James “Bubba” Stewart finally got his long awaited first Supercross win in the 250cc class, and he made it look almost easy.
In front of over 43,000 spectators at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas, Stewart put his Jeremy Albrecht-tuned KX250 into the front right off the start, quickly opened up a comfortable lead over defending champ Chad Reed and series leader Ricky Carmichael and was never seriously challenged the rest of the way, despite having his front brake lever come loose during the race. Stewart had a little help when Reed bobbled and nearly crashed a few laps into the race, but Stewart, who posted the fastest lap times all day, was obviously on a mission to get his first win.
Carmichael, on the Makita Suzuki RM250, ended up second, but he had a little help too when Reed crashed on the last lap after the factory Yamaha rider clipped the rear tire of a lapped rider in a turn and fell over. Carmichael, who was threatening in third, rode past the downed rider and was quite happy to take second.
Earlier in the week, Carmichael crashed while testing for the outdoor Nationals, taking a handlebar to the stomach that required a trip to the hospital.
Fourth place went to Carmichael’s teammate Sebastien Tortelli, while Amsoil/Chaparral Honda’s Mike LaRocco, who started off in eighth, rounded out the top five.
Travis Pastrana returned to action only to crash again in his heat race, banging his head and tweaking his already sensitive knees. Even though he came back and finished second in his heat race, Pastrana decided to sit out the main event.
In the 125cc East main event, Grant Langston and Josh Hansen went into final tied for the series lead with two rounds to go (including Dallas), but it was Langston, on the Pro Circuit/Monster Energy/Kawasaki, who left with the champion now his to lose after taking his third win of the season.
Langston got out in front early, while both Hansen, on the Red Bull KTM, and Davi Millsaps, third in the series, got off to bad starts. Millsaps, on the factory Suzuki, had it little better than Hansen and soon had control of second place. Hansen was buried in the pack but was on the move.
By the time Millsaps had moved into second, the former 125cc World and National MX Champion, Langston, had built a six-second lead. But Millsaps slowly whittled away at Langston’s cushion and had narrowed the gap to just over two seconds when the white flag came out. Unfortunately for Millsaps, it was a little too late for him to make a serious challenge for the win, as Langston sailed across the finish line with the victory.
Hansen, meanwhile, caught up to finish a distant fourth behind Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Matt Walker.
Fifth went to Samsung Wireless/Sprint Honda rider Steve Boniface.
With one round left, Langston enjoys a seven-point lead over Hansen, while Millsaps sits in third, just three points behind Hansen.
In the 250cc class, Carmichael gained back a couple of points on Reed, so with four rounds left to go, RC leads Reed by 31 points.
Results:
250: 1. James Stewart (Kaw); 2. Ricky Carmichael (Suz); 3. Chad Reed (Yam); 4. Sebastien Tortelli (Suz); 5. Mike LaRocco (Hon); 6. David Vuillemin (Yam); 7. Kevin Windham (Hon); 8. Heath Voss (Yam); 9. Travis Preston (Hon); 10. Tim Ferry (Yam); 11. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon); 12. Ryan Clark (Hon); 13. Tyler Evans (Suz); 14. Jay Marmont (KTM); 15. Joseph Oehlhof (Hon); 16. Jason Thomas (Hon); 17. Cole Siebler (Suz); 18. Damon Huffman (Hon); 19. Andrew Short (Hon); 20. Travis Pastrana (Suz).
125: 1. Grant Langston (Kaw); 2. David Millsaps (Suz); 3. Matt Walker (Kaw); 4. Josh Hansen (KTM); 5. Steve Boniface (Hon); 6. Troy Adams (Hon); 7. Kelly Smith (Yam); 8. Brock Sellards (Yam); 9. Ryan Mills (KTM); 10. Greg Schnell (Hon); 11. Jacob Saylor (Yam); 12. Chad Johnson (Yam); 13. Kevin W. Johnson (Yam); 14. Justin Buckelew (Hon); 15. Bradley Ripple (Suz); 16. Randy Valade (Hon); 17. Tyson Hadsell (Yam); 18. Thomas Hofmaster (Suz); 19. Tucker Hibbert (Hon); 20. Shawn Clark (Kaw); 21. Jeff Dement (Suz); 22. Branden Jesseman (Suz).
