P112
CN
III EMPIRE OF DIRT
BY STEVE COX
I
've been around the Stewarts
since James Stewart turned
pro in 2002 at the tender age
of 16. He turned 16 in Decem-
ber of 2001, and in early Janu-
ary of 2002, he made his AMA
Supercross debut for Team
Kawasaki on a KX125, and his
speed was blinding. I don't think
it's a stretch to say that he was
easily the most dominant rookie,
fastest 16-year-old, and fastest
125cc rider in the history of the
sport right out of the box. The
only way he didn't win was if he
crashed, and often that wasn't
even enough to stop him from
taking the "W." No one has
come into the pros like him since
then, either. But there's also no
doubt that the Stewarts have
long been a polarizing family in
motocross and supercross rac-
ing, and a lot of it really isn't and
wasn't deserved. Truth be told,
any time a black athlete enters
a predominantly white sport, it
IT'S ABOUT THE RACES, NOT THE RACES
Malcolm Stewart
and Aaron
Plessinger
celebrating after
the Indianapolis
supercross.
