Just two races remain in the 2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, and the competition is tighter than its even been in the history of the sport.

Coming in to tomorrow’s 16th stop of the season from Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, four riders sit within nine points of the championship lead and are well within striking distance to claim the coveted title.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto is the rider the rest of the field is looking up at in the standings. With five wins to his credit and an impressive finishing average of 2.9 that is top in the class, on paper Villopoto looks like the rider to beat and has been for the majority of the season.

With a solid outing at his home race in Seattle two weeks ago, Villopoto will look to maintain his consistency while also aiming for the top of the box, putting additional pressure on his rivals.

“I’m looking forwards to going to Salt Lake City,” said Villopoto. “I missed last year and I remember the dirt being a lot like Seattle. I just hope the weather is better to us compared to what I watched on TV last year.”

A mere six points behind Villopoto is TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray Racing’s Chad Reed. The two-time champion’s foray into ownership has proven successful with a win and exceptional consistency this season.

Now he sits in position to claim a third title, but is also engaged in a heated battle with reigning champion Ryan Dungey, who sits just one additional point back in third.

Seattle was the Rockstar/Makita Suzuki rider’s worst outing since his DNF in Anaheim 10 races ago. During that span, he has amassed eight podium finishes with one win, four runner-up finishes, and three thirds.

The combination of Dungey’s results and his season turnaround has put him back into the championship picture despite being as much as 38 points out of the lead on two occasions this season.

While his fifth-place effort at the previous round came with some on-track misfortune, Dungey still left Seattle with a chance to defend his crown and his focus coming into Salt Lake City remains clear.

“We’ll get into Salt Lake coming off a two-week break and will be ready to give it a hard push for the last two rounds,” Dungey promised.

San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart is arguably the hottest rider in Monster Energy Supercross right now, and on the heels of his fifth win of the season in Seattle, it couldn’t come at a better time.

For much of the season, Stewart has battled ups and downs, but more often than not, he’s shown the speed to run at the front of the field. Over the last two races Stewart has put together back-to-back dominant outings in which he led all 20 laps of both main events.

Now, only nine points separate the former champion and the points lead and he’s looking to carry his wave of momentum into Salt Lake City.

“My weekend in Seattle was great,” said Stewart. “I really couldn’t ask for anything better. Everything really worked out, my San Manuel Yamaha was riding great, and the technical track kind of played to my advantage.

“It feels great to get another win! We had a week off, and I hope to make it happen again in Salt Lake.”