Face-plant costs Ken Roczen shot at $1 million in Monster Energy Cup

Ken Roczen had Sam Boyd Stadium thinking $1 million as the German rider was cruising through the AMA Monster Energy Cup main events Saturday night.

Only one rider has swept the three main events of the Monster Energy Cup since the one-off race started in 2011. Roczen had hopes of being the second and leaving with the Monster Million prize.

Roczen led from beginning to end to win the first main event and jumped to another commanding start in the second race.

Fans stood to get a glimpse of Roczen speeding through the straightaway of the sixth lap with Eli Tomac and Ryan Dungey seconds behind.

With four laps to go, it seemed like a lock that Roczen was going to take race No. 2 and go into the third main event with a chance at $1 million. But nothing is ever certain in Supercross.

Roczen’s red Honda crashed face-first into the dirt coming off the whoops before the backstretch off the sixth lap. Luckily for Roczen, he came away unharmed, as the bike flew over his head.

“Made a mistake in the dirt and it cost me,” said Roczen after pulling out of the second main event. “The bike didn’t start.”

Tomac took the Monster Energy Cup and a check for $100,000 after finishing second, first and fourth during the three main events. Dungey placed second in the standings and Marvin Musquin third.

Roczen returned to win the third main event in a thrilling final race to end the night. He placed seventh in the standings.

Ryan Villopoto still remains the only rider to take the $1 million prize after winning the event in 2011.

Roczen has had his ups and down with Supercross, but there’s no question he’s the king of Motocross.

The 22-year-old rider from Mattstedt, Germany, is coming off a dominant season in which he won 20 of 24 events during the AMA Pro Motocross series.

Roczen, a two-time Motocross champion, earned a lucrative contract to join Team Honda HRC in September and is on the cusp of becoming the face of the sport.

Only the great ones such as Travis Pastrana and Ricky Carmichael have had that much success at a young age.

But Roczen has some catching up to do when it comes to the Supercross tour. That throne belongs to Dungey.

Roczen was leading Dungey during the Supercross finale at Sam Boyd Stadium in May, but crashed his yellow Suzuki late in the race and had to pull out. Dungey eventually won the race and took his third Supercross title, and Roczen finished third for the season.

“I hate to lose that way, but there was nothing I could do,” said Roczen about losing the Las Vegas race to Dungey in May. “My bike was so bent there was no point to keep riding. There’s no bad memories here.”

Roczen, who unveiled his new Honda 2017 CRF450R bike Saturday, won the Monster Energy Cup last October and said that paved the way for his big 2016 season.

Roczen hopes this year’s Monster Energy Cup leads to the start of another memorable season but this time with his new Honda team and hopefully a Supercross championship.

“I’m really here to get to know my new team,” Roczen said. “The $1 million is nice, but it doesn’t mean anything come January.”

Getting Roczen to join Honda was similar to what the Golden State Warriors did by landing Kevin Durant. But there was a Motocross team left disappointed like the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Roczen parted ways with Carmichael’s RCH Suzuki team, but the legendary rider said there are no hard feelings.

“Ken is a great guy, and we had a great run together,” Carmichael said. “We won a lot of races, and he’s very polarizing and has a great attitude. He is one of the marquee guys, and it’s all good. I’m happy for him.”

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter.