Weekend Recap: August 21 - 22

WORLD SUPERBIKE

The Pirelli Navarra Round of the 2021 Superbike World Championship saw Monster Energy rider Scott Redding and his Aruba.it. Racing Ducati firing the first shot of the weekend with a resounding win in the opening Saturday afternoon race. Upon the high-speed 2.444-mile, 15-turn circuit located in Los Arcos in the Navarre region of Northern Spain, Redding handily took victory over reigning WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea and his Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK. Rea’s Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK teammate Alex Lowes finished a fighting fifth on Saturday. The WorldSBK contingent returned to the spectacular state-of-the-art Circuito de Navarra on Sunday with Monster Energy’s Scott Redding winning the Tissot Superpole race over Jonathan Rea. In Sunday’s third and final race from the Circuito de Navarra, Redding earned a spirited runner-up finish, while Rea was third and Kawasaki Racing Team WSBK teammate was sixth. The Motul FIM World Superbike Championship will race next on September 4-5, 2021 in the Motul French Round at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, France. In the fight for the world title, reigning champion Jonathan Rea now stands tied with Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu at 311 points each. Scott Redding holds down third in the standings with 273 points. Alex Lowes slots in fourth with 169 points.

MOTOCROSS

The 2021 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship put stakes in the ground at Budds Creek Motocross Park in Mechanicsville, Maryland on Saturday afternoon for the Circle K Budds Creek National. A National held in the shadows of Washington D.C. for the last 30-plus years, Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing pilot Jeremy Martin claimed the 250MX Class overall victory with solid 3-1 moto scores. Third overall on the day was Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha team rider, Justin Cooper. The New York-based competitor maintains a slim three-point lead in the fight for the 2021 250MX National Championship. Fifth and sixth, respectively, in Maryland, were Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki riders Austin Forkner and Jo Shimoda. Also competing at Budds Creek was the premiere 450MX classification, Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing pilot Dylan Ferrandis powering to the number one spot with excellent 2-1 moto scores. With only three Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Nationals remaining, Ferrandis holds down the 450MX points lead with a 39-point advantage over title adversary Ken Roczen. Placing third and fourth overall at Budds Creek were Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Eli Tomac and 21-year-old Monster Energy-backed racer Chase Sexton of Team Honda HRC. The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will now move off to Crawfordsville, Indiana, for next Saturday’s Ironman National.

NASCAR

Kurt Busch and the sinister black and green No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Chip Ganassi Racing competed in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Busch ran in the top five all day in a hard-fought battle ultimately placing 4th on the high-speed 2.0-mile D-shaped oval. At Friday evening’s 100-lap Henry Ford Health System 200 at Michigan International Speedway, it was Monster Energy wheelman Ty Gibbs powering the No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Camry to his remarkable eighth win of the 2021 ARCA Menards Series. “That was a good time,” Gibbs said immediately after the race. “It’s more of a speedway style race with this package and horsepower. A good learning experience for me. Kind of taught me today a little bit, blocking lines and runs. We got two more races this weekend, so it’ll be fun.” Also competing on Friday evening in the American Midwest was the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Staged as the Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Illinois, Hailie Deegan deftly raced to an excellent seventh-place finish in the #1 Monster Energy F-150 for DGR-Crosley. It was Deegan’s first top 10 finish of the ’21 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. On Saturday afternoon, the NASCAR Xfinity Series lined up at Michigan International Speedway for the New Holland 250, Riley Herbst, in the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Hass Racing, racing to a seventh-place finish while Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 Monster Energy Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing finished the race in 13th. Busch and the entire NASCAR Cup contingent will race next Saturday night in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

PBR

Professional Bull Riders visited Nashville, Tennessee where on the spurs of his historic record-setting 90-point ride Saturday evening, reigning PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme remained dominant on Championship Sunday. Leme recorded another 90-point score that adds to his all-time single-season record, Leme rode to his league-leading fifth Unleash The Beast event win.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Monster Hydro athletes Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb won the prestigious AVP Manhattan Beach Open, the longest-running pro beach volleyball tourney in the U.S., since 1960. Bourne and Crabb defeated ex-NBAer Chase Budinger and Casey Patterson for Bourne’s first Manhattan Beach win and Crabb’s second. It was Bourne's eighth pro victory (his fourth with Crabb), including his fifth AVP win. Please see the link for Match Point. HERE