New Supercross event for Las Vegas

Monster Energy Cup could pay $1 million

The second weekend of October will be a motor sports Olympics in Southern Nevada.

The newest event added is the Monster Energy Cup, an invitational Supercross race on Oct. 15 that will be held on a unique course in Sam Boyd Stadium that will combine aspects of Supercross and Motocross.

A guaranteed purse of $250,000 also will offer a potential $1 million bonus if a rider wins all three main events.

The Cup will be held on Saturday night.

Also that weekend about 20 miles north, the NASCAR Camping World Truck and IndyCar series will compete at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After practice on that Friday at the speedway, the Smith’s 350k truck race will be on Saturday afternoon and the inaugural IndyCar World Championship and Firestone Indy Lights races will be on Sunday.

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The wild weekend kicks off on Oct. 13 with the four-day Dew Tour Championships for BMX and skateboarders at the Hard Rock Hotel for the second straight year.

2012 Supercross schedule

The 2012 AMA Supercross season opens Jan. 7 in Anaheim, Calif., and concludes May 5 at Sam Boyd Stadium. The biggest changes to the 17-race season are the addition of an event in New Orleans on April 14 and dropping an event in Jacksonville, Fla.

For the complete schedule, go to SupercrossOnline.com.

Chad Reed loves his team owner

Two-time Supercross champion Chad Reed is very relaxed and couldn’t feel more comfortable with the owner of his new, privateer team.

Last season he broke his hand and missed most of the year. In October, he didn't have a job so he formed his own race team in less than two months.

Reed, winner in 2004 and 2008, is not only happy to be contending for the championship tonight but is just happy to be competing.

He’ll start tonight’s event at Sam Boyd nine points behind leader Ryan Villopoto, who only needs to finish fifth or better to clinch his first title.

Only two months before the 2011 season began, Reed started TwoTwo Motorsports — named for his long-time "22" bike number. The team had no employees, no bikes, no transport trucks.

His best move was to hire Supercross veteran Dave Austin to serve as his team manager. Reed's Honda has only won once this season but has been consistent.

Bubba ‘gave it away’

James “Bubba” Stewart, a two-time champion who broke his wrist last season, has been erratic. He has won five times and led the most laps but a crash knocked him out of the Jacksonville event and other miscues spoiled finishes in two other races.

“I’ve had some unfortunate incidents, but I can’t change those," Stewart said.

“Basically, I threw away the championship. I had a chance to win it and there were opportunities I didn’t take advantage of."

Stewart acknowledges the odds are heavy against him to win another championship.