Malcolm Stewart experienced a little bit of everything during the 450SX Main Event at Angel Stadium, California, the annual tradition for the AMA Supercross Championship.
After finishing fourth in his heat race Stewart went into the main event with high hopes. Nearing the halfway point, he took advantage of a bobble by last season’s champion Eli Tomac and took over the lead for several laps. Later, contact with Chase Sexton forced him off the track.
In the closing stages of the main, he had a huge crash, going over the bars when the bike appeared to hit neutral, which dropped him to the back of the pack. But even with the tough finish, he was left with a positive impression at the start of the season.
“The day started out pretty slow. I didn’t really ride that well in practice and the track was pretty tough, but I got to a point where I was like, ‘You know what? I just need to turn this dayaround,’ because I felt like I work too hard to get to this point,” Stewart said.
“I got a decent start in the main event, and just did the best I could. I started riding, clicking off laps, making some good passes, and smart choices. I was leading the main for a while, which was amazing. I don’t think I’ve done that in my whole entire career. Just having all that pressure and dealing with it, if anything brings confidence to me because I know where I belong. I’m very proud of myself. Unfortunately, we did have a crash with three laps to go. It was a big crash for sure. I’m glad that I’m healthy and walked away from it, so we live to fight another day and I’m more proud of myself because of how my day was going and me turning it around and going like that, and doing what I’m supposed to do just brings more confidence for me. I’m looking forward to Oakland.”
