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AMAIChevy Trucks 125cc U.S. Motocross Championship Series Round 12: Steel City Raceway James Stewart finished off the season with his 10th 125cc win. Stewart, whq clinched the 125cc title the previous week, won both motos. mark for 125cc National wins in a season. "It's been a great season," Stewart said. "I don't know. My bike was working awesome. We had some fun out there today. " Stewart at least kept his Steel City triumph exciting. His first-mota win came after a race-long battle with Simple Green/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Matt Walker and Team Honda's Ernesto Fonseca. Stewart inherited the lead from a fast-starting Brock Sellards when the Red Bull KTM rider lost his front end in a rut. Then Stewart nearly crashed in a whoop section and handed the lead to Walker, who held the point for much of the race. For 25 minutes, Walker held Stewart at bay by about three seconds, and it looked like he might have his firstever moto win. Stewart, mea~while, had to deal with Fonseca, and the two passed each other back and forth several times. Then suddenly, with two laps to go, Stewart pulled away from Fonseca and then caught and passed Walker. "It's been a long time since I had someone to battle with there," Stewart said. "It was fun racing those guys. It was an awesome race." "Me, Stewart and Ernesto had a great race going on out there," Walker said. "This was a transcendental moto for me. It was good for me getting to lead a race for that long. 20 SEPTEMBER 11,2002' cue We'll definitely get some TV time for that one." Things were different for Stewart in the second mota. He started fifth and battled past Boost Mobile/Yamaha/ Troy Racing's Chad Reed and Sellards to take the point on lap three. He then extended his lead to huge proportions by the finish, giving him 17 mota wins in 24 tries this season. After a third in the first outing, Fonseca got a bad start in mota two. The Costa Rican was able to charge all the way back up to third again, netting him second overall on the day. The Honda rider has been getting stronger as the year goes on. "I guess it's better later than never," Fonseca said. "I don't know what's changed. Maybe I have less pressure. It was good to keep James in sight the whole first mota. It made the race go by quickly." Walker had spent much of the time dealing with heat by Stewart in the first race, and after a bad start in the second mota, he was able to latch on to Fonseca in a battle for the runnerup overall spot on the day. Late in the race, though, the Georgian lost ground on Fonseca and finished up in fifth, good enough 'for third overall. "Last weekend was a bad weekend, so it was good to just come back Emesto Fonseca enjoyed one of his best rides of the season, going 3-3 for second overall. I e n e vv s up here and get a podium," Walker said. With 5-6 scores, fourth overall went to Danny Smith of the So Be Suzuki squad. After a strong start, including a win at Southwick, Smith has struggled through the latter part of the season, and he was happy to regain his old form with a solid ride at Steel City. "I was on the pace in the second moto, but about halfway, I dropped about a second from my lap times," Smith said. "I don't know what happened there. But I stayed in the battle and kept everyone close." Red Bull KTM rider Billy Laninovich completed his first pro season with a solid fifth overall after going 68 in his two outings. Pennsylvania's own Branden Jesseman came into Steel City with high hopes, but a knee injury and a flat held him to a sixth-place finish, with 12-4 scores. While the result was sub-par compared to his string of podium finishes this season, it was enough to launch him into second in the final series standings by one point over Reed. A series of first-moto crashes dropped Reed to 32-2 scores and 10th overall. Reed's Australian countryman Michael Byrne finished seventh with 8-10 moto scores, with Red Bull KTM Frenchman Steve Boniface finishing eighth. Byrne's teammate Travis Preston took ninth, and Reed finished 10lli. ~ Steel City Raceway Delmont, Pennsylvania Results: September 1, 2002 [Round 12 of 121 125 MOTO 1: 1. JZlmes Stewart Jr. (KZlW); 2. Matt Walker (Kaw); 3. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon); 4. Brock Sellards (KTM); 5. Danny Smith (Suz); 6. Billy Laninovich (KTM); 7. Steve Boniface (KTM); 8. Michael Byrne (Hon); 9. Buddy Antunez (Suz); 10.