Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Dean Wilson (Photo: Kawasaki Racing)

The past year for Dean Wilson hasn’t been a memorable one -- at least not the sort he'll want to remember. A couple of big crashes in Supercross and a heartbreaking runner-up finish in the championship left him battered, bruised, and legitimately injured heading into the outdoor season where he was expected to defend his title. After giving it a go, Wilson knew he couldn’t take the pain of 24 grueling motos on a shoulder that needed fixing, so he went under the knife.

Following a pair of surgeries to repair lingering problems in each shoulder, Wilson signed a deal that was supposed to represent his official move up to the 450 division with the Jeff Ward Racing team. However, weeks later, the team ceased operations, leaving Wilson looking for a ride. With his immediate future looking uncertain, and maybe even a little bleak, Wilson and Mitch Payton reunited at Pro Circuit. While his 2013 plan needed to be altered -- 250s in Supercross and 450s outdoors -- this 'what’s old is new again' deal could actually be a silver lining that leads to great things.

Wilson has wanted a Supercross title in the 250 class as there aren’t many riders in history who have had the privilege of winning both a Supercross and Motocross title in the division -- only nine to be exact. Now he has one more shot at it and he’s the heavy favorite and a potential dominator in the East Region. He got off to a very impressive start in Dallas, indeed, leading every lap of the main event. Even in his heat race, Wilson needed to come from behind after riders went down in front of him in the first turn, but he did so with ease and genuinely looks like he’s on another level. The only threat I see to Wilson this season is possibly Marvin Musquin, but if Dean can keep out of trouble, he’s going to be tough to beat.

Speaking of Musquin, after going down in the first corner of the main event and picking up in dead last, the Frenchman battled back to finish sixth. I watched him throughout the race as I do see him as being the next best rider in the region, and he looked very impressive in the way in which he worked through traffic. It will be interesting to see what Marvin can do if he’s able to get a decent start.

Zach Bell’s crash in his heat race was the scariest thing I’ve seen since the “Chadapult” at Millville back in 2011. It’s good to know he’s all right, but hopefully that crash in the main event didn’t make matters worse.

The depth of the East Region might not be quite at the level of the West, but it will be exciting to see what young faces are able to emerge and draw some attention to themselves and a possible bright future. Riders like Gavin Faith, Justin Hill, Cole Thompson, Kyle Peters, and Bell all showed some serious talent. We’ll see if they can mature into consistent threats as the season wears on.

This weekend’s race in Atlanta has a tendency to produce some of the biggest fireworks of the season. The red Georgia clay makes for great racing, so we’ll see if some new names step up on Saturday night.