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The Monster Energy cup has many wild elements that make the event so exciting. This year Ricky Carmichael and the FELD crew decided to have the starting line at the top of the stadium, sending the riders down a 33 degree angle and 470 foot long straight away before reaching the first corner. This
would be the longest and highest speed start in Supercross history. Between the Joker Lane, race format and the track design in general, its always a perfect equation for spectacular racing. One thing that gets overlooked is the amazing full moon that sits above the stadium every year. The atmosphere with the full moon seems to cause some wacky moments. Unfortu- nately for Troy Lee Design KTM’s Mitchell Falk, he was victim of one of the outrageous moments. The day seemed perfect for the California native as he qualified first during the day and laid the smack down on the competition in race one winning in dominant fashion. The craziness came in race 2 when Mitchell locked bars on the start straight with another rider at absolute full speed and was sent cart-wheeling down the middle of the stadium. Everyone’s worst fear of a rider crashing on this high speed start straight had happened. Flipping more than three times as he violently rag-dolled on the hard Las Vegas dirt, Falk’s hopes of go- ing 1-1 on the night quickly ended. Instead of a 1-1 performance Falk would combine those numbers and finish 11th overall with 1-19 race scores. Luckily for Mitchell and his family he was not injured and even got back on the motorcycle to finish 19th in the race. Although a heartbreaking incident after dominating race one, Mitchell has to be satisfied with his performance. He proved to himself and the team that he was the best rider there and is well on his way to a very successful future.
words/MICHAELLANG
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