Ryan Villopoto recorded his third win of the 2013 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series after leading all 20 laps in front of 54,036 fans at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas, February 15. The Monster Energy Kawasaki team rider didn’t quite get the holeshot but he owned the lead after the first lap and never looked back, chalking up his 27th career win in the premier class.
With the win, Villopoto gained three valuable points on series leader Davi Millsaps, who finished second, but is still 24 points back in third place.
“Starts are definitely important,” said Villopoto. “I’ve had a target on my back this year, everyone knows that, and it’s stressful. I’m just trying to have fun with riding again. If we get third, it’s on the podium, and if it’s second, that’s good, too. Davi has been riding really good this year, so we have to just chip away at it. It’s going to take a while.”
Still, Millsaps, on the Rockstar Energy-backed Suzuki, managed to extend his lead over third-place finisher Ryan Dungey. After seven rounds, Millsaps enjoys a 21-point advantage over the Red Bull KTM rider.
Millsaps actually grabbed the holeshot but Villopoto swooped past him by the second turn, as did Chad Reed right after that. As he has done all season, Millsaps fought back and got around Reed, pulled away but couldn’t catch the flying Villopoto.
Reed held third for much of the race but couldn’t hold off Dungey, who put an aggressive pass on Reed, with the two making slight contact, late in the race. Reed went on to finish out the race in fourth.
Fifth on the night went to JGRMX/Toyota Yamaha’s Justin Brayton who held that position for most of the race.
Honda Muscle Milk’s Justin Barcia started off in eighth but struggled to make passes on some of the riders said was a difficult track to pass on. Barcia ended up sixth.
Barcia’s teammate Trey Canard finished out the night in seventh after rounding the first lap in 13th place.
BTO Sports/KTM rider Matt Goerke took eighth, followed by Honda rider Andrew Short and RCH Suzuki’s Broc Tickle.
It was a disappointing night for the Yoshimura Suzuki team. After passing Villopoto for the win in a heat race, James Stewart was looking to get on the podium for the first time this season, but his bike’s clutch failed on the start line and was unable to start the race.
The Dallas Supercross marked the opening round of the 250 East Series and Dean Wilson, who came into the race as the favorite to win, did not disappoint. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider made a couple of quick passes right after the start and led pretty much front start to finish, taking the checkered flag 5.9 seconds ahead of Rockstar Energy Suzuki’s Blake Wharton.
Dean Wilson starts the 2013 250 East Series off right with a win in Dallas. Photography By: Kit Palmer
This was Wilson’s first race in over eight months.
“This feels so good,” Wilson said. “It’s been 10 months waiting for that. I knew I needed to get the start, so I fought for it and it went well. I saw the leader and I knew I was good in the whoops, so I just went on the outside around him. He raced clean and I respect that. From there I just rode my own race.”
Wharton had control of third by the second lap after passing fast start Kyle Peters but could not make any headway on the Wilson.
Honda rider Cole Thompson was on the move for a while. He caught and passed Peters for third but would eventually crash out of the picture.
Peters moved back into third but was unable to hold off GEICO Honda’s Wil Hahn, who ended up filling out the first East podium of the year.
Peters ended up fourth, while Justin Hill, who was making his Pro debut on the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rounded out the top five.
Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin finished sixth after crashing in the first turn.
MotoConcepts’ Gavin Faith, who won his heat race earlier in the night, finished seventh, followed by High Octane Harley-Davidson’s James Decotis, Slaton Racing’s Vince Friese, and Munn Racing KTM’s Lance Vincent.
GEICO Honda’s Zach Bell made his Supercross debut in the 250 class and was impressive before suffering a couple of spectacular crashes, one while he was leading his heat race. He parted company with his bike about 20 feet off the ground but came back to finish second in the LCQ. Bell suffered another hard get-off in the main. Bell suffered cuts and bruises to his face, an injury to his finger on his right hand, and an injury to his left hand. For now, he says he’ll ride next week in Atlanta.
RESULTS
450 Main:
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
2. Davi Millsaps (Suz)
3. Ryan Dungey (KTM)
4. Chad Reed (Hon)
5. Justin Brayton (Yam)
6. Justin Barcia (Hon)
7. Trey Canard (Hon)
8. Matt Goerke (KTM)
9. Andrew Short (Hon)
10. Broc Tickle (Suz)
250 East Main:
1. Dean Wilson (Kaw)
2. Blake Wharton (Suz)
3. Wil Hahn (Hon)
4. Kyle Peters (Hon)
5. Justin Hill (Kaw)
6. Marvin Musquin (KTM)
7. Gavin Faith (Hon)
8. James Decotis (Hon)
9. Vince Friese (Hon)
10. Lance Vincent (
