Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128103
30th NMA World M ini Grand P r ix Las Veg a s M o tor Spe e c:lW8y James Stewart was far and away the fa stest ride r at th e NM A Wo rld M ini Grand Prix in La s Veg as. Even though he ran in the Interm ediate class, he probably w ould've done qu ite well in th e Pro class. LAS VEGAS, NY APR. 19-22 , a wasaki Team G re en ' s James Stew art wa s the sure bet at th is year 's 30th running of the NMA World M ini Grand Prix . The up-and-com ing star was - again - perfect at Las Vegas, winn ing all nine motos that he competed in en rout e to overall championsh ips in th e 125cc Stock and Modified Interm ed iat e, and 125cc Open divisions. With out doubt, Stewart was this year's top rider at the pop ular NMA event . " B u b b a ," a s he is co mmon ly referred to , clicked off th e fastest lap time of the week , stopping th e clock at on e m inute, 29 .76 sec on ds and , for most of the week , was usually about, on the ave rage , fou r-seconds-p er-Iap fast er than the top Pro- cla ss riders . This, of cou rse, m ight lead on e t o ask : Wh y did Stewart com pete in th e Inter mediate division and not the Pro divi- sion? According to Kawasaki Tea m Green's Craig Martin , "J am es is mostly an East Co ast racer an d ri des in deep , loam y dirt , and he wasn't completely co nfi dent on the hard -packed dirt in Las Vegas . We all decided that this was the best way to m in im ize th e risk of injury, since J ame s h as le ss t h an 10 r ac e s o n a 125 , an d w e weren 't comfo rtab le with him raci ng the Pro class j ust yet." St ewart' s st ron g est sectio n o f th e co urse in just about every m ot o was the very difficult, large whoop section, wh ic h left ma ny riders in a daze. But not Stewart . "The whoops were reall y no problem," St ewart said . " [T rac k builder] Mark Barnett bu ilt some Supercross whoops at m y ho use t hat are th ree ti m es harder [th an the on es in Las Vegas). Gett ing across these was easy in com parison.' The 250cc Intermediat e class winner Jesse Cas illas fi ni shed second to Stewart in all three of the divi sions that Stewart won . So, what's next for Stewart? "Well, for sure this is my last Interme dia te race, ' Stewart answered. "Tha t's po sitive. Ou r next big focu s is to win the Schoolbo y and 12 5cc A cl asse s at Loretta 's and exceed th e all -t ime win record." (Stewart is currentl y tied with Ricky Carmicha el fo r th e. all -t ime Loretta Lynn 's w in reco rd with nine AMA Amateur MX Championships.) As far as entries , this year's World Min i was the large st ever , and 16 countries and fo rty -n in e states were represented. Du e to the ov erwhelmi ng et te nd anc e (roug h ly 2 5 0 0 ent r ies) , races ran well into th e nigh t and und er (Left) Da vl Millsaps was one of the week's top Minicy cl e ri ders. Millsaps t opped the 85cc (1 2-13) Stock and Modified, and 85cc Open Modified cla ss es. (Belowl Jimmy Nelson (84) also won three Minlcycl e titl es. Nelson won the 85c c (14-16 ) Stock and Modified classes, and the Supermini class. e n u vws