Stewart and Dungey battle hard while Reed was watching on from the stands.

The gates have officially dropped for the 2010 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, with Chad Reed’s championship chances also taking a serious dive almost before it even began at Anaheim in California on Saturday night.

Reed’s devastating collision with wildcard rider Austin Stroupe, set to race the East Coast Lites series when it kicks off, out of the gates in the main event destroyed his front wheel, forcing him out of the race almost instantly and leaving James Stewart and Ryan Dungey to steal the show up front throughout the race.

It’s a huge blow to Reed considering arch-rival and defending series champ Stewart won, and you do have to question why there was no attempt from Kawasaki’s side to replace the front wheel in a bit to at least claim a couple of points.

Anybody remember last year when the points difference between Reed and Stewart was just four points after an epic season of action?

Despite the disappointment of Anaheim, it casts an interesting light on the rest of the season for Reed fans. Usually it’s Stewart who starts the season on the wrong foot (he DNF’d A1 last year), leaving Reed to defend the series lead right the way through.

But now it’s Reedy who has to fight and claw his way back through to the top of the point table, and he might just shine on his Monster-backed KX450F when put in that scenario.

You could say I’m being optimistic, but hey, I’m an Aussie and love to see Reedy bang bars with the best of them in a bid for yet another AMA and World championship.

Other surprises coming out of A1 was the form of rookie hero Ryan Dungey for Suzuki, leading the majority of the race and taking a serious stab at Stewart on the final lap, only just coming up short of his first win.

Also important to note is that Nike was rewarded with a 1-2 finish in its first ever official Supercross appearance as both Stewart and Dungey debuted the all-new Nike 6.0 boots during the weekend.

We would have though it would be the other Ryan, Ryan Villopoto, pressuring Stewart for the win at the opener, however a tweaked wrist took the wind out of his sail for the next and he’s said on Twitter that he’s happy enough with A1 over and done with.

The “old guy” Kevin Windham stepped up as ever with a superb podium performance after coming through a few of the top guys, while both official Red Bull Honda Racing riders Andrew Short and Davi Millsaps do look particularly strong this year.

The Aussies all had a tough weekend, with Reed’s demise, Dan Reardon crashing out hard in his heat and Michael Byrne crossing the line as the final finisher in the main event on his privateer Kawi.

It’s bound to improve from this point on though as Reedy uses his determination to good effect, Burner will continue to improve and Reardo was looking solid on his MotoConcepts Yamaha before going down. Plus, let’s not forget Matt Moss will be back in a few rounds time at Indy, all going to plan.

Season 2010 marks one of the deepest fields in Supercross history (we always seem to say that right, but this year it really is!), with Anaheim living up to the massive hype leading into the event.

Last year’s A1 winner Josh Grant will bounce back from his broken nose, Jason Lawrence will get fitter after his spell in jail, and there’s no doubt that Villopoto will get stronger as the season rolls on.

Now’s the time to shine, Reedy!