Stewart Breaks The Jinx At Unadilla

Shan Moore | July 20, 2008

NEW BERLIN, New York: James Stewart finally broke his string of bad luck at Unadilla Valley Sports Complex by completing a two-moto sweep of round eight of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championships today at the fable facility.

The factory Kawasaki rider rode uncontested to the first moto win, but had some pressure early on in moto two from New Zealander Cody Cooper.

The first moto was relatively dry and Stewart led Suzuki’s Michael Byrne through the opening turn, as the two riders quickly outdistanced the field.

Stewart took the win with a considerable cushion over Byrne while Kawasaki’s Timmy Ferry out dueled Red Bull Honda’s Andrew Short for third.

The skies opened up before the second moto and after a couple of laps it was hard to distinguish one rider from another. However, there was no mistaking Stewart’s Kawasaki out front, with Cooper’s Suzuki keeping pace in the muck for most of the moto.

At the finish, the order was Stewart, Cooper, Byrne, and MotoXXX rider Antonio Balbi.

Short took a rock to one of his eyes in moto two after pulling his goggles down, and dropped back to 14th at the finish. Meanwhile, Short’s teammate Davi Millsaps sit this round out to let his sore shoulder heal a bit.

In the Lites division, Moster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto dealt with early pressure from Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, but Villopoto eventually rode to two easy wins while Dungey settled for pair of seconds.

Kawasaki’s Brett Metcalfe went 6-4 for third overall, with Suzuki-mounted Nico Izzi and Gieco Powersports Honda’s Josh Grant rounding out the top five.