Villopoto and Reed battling in the Dallas 450 main event. Image: Simon Cudby.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto relished the competition from rival Chad Reed, focusing on riding fast as Reed put the pressure on in Dallas.

Unfortunately these heated battles are no more, with Reed suffering a season-ending crash.

The 2012 AMA Supercross class has been all about excitement, as Villopoto and Reed have put on a show in the recent rounds.

After a series changing main event in Dallas, TX. Villopoto spoke to Racer X about the competition from our Australian star.

“I was definitely feeling the pressure from him, but at that point, it’s like I can’t see what he’s doing, I can’t see where he’s going a little bit faster.” Villopoto told Racer X.

“It’s kind of like I’m still going to ride fast, but I’m just gonna settle a little bit and just ride my lines and take my lines and be quick the whole time and try and inch away by him making mistakes.”

“Obviously I don’t know what he’s doing or where he’s going on the track or where he may be a little bit quicker. It’s kind of like the deal where I hold it on and when I let it off, he holds it on just a little bit longer. He was running it in, sticking it in and he knew where he could do that because he was behind me.”

“At that point, it wasn’t like I was just going to open it up and just try and ride away from him because I knew that wasn’t going to happen. He was riding really good and I was just going to focus on myself.”

“I heard his rev in there, too. I figured there was a mistake, enough to give me some breathing room. Then once I hit the triple, I looked over and I saw he was down. Once that happened, it was just cruise it in and stay up.”

Villopoto now holds a 13 point lead over Ryan Dungey in the standings, as the series rolls into Atlanta for round eight.