The AMA Supercross Series will visit MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey for the first time on Saturday night with Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto a virtual lock to earn his fourth straight Supercross title at the event. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawaski’s Martin Davalos brings an eight-point lead to New Jersey in the East Regional 250SX Championship.
The race will be the first Supercross in the New York metropolitan area in 23 years. Jeff Stanton won the last New Jersey Supercross on May 18, 1991 on his factory Honda.
While Villopoto, with a 48-point lead in the title chase, has a lock on the title, the battle for second remains wide open as Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart leads Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey by just three points.
For Justin Barcia, the New Jersey round will be his home race, the Team Honda/Muscle Milk-backed rider a native of nearby Patterson. Currently fifth in the season standings, Barcia, a two-time career race winner, looks to score the first win of his 2014 season to narrow the 35-point gap that Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen for fourth place in the title chase and extend Honda’s undefeated streak in East Rutherford to 5-0.
“I don’t think I’ve ever raced in front of a crowd cheering me on this loud,” Villopoto said of his victory in his home race in Seattle two weeks ago. “It’s tough to race at home and in the past I haven’t been that stellar here, so to have a race like that is awesome. With [James Stewart] and [Ryan Dungey] standing up here next to me, getting a win is huge. I’m not thinking about the championship right now, but it does feel good to have an opportunity to wrap up the title in New York in a couple weeks.”
MetLife Stadium will also serve as the final stop of the Toyota Triple Challenge that posted $250,000 and a 2014 Toyota Tundra for the winner of the third stop in Anaheim, Arlington, Texas, and East Rutherford. Villopoto has a one-point lead over Stewart in this mini-series.
FOX Sports 2 will air the East Rutherford race live at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT (coverage from East Rutherford will also be available on the authenticated FOX Sports GO app).
CBS will air a two-hour special from East Rutherford Sunday at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PT and FOX Sports 1 will re-air the entire East Rutherford race the following day at 4 p.m. ET/ 1 p.m. PT.
