Although the weather in East Rutherford, N.J. was questionable on Saturday night, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto put an end to anyone’s questions by leading all 20 laps of the main event to clinch his fourth consecutive Monster Energy Supercross championship at the inaugural race at MetLife Stadium. Returning from injury, Jake Weimer showed speed on his KX™450F and overcame a first-lap crash to finish 11th. Misfortune struck the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team again this season as both 250SX East Region championship contenders Martin Davalos and Blake Baggett suffered injuries leading into New Jersey that took them out of competition.
After winning his hometown race in Seattle two weeks ago, Villopoto only needed three points in order to wrap up the 2014 Monster Energy Supercross championship; but no champion settles for the minimum requirement. Villopoto got out front in his heat race as the rain came down to assure he had the best gate pick for the main event. The rain let up for the 450SX main event and RV jumped out front to take his fourth holeshot of the year. From there Villopoto attacked the evolving track and walked away from the competition to take his sixth win of the season. The win marked Villopoto’s 40th career win, which came during the 40th anniversary of Kawasaki’s KX brand. In the past three races, he has got all three holeshots and led all 60 laps.
“It’s been a long season and it feels so good to wrap up the championship,” said Villopoto. “I knew I just needed to finish to clinch it, but sometimes the easiest and safest way to do that is to just get out front. Without my Monster Energy Kawasaki team and family I certainly would not be standing here tonight.”
Weimer has been sidelined since crashing at San Diego and injuring his shoulder and wrist. After taking the proper time to let his injuries heal, he was eager to get back behind the gate. Weimer got a great jump in his heat race and settled into his teammate’s pace and finished third to transfer directly to the main event. He got another good start in the main before getting collected by another rider and going down after the whoops. Weimer remounted and charged through the field, pushing from 22nd to finish 11th by the checkered flag.
“It feels great to be back,” said Weimer. “The result wasn’t what we wanted but I rode good and felt strong for the full 20 laps. I’m looking forward to finish strong in Las Vegas next week to finish the season.”
Dark clouds and winds hovered around the New Jersey sky all weekend, opening up a few times for showers, but the track in MetLife Stadium was able to take the rain and provided great racing.
“The track actually held up great,” said Villopoto. “Although it was soft and muddy in spots, there was still traction everywhere and you were able to be aggressive.”
The top supercross riders in the world came into New Jersey early in order to take advantage of the press in New York City. Villopoto appeared on multiple national television shows, visited the NASDAQ stock exchange in Times Square and even sat in on Fox Sports 1’s Crowd Goes Wild evening sports show to talk about the sport in front of a live studio audience.
The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team will be back in action next weekend at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas as the West Region riders Dean Wilson and Justin Hill will look to take the bragging rights of the fastest 250SX rider when the two coasts come together for the East/West Shootout.
Communication Kawasaki