The Silly Season is finally over!
On Saturday all of our favorite riders grab on with two hands and the moment the starting gate drops the 2014 Monster Energy Supercross season officially begins. The best dirt bike racers in the world all meet on one stage and for the next four months compete like no other athletes in the world.
Southern California residents get the lucky fortune of having not one or two Supercross events but four in the first six weeks of the season. Angel Stadium of Anaheim plays host on Saturday, again on Jan. 18, once more on Feb. 1 and San Diego gets the last West Coast stop before the series moves East for seven dates beginning in Arlington, TX.
Photos Courtesy of Vurbmoto
This season is already shaping to be the most exciting Supercross series ever as Ryan Villopoto looks to make history by winning four-straight Supercross titles - a feat only accomplished by Jeremy McGrath. James Stewart brings momentum after taking the Monster Energy Cup crown in October and Ryan Dungey wants to bring a title home which would be his first since winning the 2010 Supercross season his rookie year. Chad Reed went winless for the first time in his career last year and seems destined to make 2013 an anomaly.
One of the biggest questions is the health of Davi Millsaps who won the opener in Anaheim last year and hung tough with Villopoto throughout most of the 2013 season before settling on second-place. Millsaps sat out the 2013 Motocross season to rehab a surgically repaired knee but in late-November he injured his other knee during a practice run. His availability to start the 2014 season on Saturday is in doubt and the Rockstar Energy Racing KTM Team has called upon veteran racer Ivan Tedesco to replace him.
Watch Davi Millsaps' winning run in last year's opener:
Trey Canard is also a familiar face who'll be absent at the starting line on Saturday. Canard broke his arm earlier this year during practice and is out indefinitely. Canard and Millsaps, if he sits out the season opener, are expected back early in the season.
Whoever lands in the top 5 on Saturday has the best chance at taking home the crown as the eventual champion landed in the top 5 at the season opener in 34 out of 39 seasons. Villopoto placed 16th last year at A1 and by winning the series boasted the third-greatest comeback in history. If Stewart wins, he can break a tie with Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy McGrath for the all-time 450SX Class win at Anaheim. All three riders won eight times at Anaheim.
Eli Tomac jumps up to the 450SX class after winning the 2012 250SX class Western regional crown and was just shy of defending his title last year against Ken Roczen, who is also competing in the 450SX class.
The entire 2014 Monster Energy Supercross season airs live on FOX Sports. FOX Sports 1 is broadcasting 13 races and FOX Sports 2 is airing four races as well as re-airing every race of the season.
