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/128220
AMA/Chevy Trucks 125cc U.S. Motocross Championship Stewart is in a class of his own at Budds Creek my first race, I was just hoping to get back into the top five, maybe try to salvage an overall, and next thing I know, I just started clicking off laps, never got tired or nothing." Langston and Tedesco ended up finishing second and third overall, respectively. And Langston moved past teammate Ryan Hughes, who did not ride, for second in the overall points chase. Brown raced well enough for fourth overall (5-5), and several other riders put in worthy performances, including Pro-Circuit/ Kawasaki's Eric Sorby and Red Bull/KTM/Thor's Steve Boniface, who rounded out the top six. But all eyes were on Stewart. After seven laps of the first moto, he already had a 34-second lead and had little trouble winning over Grant Langston, Steve Boniface and Michael Brandes. But it will be the second moto that people are going Ivan Tedesco, on the Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing YZ, took the holeshot in the second moto and rode an outstanding race. But even he said, "He's [Stewart] in a league of his own." Tedesco finished second in the moto and was the last rider Stewart would catch and pass. In fact, Stewart passed former 125cc National Champion and current points leader Mike Brown as if Brown had waved him by; same for a former GP Champion Grant Langston on the Red Bull/Thor KTM and the rest of the top 125cc riders in the world. It was Bubba's day. "One of those orange bikes cut me off, and I went off the course," Stewart said of his second-moto crash and subsequent come-through-the-pack win. "I picked myself up [from secondto-last place] and got around those guys pretty quick. I'm just so pumped. I didn't expect this; coming back for By PAT SCHUTTE PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN BUDDS CREEK, MD, JUNE 15 eam Chevy Trucks/Kawasaki's James "Bubba" Stewart stole the show at Budds Creek in his return to motocross after his injury suffered at the Las Vegas Supercross six weeks ago. The 17 -year-old put on a riding clinic second to none, including Ricky Carmichael, as Stewart posted the fastest lap time of the day - including the 250cc class - and won both motos in front of nearly 20,000 fans at Budds. T But it was to be his second moto come-from-behind win that captivated his growing legion of fans and had even the industry experts shaking their heads in disbelief. Race promoter Jonathon Beasley probably put it best when asked if he's ever seen anything like that: "No, 1 can't believe what I just saw," he said. 12 JUNE 25, 2003' cue I e nevws to talk about for a long, long time. In that moto, after wadding up in the first turn, Stewart mounted his legendary comeback. By the start of the second lap he had already passed 23 riders and went by them like they were going backward. By the end of the third lap, Stewart had moved up to ninth place. On the fifth lap, he set up Eric Sorby, who went high into a sweeping left hander. Unfazed, Sorby cut sharply and launched his bike over the rut/berm Bubba was railing into and literally rode up and over Bubba's front tire and James Stewart talks about his injury and comeback Stewart on the i'\iury... "Basically, they thought it was the collarbone - which it was. But once the swelling went down and I went to see my doctor [Dr. Murphy] again (about three weeks after the mitia.1 diagnosis], they found I had a cracked scapula and another cracked bone in my joint. So that's why it took me longer to come back. That and Kawasaki kept me off the bike to make sure I was 100 percent. I actually had the okay to ride last week [SouthWick), but the okay to 'kick some butt' was released just this Thursday. Overall, the injury really helped me relax more. I was a little bit out of focus before it happened, so this has really put things back into perspective." On the comeback... "[The] first day I came back was at Reche Canyon [trail riding] two weeks ago lin southem Califomia]. I didn't like it. It was too dusty and stuff. So right after that I came back to Glen Helen and rode about five or six laps, just taking it easy. The second day I went to Elsinore, took it lightly again. Mark Johnson [Kawasaki team manager) was there with me all the time, really helping me in my comeback." On his title hopes and goals... "This first race I wanted to just come back and see what happens. Hughes, Brown and Sorby got their A games going right now. I don't expect anything, just feels good to be back out here racing again." . On the injury experience... "I've learned Ithatj crashing sucks; learned to focus better. I think I'm a lot more focused mentally now. When I was hurt, I had a lot of time to think about it, so we should see the new James Stewart back out here, just trying to ride smart." - Pat Schutte