Villopoto left Washougal as the new leader in the 450 title chase.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto heads into a two week break in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship with a slim points lead after taking second overall with 1-2 finishes at Washougal on the weekend.

Villopoto tied on highest points with eventual round winner, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, but was relegated to second due to Dungey’s higher second moto finish.

Despite pressure from Dungey, Villopoto was able to take a wire to wire win in the first moto, then went on to holeshot moto two before the red flag came out for a downed Trey Canard.

The restart saw Dungey grab the holeshot, and while Villopoto wasn’t able to make a move for the lead, he is happy to go into the break taking the championship lead from TwoTwo Motorsport’s Chad Reed with him.

“It’s hard to say how the race would have gone if the red flag wouldn’t have come out,” said Villopoto, reflecting on the race two restart.

“You start getting into a groove and then you have to stop. I’m bummed for Trey (Canard) and hope he gets better. On the restart, Ryan (Dungey) edged me by a wheel on the holeshot and I wasn’t able to get up to him.”

“I would have liked to have walked out of here with a little more of a points gap, but I’ll take the lead.”

After eight rounds of racing, the AMA Motocross Championship series will take two weekends off as the motocross focus shifts to the up-and-coming amateurs at the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, taking place at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch.

The series will pick back up on August 13 at Unadilla in New Berlin, N.Y.