Ryan Villopoto will share the red plate with Ryan Dungey this weekend in LA. Image: Simon Cudby.

As Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, returns to Dodger Stadium this Saturday night, Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto are deadlocked in the Supercross Class points race at 45.

Last weekend at Phoenix Dungey captured his first win of the season and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson lay claim to the Supercross Lites Class victory.

“This was a big step in the right direction for KTM,” said Dungey. “They’ve been behind me the whole way and believed in me. We’ve come a long way since the off-season, but there’s still a lot of racing to go.

“I got off to a great start and [moved] into the lead early, which made it nice on myself. If it wasn’t for all these people (at KTM) working their butts off every week, this wouldn’t happen, so I owe this all to them.”

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer finished second for his first career Supercross Class podium, while Villopoto passed most of the field and fought his way into third to salvage his points lead.

“It was a tough night,” said Villopoto. “Davi [Millsaps] went down in front of me in the sand and I went right into him. It happened on first lap, and when that happens, you have your work cut out for you.

“There’s 20 laps to do it, so you’ve got to make quick work of it. The bike was working great though. I salvaged a lot of points tonight, so it was good.”

Australia’s Chad Reed brought home a fifth-place finish, while James Stewart soldiered on to finish eighth.

Dungey and Villopoto currently have a share of the points lead, and both will adorn their bikes with the red number plate this weekend, signifying the current rider in control of the championship.

Last year at the inaugural Supercross race at Dodger Stadium, Villopoto took home his second Supercross class victory of the season.

Cole Seely took home his first career Western Regional Supercross Class Lites victory. This will be the second time the gates will drop for a supercross race at Dodger Stadium.