didn’t attend the Monster Energy Cup. Instead, I handed the keys to the city (or at least the media passes) to noob Racer X Online associate editor Mitch Kendra and our West Coast advertising master, Trent Lopez. You can read their The Odd Couple-meets-The Hangover story on page 92.

In contrast, I try to spend the off-season doing off-season things, but the racing is never far away. So while practice was taking place in Las Vegas, I was attending a baby shower for my friend Jonny Oler and his wife, Heather, who are expecting their first child. Oler spent 12 years as the suspension man for Joe Gibbs Racing MX but recently stepped down to spend more time with his family. Monster Cup was supposed to mark his first race on the wagon, but just as quickly as Jonny was out, he was pulled back in via Chad Reed’s late entry to the race. Oler worked with Reed at JGR last year, so when Reed needed suspension help fast, Oler pitched in with his new company, Art of War. Jonny helped Chad with some testing, built some settings, and shipped it off to Sam Boyd Stadium.

We learned a few things. For us super-insider industry types, Monster Energy Cup is a fun off-season race but nothing to be taken seriously. But there’s a million dollars on the line, and to the uninitiated fan, that essentially makes this the biggest race ever.

So after Eli Tomac won the first race, the non-fans were totally engaged in the racing. Then came the 250 Futures race and the Jett Lawrence Show. When the unfiltered 16-year-old Aussie told podium interviewer Daniel Blair that his brother Hunter was actually “his sister,” it set the living room ablaze. They thought this was hilarious! Such a jab is probably not politically correct these days, but politically incorrect is on-brand for the brash Australian teen. It was perfect.

A little bit later, Tomac crashed in the second race and the million went out the window. Now it was on Lawrence to keep the fans engaged. He delivered, via a bag of donuts, which his team gave him as a prize for winning. Jett offered one to the AMA’s Mike Pelletier.

“Did he just offer the commissioner of the league a donut?” asked Dan, an Englishman who was there for the baby shower and knows very little about “motorbike” racing. “That kid is a legend!”

What was the real story there? Well, Lawrence had a bet going with his team. He loves donuts, but the team told him no donuts unless he wins Monster Cup—in which case he’d get a whole dozen. A loss and the team gets the donuts. Lawrence won, so he had a few extra to spare with Pelletier and NBC Sports’ Will Christien. (Both passed on the offer.)

By the end of the night, Tomac and Adam Cianciarulo were battling down to the last lap for the win and $100,000. It was exciting, but it didn’t offer the ring of a million bucks. So while the lasting image of Monster Energy Cup is usually Ryan Villopoto, Marvin Musquin, or Eli Tomac hoisting $1 million over their head on the podium, this time a bag of donuts became the most talked-about prize in Sin City. Jett Lawrence had stolen the show.