In only his third 250cc THQ/AMA Supercross series start, 19-year-old Factory Kawasaki rider James Stewart has fulfilled his childhood dream by winning the main event at Texas Stadium - Irving, Texas, Saturday night (April-2), whilst fellow Kawasaki rider Grant Langston took a step closer to realising his ambition of a Supercross title when the South African took a wire to wire win in the penultimate 125cc East round.
"I knew I was going to do it tonight, I felt really strong, man I'm so pumped right now". Stewart said.
"I got a great start I was out front and didn‰Ûªt' fall, I felt great tonight although I was a little nervous. It took me three races to do it but now I am a happy man. I felt really strong all weekend, I wasn‰Ûªt' pushing and I was definatly in control. In Orlando I got a taste of being in front and I liked that feeling" Stewart added.
After the previous round in Orlando where Stewart crashed whilst leading and Reed took a fairly comfortable victory the scene for this weekends 12th round was almost as hyped as the opening round had been back at Anaheim in January.
As the field sat at their gates and the 43,276 fans waited in anticipation, both Reed and Stewart looked good on paper after taking comfortable heat race wins, whilst Carmichael was looking a little worse for wear after he had to come through the semi - the result of two crashes in his heat race.
Once the gate dropped Stewart firmly placed himself in the box seat when he took the holeshot and left championship rivals Carmichael and Reed to lock horns behind him. With Stewart setting sail Reed rode aggressive to keep Carmichael at bay in the opening lap which left the Factory Makita Suzuki rider less than impressed with the situation.
"Chad was getting a little aggressive there with me there in the first turn and I had to watch out for him" Carmichael said. "You know, he is not going to lay down and he wants it, but I gotta watch out for the dirty tactics and do the best I can do and not give him that chance" he added.
As the race unfolded Stewart kept a comfortable 2 to 8 second buffer over Reed throughout the race distance as he pumped out the fastest lap time of the night, Carmichael on the other hand seemed resigned to the fact the he would be an uncharacteristic third. As the race drew to its conclusion Carmichael was thrown a mulligan when Reed crashed.
"It was the last lap and I just felt like I had to do what I had to do to stay there and I hit Travis Preston's back wheel and there was nothing I could do." Reed said in the post race press conference. "I was just trying to put good laps together so it‰Ûªs a tough one to swallow".
After a mountain of wins in feeder classes over a long and illustrious career Stewart finally had the one that counted, the win not only marking the first of his 250 career but also the first of what promises to be one of the most exciting careers of all time. As Stewart celebrated in the middle of the track Carmichael drew up beside the teenager, lifting his hand to he sky in what was a fitting moment and a gesture of good sportsmanship.
Whilst the victory is a significant one for Stewart it was by no means a demoralising win after analyzing the time sheets. Stewart lead from the front and had the advantage with a clear track for the first half of the race, the final winning margin of 5 seconds shows that the rest of the season promises to be a cracker as the three main protagonists do battle.
Off the podium Sebastian Tortelli showed that he has come to grips with the RM-Z450 in a supercross setting by taking fourth ahead of Mike Larocco and David Vuillemin. The return of Travis Pastrana never went according to plan, a heavy crash in his heat race saw him have to qualify through the semi final, but after making the grade he never fronted for the start of the final.
With Stewart now on the win list next weeks 13th round in Pontiac promises more fireworks. One would think Carmichael would be riding with a degree of conservatism as he protects a comfortable championship lead, but nothing could be further from the truth. "I want to get out there and win, I want to beat Chad" Carmichael said. For the champion in waiting though it will be a week to forget despite his second place, as he revealed in the after race press conference he had a serious crash during the week and was taken to hospital where he thought he had done serious damage to his stomach. "its no excuse, but when stuff like that happens at this level it makes it tough and makes you gun shy" he stated.
Grant Langston made it a Kawasaki double when the former World Champion took the win in the 125cc East Coast series race in Dallas - scene of his first ever Supercross career win 3 years ago.
The focus was on both Langston and Red Bull KTM's Josh Hansen as the two went into the race tied on points for the championship lead. For Hansen though it was to be a huge blow to his championship hopes as the opening lap saw him circulation in mid pack. Hansen having been in the thick of things all night after and incident with Suzuki's Davie Millsaps in the heat race saw Millsaps over the tough blocks and on the floor.
heat race winner Matt Walker looked as though he could have run as a blocker for Langston when his Monster/Energy Pro Circuit team-mate ran third behind holeshot winner Steve Boniface in the early stages.
By the third lap Millsaps had snuck into third after Walker made a small mistake and by mid race had moved into second. In the end Langston had the clear track and cruised to a comfortable win and a seven point lead in the championship with one round to go. Hansen gutted it out for fourth to remain in the title hunt.
"I knew I had to get a good start, I rode a little tight but loosened up at the end. Its great to have a bit of a cushion if anything goes wrong. Hopefully I will just keep it on two wheels. Next week we will come in prepared" Langston said
Millsaps was not to disappointed with his second place, saying, "I gave it 100%, I didn't get a great start, I just charged as hard as I could. I am definatly confident going into next weekend".
