Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of MX Finals
Carmichael & Villopoto To Monster Energy & Kawasaki Officials:
“Better Bring Your Checkbooks To Steel City!”
Monster Energy-backed Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto poised to capture Triple Crown loot!
CARLSBAD, Calif., (Aug. 30, 2006) – Monster Energy & Kawasaki’s 2nd annual Triple Crown of Motocross highlights this weekend’s Monster Energy/Kawasaki Pro MX National at Steel City (Delmont, Pa.), Round 11 of the 2006 AMA Toyota Motocross Championship, presented by FMF.
And lined up to win the king’s share of the $72,000 winner(s)-take-
all Monster Energy/Kawasaki winner(s)-take-all bonus program are
Monster Energy-backed Suzuki racer Ricky Carmichael and Monster
Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto.
“Well, at least there’s a chance we’ll keeping the checks in-house so
to speak,” said Monster Energy’s Mark Hall with a laugh. “For real,
though, these guys deserve it. Ricky’s already wrapped up the premier class championship and Ryan is in a heated battle for the Lites class title. So I’ll be pulling for them both and more than happy to break out the checkbook – as I’m sure will the guys from Kawasaki – if both Ricky and Ryan are able to win at Steel City this weekend.”
The road to the Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross
finals for Carmichael and Villopoto was paved with wins at High Point
Raceway (Mt. Morris, Pa.) and RedBud (Buchanan, Mich.) at rounds two and five of the series. For Carmichael, should he be able to win the overall at Steel City – it’s something he’ll have accomplished for a
sixth consecutive time.
“I’m pumped,” said Carmichael. “Just because we were able to win the title last week at Binghamton doesn’t mean we’re going to just show up at Steel City and ride around. I’ve always loved racing at that
track – lot of memorable moments there. The fans have a blast and the track’s always very well maintained. So having the Triple Crown on the line just gives me that much more incentive to go out and race
hard with James (Stewart), Kevin (Windham) and the rest of the field. I’m definitely looking forward to it and would again like to thank
Monster for all they’ve done for me this year.”
For Villopoto there’s even more incentive to win his share of the
Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross bonus money.
Heading into Steel City Villopoto has a 20-point lead over rival Mike
Alessi for the overall Lites championship and could put some
seemingly insurmountable numbers between he and Alessi with an
overall win at Steel City – not to mention the bonus money from
Monster Energy and Kawasaki.
“It’s going to be tough,” said Villopoto. “Broc Hepler’s really
racing well lately (consecutive wins at Millville and Binghamton) and
I bet he’d like nothing better than to win in front of his hometown
fans in Pittsburgh (Steel City),” said Villopoto. “I’m definitely
going to work hard to put myself in a position to win, but at the
same time I have to be careful not to take any chances that may
jeopardize the overall Lites class title for the Monster Energy/Pro
Circuit/Kawasaki team. But if the opportunity’s there you can bet
I’ll be all over it.”
On the line for Villopoto is a $10,000 bonus should he be able to
complete the sweep. For Carmichael that figure is $30,000.
In addition to the sizable bonus opportunity – which this year
includes $1,500 to the top pros in each class, Monster Energy &
Kawasaki – in cooperation with Pro Circuit – will award the top pro
placer in both Motocross and Lites classes a custom Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki KLX 110 mini cycle (valued at $3,000). Monster Energy & Kawasaki will also award an additional $1,000 in cash to the hard working top privateer finisher in each class. That’s six custom Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki mini bikes and $21,000 in cash!
Monster Energy, the multiple-year sponsor of the Kawasaki/Pro Circuit team, has been involved in the great sport of motocross for several years now. Synonymous with the action sport movement, the Monster Energy glowing green “Clawed M” logo can be seen nationally from one end of the action sports spectrum to the other.
In addition to the potential bonus for Carmichael and Villopoto, as
previously stated the Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of
Motocross also rewards the top privateers at each of the three races
$1,000 each. Those athletes have been: bonus, top privateers at the
three race Triple Crown promotion included:
High Point: David Vuillemin (Motocross class), Danny Smith (Lites class)
RedBud: Tim Ferry (Motocross class), Paul Carpenter (Lites class)
