GEICO Honda’s Justin Barcia will race in the inaugural Monster Energy Cup at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium on 15 October.

The sophomore Supercross Lites class rider established he was going to be a frontrunner for the 2011 supercross season early by winning the opening race of the Eastern Regional Supercross Lites class season.

Barcia earned two additional victories and six podium finishes en route to becoming the class’ champion. The young Honda rider has five career Supercross Lites class wins and nine podium finishes

“With $1-million on the line, you are going to see some good battles out there,” said Barcia. “This big purse is going to make for some tight, bar-banging action. It’s going to be exciting not only for the riders, but the fans too.”

The Monster Energy Cup will give Barcia an opportunity to go head-to-head with the top riders from the supercross class.

Following an impressive third-overall finish this past weekend debuting on a Honda CRF450R at the Unadilla stop of the Outdoor National Motocross Championship, Barcia’s adaptive style should give him the competitive edge when battling for the $1-million purse.

“The seat time I’m putting in during the outdoors on the Honda CRF450R is certainly going to give me an upper hand at the Monster Energy Cup,” said Barcia. “My familiarity on 250’s and now 450’s is going to pay off when racing head-to-head against the top supercross riders.

“I’m now able to apply what I’ve learned from riding both bikes and turn that knowledge hopefully into a huge victory for me and the Honda squad.”

When asked about the advantages racing on a 250 compared to a 450, Barcia said he thinks the bikes will be evenly matched.

“I personally don’t think there will be any advantages between the 250s and 450s in this one-class race,” Barcia continued. “With Ricky [Carmichael] and Jeremy [McGrath] designing the track, I have no doubts that they will add elements which adhere to both bikes.

“I’m certainly looking forward to Ricky and Jeremy designing the track. Their racing backgrounds are really going to come into play with the overall track layout. It’s going to be extremely challenging and I can’t wait.”