After an exciting race inSan Francisco this past weekend, which saw Ryan Villopoto claim his first win of the year, the 2010 Monster Energy AMA Supercross moves south for tomorrow’s race at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium. And it will be an interesting one at that, now that the points chase has tightened up among the top three after last week’s outcome.

Series points leader, Suzuki's Ryan Dungey finished off the podium for the first time all year after taking a spectacular fall in the San Francisco final, opening the door for the Monster Energy Kawasaki-backed Villopoto. With last week’s win, Villopoto closed in on Dungey and San Manuel Yamaha’s Josh Hill in the series standings; and after four rounds of 17, Dungey now holds an mere 11-point lead over Hill, while Villopoto sits another two points behind.

No doubt, Villopoto is revved up after his latest outing and will be trying to make it back-to-back wins this weekend. On the other hand, Hill has proven he is quite capable of running out front, and now has two-straight runner-up finishes.

Missing from tomorrow’s race will be James Stewart, the Team San Manuel Yamaha rider now on the mend for several weeks after having surgery to repair a broken scaphiod bone in his hand. Stewart had an MRI done the day before the San Francisco round which revealed the damage. He returned to his home state of Florida for post-surgery therapy immediately following the procedure. 

“It’s been five days since my surgery and my wrist is feeling a lot better,” Stewart said.  “Right now I’m following Doctors' orders so I can get back on the track racing as soon as possible. I want to be out there as soon as I can ride without pain. It was no fun racing Phoenix and Anaheim 2 this way.”

Stewart injured his hand during round two in Phoenix two weeks ago and according to a press release from L&M Racing, there is no exact date when Stewart will return to the race track, but if progress continues as is, he and his team are hopeful that date will be very soon. In the meantime, Hill appears very capable of picking up the slack for Team San Manuel.

In the Lites division, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer has maintained the series points lead since winning the opening race at Anaheim 1, although GEICO Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard has put himself back into contention with a solid win at San Francisco. Weimer still holds a 16-point lead in the championship standings over Canard, with TLD Honda’s Wil Hahn following in third, seven points back. Weimer is looking forward to getting back on top of the podium at Qualcomm Stadium. 
 
“The San Diego track is usually a little more technical than most,” said Weimer. “That works to my advantage because it helps separate the riders. Plus, I’m going down there with a little bit of motivation because I want to go win again. I’m going to go to San Diego and get what I want.” 

In addition to Canard and Hahn, Weimer also has his teammate Josh Hansen to contend with. Hansen has been very successful in his heat races, winning two of his last three, but has has yet to show his full potential in the finals. 

"I want to win and I don't want anything else," says Hansen. "I'm going to work on a few little things and I think it's all going to come around soon."