The thirteenth round of seventeen in the 2011 AMA Supercross series (also an FIM World Championship), saw San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart overcome a difficult week and also an off-track excursion through a tricky whoops section in Dallas to post fourth position.
The Cowboys Stadium saw over 51,000 spectators take-in the latest instalment of the most unpredictable and utterly-engrossing AMA title chase in recent memory. Stewart was tussling for second place on his YZ450F midway through the Main Event when he lost control through the whoops and clattered into Chad Reed. Both riders were able to remount and Stewart regained composure to score his second consecutive fourth position in a row.
“There have just been some unfortunate incidents here and there, just with the racing; Jacksonville, Daytona, Atlanta… You know, it’s definitely been tough, for sure, but like I said, I think the positive is that I’ve been riding good, and we’ll just keep fighting,” said Stewart.
“My thing wasn’t a blatant take-out, so I can’t really fix that, you know?” he said regarding the run-in with Reed. “I swapped through the whoops and thank god he was there because I would probably have been eating popcorn in the stands.”
“With everything that happened I was still here this weekend trying my best,” he summarized. “And again, things didn’t go right in the race but I’ll be there next week and will keep it going.”
Thomas Hahn recorded his best finish of the season with seventh on the Motoconcepts Yamaha and Austin Stroupe also made it into the top ten with ninth.
Although he has gone three rounds without a podium celebration, Stewart still retains a slim chance of the championship with just a 21 point deficit to Ryan Villopoto at the top of the table and maximum of 100 left to win. Justin Brayton is eighth and Davi Millsaps ninth.
In the penultimate round of the East Coast Lites series Ryan Sipes led the field on his YZ250F and battled with points-leader Justin Barcia. Some tough moves between the pair finally ended up with Sipes on the floor and unable to restart. The DNA Shred Stix Star Racing rider is still 3rd in the standings with just one meeting remaining.
Visits to St Louis, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas will take place in the coming weeks as the indoor spectacle draws to a close. The Edward Jones Dome in Missouri is next this coming Saturday.
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