One Race, One Page

By the time the 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series made it to Round 15 un Seattle, Ryan Villopoto was in a state of flux. His rookie 450 season was not going well—at least not as well as many had expected from the three-time AMA 250 Pro Motocross Champion. As the replacement for the departed James Stewart on the Kawasaki factory team, Villopoto was struggling. Ranked ninth in the standings, he had only reached the podium three times. He had also missed the previous three races due to an unexplained illness.