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AMA Chevy Trucks 125cc U.S. Motocross Championship Series Round 6: Red Bud Track 'n' Trail know why that happened. I'm going to have to go home and train and make sure it doesn't happen again. The track was good. It was hot out here, and it got pretty rough." Stewart is so dominant that he has basically eliminated anyone else's hopes of winning a race. So Team Boost Mobile/Yamaha of Troy's Brock Sellards had to settle for a distant second overall to Stewart after logging 2-4 moto scores, while Team Racerhouse.com privateer Kelly Smith put in one of the best performances of his career by running 4-3 for third overall. Both Sellards and Smith were mounted on Yamaha YZ250F four-strokes, and both were very happy with their rides. "With James out there, we consider second place a victory," said Sellards' team manager Phil Alderton. "The whole clan was back this weekend," Sellards said. "Stewart and Jesseman are back now, and that makes it tough. My whole team has been great. James is riding unbelievable, and he's going to be tough to beat." "It's great to come back to Red Bud," said Smith, who hails from Michigan. "I've just been plugging and plugging away, week after week. I got great starts, and that helps. I'm so happy, I can't even think of all the people I have to thank right now." Despite his apparent domination of the class, Stewart has been all but eliminated from championship contention after missing the first four rounds of the series due to injury. But, he's not mathematically out of it yet. While Stewart has been nothing but up since his return to competition, the title contenders have become very, very inconsistent. Of the title contenders at Red Bud, Red Bull/KTM's Grant Langston made the most ground by going 10-2 for fourth overall, moving to within nine points of series leader Mike Brown of Team Pro Circuit Kawasaki. Brown went a disappointing 8-7 for seventh overall, the third straight race that he has failed to reach the podium. He now holds 215 points to Langston's 206. Worse yet, Brown was beaten in both motos by another rival, Red Bull KTM's Ryan Hughes. Hughes made a very impressive return to racing after breaking his leg just under a month ago at Southwick, Massachusetts. The Californian ran 7-6 for fifth overall, clipping two points off of Brown's lead and proving he is not out of the championship chase. "It was hard to get my momentum back," said Hughes, who had not rid- den much at all until he climbed on the bike for the race weekend. "To go from riding so well to being off of it, you lose your rhythm. But I've worked so hard for this. I have to try it, you know?" Also back from injury at Red Bud was SoBe Suzuki's Branden Jesseman, the 125cc East Region Supercross Champion who tore ligaments in his thumb nearly two months ago. Jesseman had been training hard for about three weeks before Red Bud, and he wanted to run up front. It didn't happen, though, as a flat rear tire in the first moto ruined his afternoon. He rebounded for fifth in moto two, admitting he wasn't as comfortable as he needed to be. "I felt slow," the Pennsylvanian Kelly Smith recorded his first overall podium finish since winning the Mount Morris 125cc National for KTM back in 2000. 14 JULV16,2003' cue. e n e _ s said. "I thought I could pass Sellards in the second moto, but I felt just a little sketchy out there. I decided to play it safe. I'm not happy with my ride. "I'm not here to run top 10 or anything like that," Jesseman added. "I want to be where I was when I left off." All these stories added up for an exciting day at Red Bud, even if Stewart's runaways may have made the ultimate outcome predictable. Sellards grabbed the first holeshot of the day on his 250F in moto one, with his Boost Mobile/Yamaha of Troy teammate Ivan Tedesco right behind him. Hughes and Motoworldracing.com's Daryl Hurley battled over third, while Stewart, Brown and Brock Sellards (18) led teammate Ivan Tedesco (52), Ryan Hughes (105) and the rest of the field at the start of the first 125cc moto. Sellards finished second in the moto, with Tedesco third. Langston were not with the leaders. But it didn't matter much to Stewart, who was riding visibly at a completely different speed level from every other rider. Stewart moved from the back of the top 10 to third in one lap. Then he passed Tedesco in the first turn and started bearing down on Sellards. He passed him late in lap two and basically ended the chase for the win there. The title contenders were nowhere to be seen: Brown was 15th at the end of the first lap, with Langston outside the top 20. And Hughes was riding poorly in his first race back, dropping several positions. "I was riding like a girl out there," Hughes said. He dropped out of the top 10 by the fifth lap, and it looked like his comeback attempt would be a short one. Jesseman was running much better in his first race back. He passed Hughes, Hurley and Red Bull KTM's Brett Metcalfe and then started going after the Troy boys. Smith followed him through the pack. Even though Jesseman said he didn't feel fast, he looked it. By the fifth lap he closed in and passed Tedesco to take over third. Soon after that the race would change for Hughes and Jesseman, however. As Brown moved up to challenge Hughes, Hughes suddenly found his speed and started repassing the riders who had passed him earli-