Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey raced back to the top of the victory podium at Saturday night’s St Louis Supercross -– round 14 of 17 in the AMA/ FIM World Supercross series.

Dungey was involved in a tangle with Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto on lap nine of the 20-lap main event and Dungey retained his lead and took the flag as Villopoto crashed heavily in the second half of the race.

He started the evening well, notching the second-fastest time in practice on the technical track and also grabbing the second spot in his heat race.

In the main event, Dungey was determined to get a good jump out of the gate: He came out of the first turn in third, but in lap two Dungey passed the first- and second-placed riders and started burning a pace into the soft St. Louis dirt, dropping almost two seconds off of his heat-race pace.

Midway through, Dungey was challenged for the lead.

He said: “I knew at that point it would become a fitness issue, and I felt I had an advantage. After we fell, when I got my bike back up, it was like I had just done an interval. I knew I had to get busy and keep pushing. The track was really technical and rough and we were running like 50.3s; it was intense. But once we both got going I could see it affecting how he was riding, running a little ragged, and I started closing pretty quickly.”

Sure enough, Dungey’s RM-Z450 was hooking up and getting huge drives coming off the corners, which allowed him to take and keep the lead and he spent the next several laps building up a gap over the rest of the pack and cruised home with a huge win.

The points gap, which was down to 12 points at the start of the race in St. Louis, has now ballooned to 36 with only three rounds left in the series.

Team Manager Roger DeCoster was justifiably proud of Dungey after the race.

“I told Ryan that tonight was a big race for him and that he needed not to hold anything back. He rode very hard and up to his true potential. He was very fast and very aggressive and the results followed. It was a good night for Ryan and the team,” added DeCoster.

AMA Supercross Class Results: St. Louis
1. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki
2. Kevin Windham, Centerville, Miss., Honda
3. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda
4. Nick Wey, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki
5. Chad Reed, Tampa, Fla., Kawasaki
6. Justin Brayton, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha
7. Michael Byrne, Park City, Utah, Yamaha
8. Kyle Chisholm, Valrico, Fla., Yamaha
9. Davi Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Honda
10. Tommy Hahn, Alvord, Texas, Suzuki

AMA Supercross Class Season Standings
1. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki, 302
2. Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki, 266
3. Josh Hill, Carlsbad, Calif., Yamaha, 225
4. Kevin Windham, Centerville, Miss., Honda, 223
5. Davi Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Honda, 215
6. Justin Brayton, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha, 191
7. Ivan Tedesco, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha, 183
8. Nick Wey, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki, 159
9. Tommy Hahn, Alvord, Texas, Suzuki, 139
10. Kyle Chisholm, Valrico, Fla., Yamaha, 136

Eastern Regional AMA Supercross Lites Class Results: St. Louis
1. Justin Barcia, Ochlocknee, Ga., Honda
2. Dean Wilson, San Jacinto, Calif., Kawasaki
3. Brett Metcalfe, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Honda
4. Martin Davalos, Cairo, Ga., Yamaha
5. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Suzuki
6. Kyle Cunningham, Fort Worth, Texas, Honda
7. Michael Willard, Newark, Ohio, Honda
8. Mathew Lemoine, Collinsville, Texas, Suzuki
9. Steve Clarke, Cairo, Ga., Suzuki
10. Kyle Keylon, Brooksville, Fla., Suzuki

Eastern Regional AMA Supercross Lites Class Season Standings
1. Christophe Pourcel, Groveland, Fla., Kawasaki, 160
2. Justin Barcia, Ochlocknee, Ga., Honda, 147
3. Brett Metcalfe, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Honda, 133
4. Austin Stroupe, Lincolnton, N.C., Suzuki, 126
5. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Suzuki, 118
6. Dean Wilson, San Jacinto, Calif., Kawasaki, 105
7. Ryan Sipes, Vine Grove, Ky., Yamaha, 93
8. Kyle Cunningham, Fort Worth, Texas, Honda, 84
9. Martin Davalos, Cairo, Ga., Yamaha, 83
10. Michael Willard, Newark, Ohio, Honda, 66