Canadian Moto Show on Wednesday night when Brent will have me on as a guest to talk about Vegas, AX and Canadian moto in general. I’m always excited to be a guest on his show so I’m really looking forward to it. I hope everyone has a great week and if you’re still riding then please ride safe.

Las Vegas has always been a great place to make new friends.