Ryan Dungey took his second 450SX win of the season after an exciting battle with Ryan Villopoto. Image: Simon Cudby.

Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, made its return to Minneapolis’ Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome on Saturday night where a crowd of 48,846 was on hand for the 14th round of the 2013 season.

MotoConcepts’ Mike Alessi grabbed the Nuclear Cowboyz Holeshot Award to open the 450SX class main event, but Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto quickly made the move into the lead spot.

Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey followed Villopoto, passing Alessi moments later and setting the stage for a captivating 20-lap main event which kept the crowd on the edge of their seats.

Villopoto and Dungey began to lay down their laps and set a strong pace early, eventually opening a lead over Rockstar Energy Racing’s Davi Millsaps in third place.

The two riders stayed about a second apart for the first 15 laps before Dungey gained ground on lap 15 when he and Villopoto encountered lapped riders.

On lap 16 of the 20-lap main event, Dungey made his way alongside Villopoto and made the pass for the lead. The duo kept the crowd on its feet when Villopoto passed Dungey back for the top spot just after the start straight.

Dungey moved alongside Villopoto after the track’s first rhythm section and they stayed that way for a third of a lap before Dungey reclaimed the position for good, earning his 13th-career 450SX Class win.

Villopoto had carried a five-race winning streak into the event before the Minnesota native put an end to his dominance in impressive fashion.

Behind Dungey and Villopoto it was Millsaps who rounded out the podium in third, with Honda Muscle Milks’ Justin Barcia in fourth and TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed taking a solid fifth after undergoing knee surgery just two weeks ago.

In the hotly contested 250SX class it was Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin who put together an impressive performance as he battles it out for the 2013 title.

Musquin took the lead out of the first corner to claim the Nuclear Cowboyz Holeshot Award. Behind him, several riders banged bars for position with GEICO Honda’s Wil Hahn and Rockstar Energy Racing’s Blake Wharton securing second and third, respectively.

During the following laps Hahn and Wharton began to battle for second position, this then allowed the Frenchman Musquin to open a significant gap over the field.

Hahn eventually put some distance on Wharton for second, while Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Tyler Bowers closed in on third. Bowers made an aggressive pass on Wharton during lap two, but the two remained just bike lengths apart.

Wharton gained an advantage coming out of the whoops during lap seven and moved inside Bowers heading into the following turn, causing the two to make contact and sending Bowers to the ground. He remounted in fifth and would remain there for the remainder of the race.

Musquin remained out front throughout the entire 15-lap main event, taking a wire-to-wire win, his fourth 250SX victory of the 2013 season.

Joining Musquin on the 250SX podium was Hahn and Wharton who earned themselves second and third place finished, respectively. MotoConcepts’ Gavin Faith and Bowers rounded out the podium in fourth and fifth.

Australia’s Jackson Richardson finished up his night with a solid 12th place finish aboard his privateer Honda. Richardson now sits 16th overall in the championship standings.

Hahn maintains his 250SX series lead heading into the season finale, but with his most recent win Musquin sits just five points behind in second. Wharton maintains third overall another 20 points behind Musquin in the points chase.

The 2013 Monster Energy Supercross series now makes its way back to the west coast for Seattle’s round 15 on 20 April.

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