Villopoto was the fastest rider all day in qualifying and carried that into the night show. He finished second in his heat race and knew that the track was going to be his biggest competition in the main event. The dirt continued to break down and the three-time champion knew that the risk was higher than the reward and confidently took his place on the podium in third.
“I was too timid the first lap and let those guys gap me a bit,” said Villopoto. “We’ve been here before and know that we’re only five rounds in. We’ve got the points lead and want to be smart. The track was really going away and it was hard to be aggressive.”