After his domination of the opening round of the Monster Energy/AMA Supercross Series in early January at Anaheim 1, things couldn’t have been looking better for Monster Energy Kawasaki’s defending SX champ Ryan Villopoto. However, in the following three races, Villopoto has run into perhaps more than his fair share of bad luck, although his worst finish during that streak was fourth place and he came into Anaheim 2 only two points out of the championship lead.

Returning the Angel Stadium Saturday night proved to be just the catalyst Villopoto needed to put the RV freight train back on the tracks.

After winning his heat race, he grabbed the holeshot in the main event, only to have former champ Chad Reed dive inside of him heading into the track’s first set of whoops. Only a few turns later, though, Villopoto snared the lead back from Reed after he was able to hang tighter toward the inside in a right-hander leading up to one of the track’s two triple jumps, and that set him up for the inside of the next right-hand turn, and the lead was Villopoto’s.

From there, the defending champ ran away with it, officially leading all 20 laps on his way to his second win of the season, while another former champ, and the winner of last weekend’s race in Oakland, James Stewart, went by Reed for second as the race neared the halfway point.

“It wasn’t that good,” Villopoto said when asked if this was a repeat of Anaheim 1. “I didn’t have as big of a lead this time. But the track was tough tonight. All year long, the track’s have been deteriorating quickly in the main event, and Anaheim always gets hard and slippery. You’ve got to show patience and be on your game.”

Villopoto’s teammate Jake Weimer had a tough night. Just after he had taken over the lead in his heat race, he lost the front in some sand and went down. Then, in the main, Weimer was caught up in a pileup in the first section of whoops on the opening lap and got going nearly last. He caught up to 11th at the finish and fell from fifth to sixth place in the points standings.

Just in front of Weimer came Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Broc Tickle, who hovered around the 10th position for the entire race. And Monster Energy-backed Josh Hansen also had a tough main event, as he suffered a malfunction to his front brake on the opening lap and was forced to drop out of the race. It was Hansen’s first finish outside the top 10 of 2012.

But for Villopoto, his win landed him back the points lead as the series heads to San Diego this coming Saturday night.

In the Lites class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson got the night started off right with a win in the opening heat race of the evening and prepared for the main event. However, he did himself no favors off the start, starting outside the top five on the track that most racers commented was tough to pass on.

He quickly moved to fifth, then on lap five of 15 he went by Nico Izzi for fourth and set out after Frenchman Marvin Musquin in third. However, catching Musquin and passing him proved to be very different things for Wilson and he was forced to settle for fourth.

“I could’ve tried something stupid, but I don’t want to make that kind of mistake again,” Wilson said. “Tonight wasn’t a good night for me, but all I can do is move forward and try and turn things around in San Diego.”

Lites Main: Oakland

1. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda

2. Cole Seely, Murrieta, Calif., Honda

3. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM

4. Dean Wilson, Scotland, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki

5.  Nico Izzi, Wildomar, Calif., Yamaha

6. Michael Leib, Menifee, Calif., Honda

7. Matt Moss, Australia, KTM

8. Vince Friese, Cape Girardeau, MO, Honda

9. Travis Baker, Temecula, Calif., Honda

10. Martin Davalos, Ecuador, Suzuki

Lites Western Regional SX Season Standings

1. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda – 113

2. Dean Wilson, Scotland, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki – 91

3. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM – 84

4. Cole Seely, Murrieta, Calif., Honda – 79

5. Zach Osborne, Chesterfield, SC, Monster Energy/BikeIt Yamaha – 67

6.  Nico Izzi, Wildomar, Calif., Yamaha – 62

7. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki – 60

8. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, NM, Suzuki – 54

9. Ryan Sipes, Ekron, KY, Yamaha – 53

10. Max Moss, Australia, KTM – 53

450 Main: Oakland

1. Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Monster Energy Kawasaki

2. James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Yamaha

3. Chad Reed, Australia, Honda

4. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki

5. Justin Brayton, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Honda

6. Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda

7. Davi Millsaps, Cairo, Ga., Yamaha

8. Mike Alessi, Hesperia, Calif., Suzuki

9. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Suzuki

10. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki

11. Jake Weimer, Twin Falls, Idaho, Monster Energy Kawasaki

450 SX Season Standings

1. Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Monster Energy Kawasaki – 108

2. Chad Reed, Australia, Honda – 105

3. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki – 103

4. James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Yamaha – 95

5. Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda – 73

6. Jake Weimer, Twin Falls, Idaho, Monster Energy Kawasaki – 71

7. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda – 59

8. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Suzuki – 57

9. Davi Millsaps, Cairo, Ga., Yamaha – 56

10. Justin Brayton, Murrieta, Calif., Honda – 53