THE DAY BEFORE THE LAS VEGAS MONSTER FINALE

By: Zap

THE MONSTER FINALE IS UPON US

After the cold, wet weather of Salt Lake City, the AMA Monster Energy Supercross series headed to the beautiful blue sky town of Las Vegas for the final round of the 2010 indoor season. Friday is a quiet day with the all the teams using to the daylight hours to get the big rigs parked and the awnings rolled out. With this being the last round before the world turns it’s attention to the outdoor National series, there was a special press conference held for the newly crowned champs to say a few words.

Although not yet fully prepped, the track was it’s usual hard-baked and dusty self. Only a handful of riders were allowed to take a handful of laps before the track crew got back to work. Until tomorrow’s pits to the press room post, here’s some of what the 2010 AMA Monster Energy Supercross Champions had to say…

Jake Weimer, 250 West Coast Champ, Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki


“With how good I did last year there was a lot of pressure on me, pressure that I mostly put on myself. I knew I needed to come into 2010 and do at least as good as I did last year. I knew what I had to do and I had to do whatever it took to win.”

“Since I’ll be on a 450 next year, for me I had no choice but to win a title this year. It’s been slow steps since I turned Pro in 2005 and the tough part has been to stay confident that all the training would pay-off.  It’s funny because I never believed that I could do it until 2008 when I won in Phoenix ? then I knew I could do it. This year wasn’t only my best shot to win the title, it was my last shot.”

* “When I signed with Mitch at Pro Circuit I was terrified at first. You hear a lot of stories and I thought it would be a bad decision. But if if you work hard and try as hard as you can he’s fine with you. I remember staring at all those #1 plates on the door of the truck and I knew I didn’t want to be the odd duck that didn’t get it done. I wanted to fit and be part of that club.”

Christophe Pourcel, 250 East Coast Champ, Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki

“It was easier to win last year. When you have the #1 plate on your bike everybody wants to beat you, so it’s not easy. I think I won because I had nothing to lose ? before I started here I was paralyzed after my crash in the GP’s. Also, 15 laps is no big deal.”

* “I don’t care about what the dirt is like, it’s just a track.”

* “It’s good for me that Dungey won this year because he is a good rider to imitate in that way.”

* “I never wanted to be the World Champion (which he is?2006 250 World Champ) when I was growing up. I just wanted to come to America and race Supercross.”

* “(How did I do it?) Mitch gave me the best bike on the track and I rode it.”

* “I guess like a lot of other guys, you grow-up racing and you get a taste for winning and for me, moving to the 450 class it just wasn’t any different. The whole off-season, it was just one thing in my mind ? I need the speed. We definitely wanted the championship…Roger was after it!”

* “I don’t know if Roger would like this, but when I was racing 60’s I went to Team Green and asked for some support ? nothing. I really got the ride with Suzuki because a few years later my little brother was doing good on 60’s and I was able to get a couple of bikes from that. It was actually here in Las Vegas in 2005 that I asked Roger for a shot. I said no money, just good equipment and it all worked out.”

* “Winning the title and races means nothing if you lose yourself. I started this because it was fun and I don’t want to lose that just because of the pressure. That’s the good thing about Windham, he’s been doing this for a long time and he’s still a great person.”

* “You can’t take out all the risk factor in racing. You can’t fully take away all the bumps and everything difficult on the track that’s tough ? what would separate us? I would say the tracks need more options on them for better passing.”

The Vegas pits are serene and casual before the crowds and mayhem appear in less than 24 hours.

Nick Wey will once again be joining Chad Reed under the factory Kawasaki tent.

Listen live to Monster Energy Supercross from Las Vegas Finals for only $6.99. Supercross LIVE? is the only weekly live Monster Energy Supercross race call, and features long time voices of supercross, Jason Weigandt and Jim Holley.