After strong performances and back-to-back victories in the previous two rounds of the AMA Supecross series former champion James Stewart was edged out of this year’s epic title chase as two falls saw the Floridian finish 10th in the Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.
Juts over 39,000 spectators witnessed Stewart grab the holeshot on his YZ450F and lead almost half of the main event until losing traction with his front wheel and crashing in a turn. He remounted quickly but then suffered another spill through the whoops that forced him briefly into the pits to straighten out his motorcycle before re-joining the race.
Unfortunately the result pretty much ends Stewart’s aspirations of a late title surge as he stands 23 points behind leader and Salt Lake City winner Ryan Villopoto in the championship with one round remaining and just 25 points left to grab.
“Things didn’t go to plan,” he said after the race. “I had the lead and then washed the front end out and then went over the handlebars in the whoops. It has just been that kind of season. I want to thank all my sponsors for everything. It has been an up-and-down season but we will continue to try and get better. I’m pretty bummed out right now but we are walking out of here healthy and will try to get a win next week in Vegas.”
Stewart was one of six Yamahas to classify in the top twelve. The highest-ranking YZ450F runner was Davi Millsaps in fifth place. Thomas Hahn was eighth in front of Justin Brayton, Stewart then Nick Wey and Kyle Regal.
The seventeenth and final event of the Indoor campaign will occur at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas this coming Saturday.
2011 AMA-SX United States
Rice-Eccles Stadium 02/05/2011 20 Laps
race I
1 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 14’36.671
2 Chad Reed Honda AUS 0’00.955
3 Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 0’15.947
4 Andrew Short KTM USA 0’25.494
5 David D Millsaps Yamaha USA 0’30.317
6 Kevin Windham Honda USA 0’39.084
7 Jake Weimer Kawasaki USA 0’40.798
8 Thomas Hahn Yamaha USA 0’41.445
9 Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 0’44.399
10 James Stewart Yamaha USA -1Laps
11 Nicholas Wey Yamaha USA -1Laps
12 Kyle Regal Yamaha USA -1Laps
13 Michael Byrne Suzuki AUS -1Laps
14 Chris Blose Kawasaki USA -1Laps
15 Tyler Bowers Kawasaki USA -1Laps
19 Ben Lamay Yamaha USA -2Laps
AMA-SX World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 16 of 17
1. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 318
2. Chad Reed Honda AUS 309
3. Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 306
4. James Stewart Yamaha USA 295
5. Trey Canard Honda USA 255
6. Andrew Short KTM USA 214
7. Kevin Windham Honda USA 202
8. David D Millsaps Yamaha USA 172
9. Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 153
10. Nicholas Wey Yamaha USA 139
11. Ivan Tedesco Kawasaki USA 134
12. Mike Alessi KTM USA 114
13. Brett Metcalfe Suzuki AUS 107
14. Kyle Regal Yamaha USA 95
15. Chris Blose Kawasaki USA 94
16. Michael Byrne Suzuki AUS 67
17. Thomas Hahn Yamaha USA 66
19. Austin Stroupe Yamaha USA 55
21. Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 46
22. Weston Peick Yamaha USA 45
27. Vince Friese Yamaha USA 17
39. Jeff Alessi Yamaha USA 3
40. Ben Lamay Yamaha USA 2
41. Antonio Balbi Yamaha BRA 2
Circuit Length:
NA
Crowd:
39, 329
Weather:
Dry
Last Years Winner:
Kevin Windham
Manufacturer Standings
02/05/2011
1 Honda 344
2 Kawasaki 333
3 Yamaha 326
4 Suzuki 317
5 KTM 228
