USA Insider No.144: Monster Problems

Welcome to our weekly web-exclusive column, Transmoto’s USA Insider presented by Ipone. Penned each week by our man on the ground, Transmoto’s US Correspondent, Jason Weigandt, the USA Insider presents the story-behind-the-stories of the AMA supercross and motocross scene.

The hits keep coming for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki. The team already gave up the surest championship in this history of championships, with Adam Cianciarulo, Martin Davalos and Blake Baggett routinely sweeping the podium in 250SX East, only for all three to get injured and drop out of the series. Never, ever have we seen a team dominate the field so handily only to end up without a title.

On Thursday at Glen Helen, I asked team owner, Mitch Payton, about his reaction to the growing bad news, and it appeared he was taking it all in stride. “What are you going to do?” said Mitch, knowing the title slipped away via bad racing luck. But things were much worse on Saturday after the race.

First, Davalos and Cianciarulo are still out. Then Darryn Durham, who missed nearly all of supercross with a concussion, broke a bone below his knee just days before Glen Helen. Hopes were still high with former champions Baggett and Dean Wilson on board, as well as Justin Hill, who enjoyed a strong supercross season and ended it with a win at the Las Vegas finale.

Oh, but this was another bad one. Crashes and bad starts ruined most of the day, but also at no point did either of the three show race-winning speed. Hill got a front flat and crashed because of it, then went down in the first turn of moto two. Baggett and Wilson had terrible starts in the first moto and didn’t rage through the pack like expected. In moto two Baggett was with the leaders, but got pulled badly by Yamalube Star Racing riders, Jeremy Martin and Cooper Webb. These riders were in the amateur ranks when Baggett was winning the 2012 250 National Championship. Then bad went to worse when Wilson’s bike cut out on Glen Helen’s steepest downhill and sent him flying over the bars. He suffered the worst gash on his leg this side of a shark attack.

Mitch wasn’t taking it in stride this time. After the motos, there was a big Pro Circuit meeting that went on for a good 30 minutes, the whole team huddled around the leader. Later, when I approached to learn Wilson’s status, they told me he had a cut and went to the hospital for surgery. Normally, the Coors Lights and bench racing starts to flow late in the day at the PC truck. It was not the case this time — they weren’t happy at all.