James Stewart Sets The Bar At Texas Supercross Qualifying

Kit Palmer | April 2, 2011

It was business as usual for San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart. After making all the headlines during the week for all of the wrong reasons, Stewart put Monday’s arrest behind him and promptly went out and set the quickest lap during timed qualifying today at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for round 13 of the Monster Energy/AMA Supercross Series, an FIM Championship. Stewart looked smooth and confident on his Oscar Wirdeman-tuned YZ450F and seemed to have fun signing autographs for his long line of fans before going out in the last qualifying session and blitzing the hard-packed Texas track.Sources close to his team say he’s putting the past behind him today and focusing on the racing ahead. His routine during the week leading up to the race was, of course, disrupted but the team says he’s feeling good and ready to compete.Stewart was the only rider to crack the 48-second mark with a 48.731, while five riders – four of them 2011 SX winners – filled the 49-second bracket. Those riders include TwoTwo Motorsport Honda’s Chad Reed (49.014), Honda’s Trey Canard (49.246), Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey (49.266), GEICO Powersports Honda’s Kevin Windham (49.689) and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto (49.827).Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGR Yamaha’s Davi Millsaps and teammate Justin Brayton are next fastest, both stopping the clock with a 50.217. Nick Wey and Tommy Hahn complete the top-10 fastest riders in the Supercross class in qualifying.In the East Lites Supercross class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson came on strong late in the final session and overtook DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing Yamaha’s Ryan Sipes for the quickest time with a 50.806. Still, Sipes is right there with a 50.935.Third fastest is Wilson’s teammate Blake Baggett with a 51.669, followed by Suzuki rider Malcolm Stewart with a 51.797 and GEICO Powersports Honda’s Justin Barcia, the series leader, with a 52.112.Matthew Lemoine, P.J. Larsen, Gannon Audette, Darryn Durham and Less Smith round out the top 10 fastest Lites-class riders.A few riders are making their comeback from injuries at Texas, including Tommy Hahn and Kyle Regal. Both riders had little trouble qualifying for the evening’s program.Dodge Motorsports/Hart & Huntington Kawasaki’s Ivan Tedesco is nursing a sore knee that he injured while practicing earlier in the week.Compared to last year when temperatures in Arlington never made it into the 40s, this year’s sunny, warm – bordering on hot – and humid weather is very much welcomed.Supercross1 James Stewart Yamaha 48.7312 Chad Reed Honda 49.0143 Trey Canard Honda 49.2464 Ryan Dungey Suzuki 49.2665 Kevin Windham Honda 49.6896 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki 49.8277 David Millsaps Yamaha 50.2178 Justin Brayton Yamaha 50.2179 Nicholas Wey Yamaha 50.48610 Thomas Hahn Yamaha 50.521Supercross East Lites1 Dean Wilson Kawasaki 50.8062 Ryan Sipes Yamaha 50.9353 Blake Baggett Kawasaki 51.6694 Malcolm Stewart Suzuki 51.7975 Justin Barcia Honda 52.1126 Matthew Lemoine Kawasaki 52.7567 P.J. Larsen KTM 53.1498 Gannon Audette Yamaha 53.2009 Darryn Durham Honda 53.20610 Les Smith Honda 53.750