Will Anyone Win the Million Bucks? That’s the big question for tomorrow night. 

At Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, the Monster Energy Cup race should be interesting at the very least and it has the potential to be an historic race in the history of motorcycle racing. How can a one-off supercross/motocross hybrid race hold such importance? Simply put, it’s the purse. If any rider wins all three races they will take home one million dollars. That would easily be the biggest prize for a single event every awarded in motorcycle racing.

Whoever wins is guaranteed  $100,000, which ain’t chump chance, but to have the chance to take home a cool million could not only make a rider’s bank account look a lot better, but could put him in the history books.

Motorcycle racing’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” has an impressive lineup including 2011 AMA Supercross and 450 Motocross champ Ryan Villopoto. Also Ryan Dungey will be debuting with KTM and there will be a slew of other top riders.

Notable for their absence in the potential Million Dollar race is James Stewart and Chad Reed. Missing two of the premier names in supercross reveals one of the problems with having a big race in October. It’s a no-man’s land for riders, many of whom are between contracts, or still negotiating for 2012. To see Dungey in the lineup after only a few weeks practicing aboard his new bike is impressive. No doubt KTM will get a lot of press for introducing Dungey as their new rider via the Monster Energy Cup.

Dungey on a new motorcycle is music to the ears of Ryan Villopoto. With Stewart and Reed out and Dungey on a new machine, RV’s path to sweep all three races and take home the big prize is a lot clearer.

Big money motorcycle races have been few and far between.  In Supercross you had the U.S. Open that was held at the MGM Grand every October from 1998 to 2009. It had a $250,000 purse with $100,000 going to the winner, just like the Monster Energy Cup (sans the million dollar bonus). In road racing Willow Springs Raceway used to hold the Toyota 200 race that had a $100,000 purse with 50K going to the winner. In the early 1970s the Championship Spark Plug Motorcycle Classic at Ontario Motor Speedway, promoted by Gavin Trippe and Bruce Cox, offered a $53,000 total purse, the biggest of its day by far and the equivalent of $285,000 today. The winner took home about $30,000, or roughly 160,000 in today’s dollars.

Good for Feld Motor Sports for creating this unprecedented opportunity for a rider to become an instant millionaire. I hope promoters in the other genres of motorcycle racing will follow Feld’s lead and create special big-money races.