With the announcement that James “Bubba” Stewart will miss yet another Outdoor National Motocross race this weekend (at Southwick), any hopes of his retaining his 125cc Outdoor National championship are gone. Instead, Stewart is now scheduled to return at the fifth race of the series — nearly 200 points down on the leaders (a maximum of 50 points are awarded at each round).
With the rumors that Stewart will ride the 250 class next year, one has to wonder if he should come back to the 125 class at all, or practice and train on the 250 for a few weeks (allowing his shoulder to become even stronger), and then contest the remaining 250 Outdoor Nationals. This would give him a head start on the 2004 season, and allow him to race/train on the 250 without any pressure to win races or a championship.
If Stewart comes back to the 125 class, he will surely have the speed to mix it up with the current front runners, Ryan Hughes (KTM) and Mike Brown (Kawasaki). By mixing it up with Hughes and Brown, Stewart will not really be proving anything (we already know how fast he is), but he could have a significant impact on the series outcome.
Then again, Stewart may be planning to ride the 125 class again next year. He only has a single 125 National championship (Regional 125 supercross championships are not considered National championships). If memory serves me, Ricky Carmichael had three 125 Outdoor National championships under his belt before moving to the 250 class.
Either way, it will be interesting to watch what Stewart does during the remainder of 2003.
