Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto made history in the shadow of the New York City skyline as Monster Energy Supercross celebrated it’s inaugural visit to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., claiming his fourth-consecutive Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM Championship joining him with Jeremy McGrath as the only riders in history to win four straight titles.
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.”
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 media interest 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.
“It feels great to wrap up my fourth championship in front of this crowd at MetLife Stadium,” said Villopoto. “Our goal coming into every season is to win the title and it is amazing accomplishing that goal year in and year out. We stayed consistent all year long and our hard work has paid off. To match the ‘King of Supercross’ and win four-straight championships is something I never imagined I would achieve.”
Saturday night’s main event win is his third-straight victory and his sixth of the season. Villopoto finished on the podium 11 times this season and only finished outside the top-five once. With one round remaining in the 2014 Monster Energy Supercross season, Villopoto will look to earn another victory at the series finale in Las Vegas.