On April 16, 2015, Kawasaki Motors Corp., USA, put out a press release stating the following: “Monster Energy Kawasaki has terminated its agreement with Davi Millsaps effective immediately. Unfortunately this means our factory race team will not be competing at the final three rounds of the Monster Energy Supercross season but we will be cheering on our 250SX support team Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki as well as TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed and Josh Grant in the 450SX class. With Wil Hahn continuing to recover from his injury, we are working hard on our motocross program and the factory team is looking forward to getting back to the track for the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season opener at Hangtown on May 16.”
The statement was simple and direct, but vague.
The following day, Millsaps released his own statement: “Although my results have not been what I had hoped for up to this point, I have continued to give my best effort and have fulfilled all of my contractual obligations. I am aware that there is much speculation regarding my termination. While I am not at liberty to discuss details, I can say without equivocation that I have not violated any AMA or FIM rule or regulation. At this point I am evaluating my options, both professional and legal. I apologize to my fans, sponsors and fellow competitors for the confusion this has caused. I want to especially thank Monster Energy for continuing to stand behind me. I look forward to resolving this and getting back to racing. See you soon.”
Any time there is legal action at play, it’s common for statements from both sides to be vague, and any time it’s high profile like this, it leads to rampant speculation as to what caused the rift.
Well, with a lot of effort, over the weekend at the Santa Clara Supercross—despite the fact that neither any Kawasaki representative nor Millsaps were willing to speak on the record about the incident—a couple journalists were able to put their heads and sources together to explain what went down between Kawasaki and Davi Millsaps:
Sources close to the situation have indicated that a member of the Monster Energy Kawasaki MX/SX racing team found something in Millsaps’ personal locker that constitutes a violation of the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) anti-doping code, and as a results terminated Millsaps’ contract with the team.
There have been two WADA tests during the 2015 Monster Energy/AMA Supercross Championship, and Millsaps wasn’t tested either time, which means that Millsaps has not—and could not have—failed any WADA drug tests.
Some sources have indicated on a condition of anonymity that Millsaps maintains that he has/had a prescription for what was found, but other sources have indicated that couldn’t be proven.
The 27-year-old Millsaps has indicated that he’d like to find a new home in the AMA Pro pits in order to continue his largely successful racing career, which recently saw him win the 2014 Monster Energy Cup in his debut ride for the Monster Energy Kawasaki team, as well as finish second overall in the 2012 and 2013 450cc Supercross Championships.
Unfortunately, we don’t know if this is where this story ends, as WADA and USADA have a history of launching investigations that often lead to sanctions against athletes without requiring that they actually fail a drug test. This is referred to as a “non-analytical positive,” meaning that the athlete isn’t, or can’t be, found “guilty” due to direct evidence of doping (such as failing an actual drug test), but is instead determined to be guilty of doping on the basis of other facts suggesting use, which could range from written admissions of doping all the way down to testimony from people close to the situation.
Steve Cox
