Musquin pockets elusive $1 million jackpot at Monster Energy Cup
With a million reasons to deliver his biggest victory as a Supercross rider, Marvin Musquin entered a higher tax bracket at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday night.
The 27-year-old Red Bull KTM factory rider from La Reole on the banks of the Garonne River in southwest France swept three 10-lap main events to earn a $1 million jackpot at the Monster Energy Cup Supercross all-star race.
“I got the holeshot, then leading was the best way,” Musquin said after becoming the first rider to pocket the $1 million prize since four-time Supercross champion Ryan Villopoto did it in the inaugural event in 2011. “The money is one thing, but winning three motos like that is another thing. Today was a perfect day for me. That’s awesome.”
With the million on the line, Musquin said his biggest worry was not getting a good start in the third moto. He got a great start and immediately opened a gap on Justin Anderson, who finished second in each of the three 10-lap sprints.
“There was nobody next to me,” said Musquin, who beat Anderson to the finish line by 3.068 seconds and slowed two jumps from the tower to pump his fist in front of an appreciative crowd estimated at 25,000.
Musquin, who trains in Clermont, Florida, won the first two motos just as easily. In the first, he beat Anderson by 5.2 seconds in a crash-marred race that eliminated a trio of top contenders.
Justin Bogle’s spill just after the start forced a restart before Eli Tomac, last year’s Monster Energy Cup winner and runner-up to the legendary Ryan Dungey in the 2017 Supercross championship, got crossed up on lap 3 and took a tumble on his Kawasaki. Tim Gajser of Slovenia did the same three laps later in the rhythm section on the press box side of the man-made stadium circuit.
The second moto was a virtual repeat of the first, with Musquin outracing Anderson’s Husqvarna to the finish line, this time by 3.3 seconds. Anderson never got close enough to apply pressure after Musquin grabbed the holeshot out of the starting gate.
“Can’t let him have the million this easy,” Anderson said after settling for his second bridesmaid finish of the evening.
But it was that easy, and there was nothing he and the others could do about it.
Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.
