Winning his second race in as many weeks, James Stewart has done it again.
The three-time AMA Supercross champion is beginning to show once again the form and consistency that led him to victory in the 2006, 2007 and 2009 racing series last decade.
Shortly after announcing that Yoshimura Suzuki and James Stewart Jr. will be an item for at least another year, the rider hinted that there’s an “80 per cent chance” the 2015 year may be his last on the circuit.
Not letting that slow him down, Stewart went to town on the rock-hard Texan surface and left his biggest rivals reeling in defeat.
AT&T Stadium, home to the Dallas Cowboys, hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Stewart nor series contender Chad Reed; last year Stewart had to pull out of the race at the last minute due to a clutch failure, on the very same course where Reed crashed out two years ago, ending his season in an instant.
Ryan ‘Mr Consistent’ Dungey was first out of the gate and through the holeshot, only to be pounced on and overtaken by Stewart barely three laps later.
On the rock-hard and quick course that was the track on Saturday night, the laps barely went on longer than 47 seconds.
Time ticked by at a great rate of knots; while Stewart and Dungey were hauling it out front, the season’s hot starters Ryan Villopoto – donning the champion red plate – and Ken Roczen were having a skirmish of their own well outside the top three of the running order.
However, it wasn’t enough – Stewart saw the checkered flag first, in front of Ryan Dungey (KTM, 2nd) and Justin Barcia (Honda, 3rd).
In the first of the eastern round for the 250SX men, the podium was as green as the grass on a Tennessee ranch. All three podium finishers did it on Kawasaki machines; Adam Cianciarulo (1st) held off Blake Baggett (2nd) and rated prospect Martin Davalos (3rd).
Ryan Villopoto still leads the 450 points table on 144, ahead of Ken Roczen (132) and James Stewart (130).
Next week – Atlanta, the City in the Forest. Stay tuned for more!
Story by Paul Savage – @PaulSavageNZ
