With the Anaheim opener now in the books, the picture becomes a little clearer as to who the contenders are in this year’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross series as the schedule heads into Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, for round two on Saturday.

After missing much of the off-season with a mysterious illness, San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart proved that he’s healthy enough to win, and came from behind to do so, edging a surprisingly fast Ryan Dungey in the final few laps at Angel Stadium. Dungey seemingly had the race in the bag, holding a full straightaway lead until the 16th lap when he stumbled and allowed Stewart to reel him in. No doubt, Dungey, a two-time Lites champion in 2009, will get faster on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki as the season progresses and he adjusts to the longer 450 motos.

“I feel like I have room for improvement and we’re going to put in a solid week of practice and testing,” Dungey said after his second place finish. “I want to take it one race at a time and be consistent, be smart, and have fun.”

It will be interesting to see if the Stewart/Dungey battle will continue in Phoenix.

Two pre-season favorites on the outside looking in after A1 are Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Chad Reed and JGRMX’s Josh Grant. Reed’s day ended in the first 30 yards of the race when Dungey’s teammate Austin Stroupe clipped Reed’s front wheel with his footpeg, breaking several spokes. Reed made one circuit of the track and then pulled into the mechanics area where Kawasaki’s Michael Williamson sent him to the truck.

“We can come back from this,” said Reed. “Of course it is disappointing to get a DNF, but we’re still looking to win races and the championship. Bad luck happens sometimes, but I know I would have been right there challenging for the win.”

Grant’s race was effectively ended on the Tuesday before Anaheim 1, when he hit the dirt during a practice crash. “We were getting ready for Anaheim and I just made a mistake in the whoops and rung my bell pretty good – actually, I rung it really good, I just can’t get too in detail about it,” Grant said.

At Anaheim, Grant rode practice, qualifying 19th, and transferred to the main with a ninth in the second heat race, but elected not to line up for the final. According to JGRMX team manager Jeremy Albrecht, who spoke about Grant’s situation in the tunnel before the race, Grant’s main complaints centered more around his shoulder than his head.

Both riders – Reed and Grant – find themselves in the same situation, points-wise, that Stewart was in at the start of last year after he dropped out of the opening round at Anaheim. It remains to be seen if either will be able to mount the amazing comeback that Stewart produced to win last year’s title, although it now appears that Grant may miss the Arizona round altogether to have surgery on his shoulder.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the third-place finish by GEICO Powersports Honda’s Kevin Windham, who actually passed Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto and Red Bull Honda’s Andrew Short to secure the position.

“For the first time in my career I wasn’t nervous before a race,” said Windham. “I guess sixteen years of experience is starting to pay off. We have another year under our belt on the Honda and I just felt really comfortable. But I had my work cut out for me, it wasn’t one of those races where you got a good start and ran out front. I had to really fight for it.”

San Manuel Yamaha’s Josh Hill and Valli Motorsport’s Ivan Tedesco came from way back to finish in sixth and seventh, respectively, and both have the potential to challenge for podiums this year.

In the Lites division, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer turned in a dominating performance at A1, but don’t count out GEICO Powersports Honda teammates Trey Canard and Blake Wharton, who finished second and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Ryan Morais was a consistent third on his Rockstar Suzuki Canidae Motosports-backed RM-Z250. Boc Tickle and Max Anstie have to be considered “in the hunt” as well. The Star Racing-backed duo went 1-2 in the opening heat race but suffered from poor starts in the main, with Tickle managing a sixth in the main, while Anstie followed in ninth.

The weather for tomorrow's race is expected to be perfect, so LET'S GET IT ON!