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It seems like very few Championships in recent memory have come down to the final round with fewer than a handful of points separating the top two riders. But this year's Monster Energy Supercross Lites East title was an exception. Torco Racing Fuels Honda’s Trey Canard, and Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto squared off Saturday night for the Lites East Regional Championship. Each rider had plenty of talent and motivation, and each one had won three races during the season.

Things came to a head just before the halfway point in the main after Villopoto moved into the lead. At that point, many expected Ryan to check out. But Canard charged back, and in a right-hander before the finish line jump, moved to the inside of Villopoto. After some contact in the corner, Villopoto crashed into the finish line structure, and eventually finishing fourth, while Canard cruised for the win, and the Championship.

Afterwards, the two riders obviously had different views of how things turned out. First up we’ll hear from the new Lites East Champion, Trey Canard, and then from Ryan Villopoto.

Vital MX: So what was on your mind coming into tonight?

Trey Canard: “You know, tonight seemed like so much of the pressure was off. That second-to-last round was like, ‘Dude, this is possible,’ and it was really laying on me, you know? We had it figured that all I had to do was get fourth both rounds and that’s all it would take. (Ed. Note: Trey finished 10th in Detroit.) But we have to play the cards we’re dealt, and I’m glad it happened. I came out tonight and I wanted to win. Man, I’m so pumped right now.”

Actually, the way you guys were lined up on the gate, you had Branden on one side, and Ryan on the other.

“You know, I’ve had some trouble with that the past couple of weeks, with some green bikes. But that’s all part of it, you know? We’re all going for a championship, and like I said, I would expect them to do anything to me, and I just tried to focus on the race and do the best that I can. I know the reason I’m here, and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ has given me everything. He’s given me my talent, and he’s the reason I’m here. I hope I’m doing his name good.”

At the beginning of the season, you said you didn’t want to win every race, you didn’t want to be the fastest guy every time, but tonight in the main, it looked like you may have been the fastest guy.

“I’ve been thinking about this since I was three years old. I’ve always wanted to be a champion, and man, I’ve put in a lot of hard work and there’s been a lot of hard days. The past three weeks were tough for me and when I saw him in front of me it was like, ‘I don’t want to leave anything on this track that I’ll think about tonight,’ so why not try to make something happen. I went for a pass, and I didn’t mean to take him out, but...”

How much contact was there? Was a little? A big hit?

"To be honest, it’s so foggy to me. I was just trying, you know? I almost slid out, and I’m not sure exactly what happened. But I think I probably hit him. I’m not sure. I think he could have backed off and stayed up, but like I said, we’re going for a championship, and I’d expect him to do the same.”

Did you guys have a team plan for tonight?

“No, I didn’t talk to any of the team at all. If I’m going to win something, I need to do it.”

What does this mean for you?

“Oh man, it’s unreal, you know? I know my dad was here tonight, watching. I hope I’m making him proud, and I just want to stay humble and realize that just because I won a championship, it doesn’t make me better. I just want to keep going and keep a level head. Keep my head down and realize that I’m not great, and do what I can.”

What do you think this means to your family?

“Man, I hadn’t seen my mom much, but I know my brothers, they’re so pumped. My whole family is so ecstatic right now. They’ve all sacrificed so much for me, and I couldn’t have done it without them. My dad passed away in ’03, and they’re the reason I’m here, and man, I’m so pumped.”

Now that this is over, do you put a lot of weight on the East/West Shootout in Las Vegas? Or are you looking more towards the outdoors?

“Right now I’m just trying to collect thoughts. I’d really like to go to the East/West Shootout and do some good, but we’ll see how that goes and be ready for that. Just do everything we can and go for outdoors. We’ll start over tomorrow and we’ll be good.”

After talking to Trey, we headed over to catch up with Ryan Villopoto.

Vital MX: It’s a bit of an unusual situation for a championship to come down to this, where you’re separated by so few points.

Ryan Villopoto: “Yeah, not all of ‘em come down that close, especially for the three. I mean they’ve been somewhat close, and I’ve never been three points behind at the last race. So it’s a little different for me, but it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I need to do this, or I need to do that.’ I was just riding around, set him up and passed him. I didn’t do anything dirty to him, I just passed him and was going to protect my line. I knew he was there.”

So tell us about your race tonight. Where were you on the start?

“Not very good on the start, but I hugged the inside and I came out of the second turn in fourth. Then I passed Josh (Grant) after he was holding me up a little bit. Then I got up to Trey, and passed him. Then we came up into right before the finish line. Nobody had passed there all day, and it’s a one-line section and all that. I tripled and singled into the turn, and all of a sudden I got blown off the track. My body hit that big aluminum tower, and my bike flew into the whoops. I had to go down and get it out of the whoops, and ride backwards on the track, and then jump over the thing and get back on the track. I was just waiting for the race to end then.”

Coming into the season you had some surgery. How prepared were you for this one?

“I started riding five days before. I figured I’d be able to do it and just race into shape.”

It seemed like momentum was going your way towards the end of the season.

“It started out bad, and the second race was still a little rough. Then it came around and was going all good, and for it to end like this is pretty bad, I think. I mean, the last four races he hasn’t been able to match my lap times or anything. I guess he had to do it one way or the other.”

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