By TSM Editor Paul Savage @PaulSavageNZ
As James ‘Bubba’ Stewart racked up another AMA Supercross win on Saturday night, he also etched himself another place in the sport’s record books.
The Yoshimura Suzuki rider made it win number 48 at Ford Field in Detroit on the weekend, matching the same number of race wins as fellow Suzuki man Ricky Carmichael – the pair now sit together with the second best stats of all time below the 72 set by two-stroke era great Jeremy McGrath.
“It feels great to tie with a legend like RC,” Stewart said following his win.
Although race night fell on the birth date of former champion Chad Reed – who’s been forced to the sidelines for the remainder of the indoor season due to a shoulder injury – there was no letting off for the rest of the men who tackled the Michigan surface that evening.
Not even two minutes after Cole Seely blasted out of the gates to take the holeshot, James Stewart nipped past the front two to take the lead. Moments later he scraped past a tuff-block on the side, perhaps only an inch away from blowing his Main Event altogether.
A few moments later, Ken Roczen’s KTM gave up the ghost and refused to haul him another yard. The back wheel appeared to be completely locked. The commentary team remarked that the incident may have cost the rookie a shot at the 2014 title.
Well into the season, the level of consistency shown throughout the pack was evident. Few spills yet plenty of thrills were witnessed on the course which included a unique inclined hairpin section, no doubt allowing the boys a welcome few seconds to rest their burning forearms.
In the smaller class, Adam Cianciarulo showed again he’s the man to beat on the 250SX East circuit and is right in the face of his Kawasaki rival Martin Davalos. Cianciarulo came in ahead of Justin Bogle (Honda) and Blake Baggett (Kawasaki).
Ryan Villopoto still has a comfortable lead on the 450 points table on 231; Ryan Dungey is next on 201 and James Stewart is riding third with 182 points.
Next week the series heads north of the border, up Canada way. Stay tuned at twostrokemotocross.com
