Monster Energy Cup of R/C?

0 Nov. 3, 2011, 8:54 a.m.

11/3/2011
By Mike Garrison
LiveRC.com

Many of us recently sat down and enjoyed the 4-hour long live broadcast of the “richest motocross race in the world”, the Monster Energy Cup. For those of you who weren’t able to catch the action, the Monster Energy Cup was a single night of racing on a track designed by racing legends Jeremy McGrath and Ricky Carmichael. Similar to an R/C racing format the riders qualified to make the main, and then were presented with 3 mains, 10 laps each. If you won the overall by having the lowest points you won $100,000. If you won ALL 3 mains, you won $1,000,000! Monster Energy’s, Ryan Villipoto, walked away with the win in all three mains and took home a paycheck of $1 million dollars for an evening of racing.

Although R/C racing may not be as physically demanding as supercross or motocross, it still takes a ton of talent to be one of the best. What would it take to get a major company such as Monster Energy involved in R/C racing to help promote the sport and offer an event such as the Monster Energy Cup for R/C? One million dollars is A LOT of money for a race win, but let’s just say there could be $25,000 on the line. A track designed with a combination of USA style supercross, Euro style terrain, and a hand-selected top 50 drivers in the world would be invited. Since there are so many different classes in R/C racing, compared to motocross, why not run qualifying and one main for each class – 2wd Electric Buggy, 4wd Electric Buggy, and 1/8 Nitro Buggy. The driver who can finish with the least amount of points combined wins $5,000. IF you can win all three class main events you win $25,000!

When I started racing motocross in 1995, I was a kindergartener and can remember all the “cool kids” playing traditional sports, and the general public didn’t really know much about motocross. By 2006, a senior in high school, ALL of the kids knew who James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael were, and most of them had a bike or ATV at home. In only 11 years, the sport EXPLODED with popularity and continues to grow, as pro rider paychecks started out in $100,000’s and are now as high as $10 million thanks to outside support and sponsors!

Photo courtesy of ESPN.GO

What will it take to make R/C a more mainstream sport/hobby? Will R/C racing ever see major support from outside companies such as motocross has? If there was such a race as the Monster Energy R/C Cup…who do you think would win?

Share your thoughts and comments with us below!

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