Moto Mondays: The James Stewart Incident

Image property of Transworld Motocross.

Just as the pros did, I thought I was going to have a bye week for writing about motocross this week. However, something pretty freaking big just happened to come up over the course of the last several days, being one of the first major cases of alleged PED use in the motocross world with the subject being one of the most popular racers in the sport’s history.

James Stewart, a premier 450 rider and legend who is (was) a favorite to win the outdoor nationals motocross title this year, has been suspended by the FIM for allegedly failing a drug test that took place during the weekend of supercross in Seattle on April 12, 2014. The FIM claimed that Stewart’s urine sample contained an “adverse analytical finding of amphetamine.” Stewart can request and attend an analysis of a B sample in an attempt to clear his name and hopefully cancel out his suspension.

Outside of the issues that this arises for Stewart and his reputation, here are the problems with this:

1) Stewart and the rest of the world did not find out he had failed the test until June 17, over two months after the drug test was administered. If this is really such a serious issue, why did it take so long to release these results? Why did the FIM not take action immediately? And why are only certain riders “randomly” selected for these drug tests in the first place, instead of the entire field of both factory riders and privateers?

2) According to Stewart’s team, the traces of amphetamine found in his urine were most likely from a drug that Stewart has been prescribed to by his physician to treat ADHD. Those in opposition to Stewart are claiming that these drugs can enhanced mental and physical focus, thus giving the rider an edge in racing that others do not have. However, if Stewart actually has an ADHD condition, wouldn’t these drugs instead only be leveling him with other riders to regulate his body to react normally so that he doesn’t lose focus? Given the amount of times over the past few years that Stewart seemed “out-of-it” and even crashed randomly while in the lead or near the front of the pack in races, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did have ADHD and it had been affecting his racing negatively.

Fans in opposition to Stewart are calling him a cheater, a disgrace, and more. Those in support of Stewart are citing his condition needed to be treated, that he did nothing wrong, and that the people accusing James of foul play are just “haters” that want to see him lose. The thing is, with motocross just pushing the edge of major popularity, most fans have already made up their mind about what they think about Stewart before this incident ever occurred, and are using the opportunity to further their own judgements. The reality is, most of the haters really are just hating, and most of the fans really are just fanning out.

It is interesting to consider that in the old years of motocross, there were no drug tests administered. As my father, a former recreational racer told me, most of the guys racing back then at any level were just “country boys having fun.” There wasn’t as much money or national attention as the sport has garnered now, and according to my father, half of the guys would probably fail drug tests, not necessarily for PEDs though.

From my own point of view, I hope Stewart can appeal this successfully and hopefully put it behind him and get back into the mix of the 450 class as soon as possible. Love him or hate him, he’s one of the most interesting riders that has the ability to shake things up in a sport that fiends off excitement.

Moto Mondays: High Point Recap

As a testament to how competitive this outdoor motocross season is becoming, High Point featured some of the best and most technical races with multiple lead changes, the first time a non-KTM bike won the 450 class, and the first time Jeremy Martin didn’t win a 250 moto. James Stewart and Blake Baggett both left Pennsylvania with 1-1 victories this Saturday, but it wasn’t without stiff competition. Meanwhile, the current 1st and 2nd series points leaders in both classes seemed slightly off their element, and while both points leaders Ken Roczen and Jeremy Martin salvaged 2nd place overall finishes, it was clear that the championships in both classes have now been opened up. Check out the official video highlights from High Point below.

Moto Mondays: Thunder Valley Recap

With defending champion Ryan Villopoto out of the picture, the 2014 outdoor motocross nationals have been the most competitive they’ve been in a while, although a handful of popular riders are still making up the front of the pack. The two main KTM riders, 450 standout rookie Ken Roczen and former two-time champ Ryan Dungey, have been the most impressive overall, each capturing one of the first two overall wins this season. But other names such as Josh Grant, James Stewart, Trey Canard, and Villopoto’s fill-in rider Brett Metcalfe have all put together very solid motos in the 450 class, keeping the points tight and the races even tighter.

After this past Saturday’s race at Thunder Valley, we now have 4 different moto winners through 3 rounds with James Stewart taking moto 1 and joining Grant, Roczen and Dungey in the list of riders with 450 class wins this year. Unfortunately for Stewart, the first moto win wasn’t enough, and his finish in 3rd place in moto 2 gave him a 1-3 for the day and left the door open for Roczen, finishing with a 2-1, to take the overall.

Ken Roczen also had a strong start to this year’s supercross season, finishing 1st in his first 450 main event ever, but ended up getting outraced by the star veterans over the duration of the season and dropping down in points. Only time will tell if Roczen is more conditioned to take on the entire 450 season at the elite level he has been racing so far.

To see what else went down this weekend, check out the official highlight video of Thunder Valley below.

Moto Mondays: Whoops I Did It Again…

Photo property of James Stewart.

Remember when I said I hated predicting sports? For those that need a refresher, I am jinxed (or I cause the jinx) every time I publicly make a statement saying who I want to win a sporting event. No matter how much insight I have about a team or how many stats I research, when it comes to championships, I am almost always wrong.

A few months ago, I wrote a post about James Stewart, saying that he deserved more attention than he was getting through the first half of the supercross season. As soon as I wrote that post, the moto world seemed to follow suit, and Stewart has been a centerpiece of SX coverage throughout the rest of the tour. However, I made the mistake of predicting that Stewart would shock the world and come back to win the supercross title.

The exact quote: “I never thought I’d say this, but I’m making it official now: I predict and hope for James Stewart to win this year’s SX title. And I hope to God I didn’t just jinx him.” – Me, February 17, 2014.

I want to personally apologize to James Stewart.

Dear James,

The bike malfunctions that kept you out of contention for the main event at both Daytona and Vegas were likely my fault, an act of the dark lord in vengeance for something I had done in my youth. When you temporarily injured your knee in New Jersey, that was not your mistake but mine. I predicted you to win it all, and cursed you by doing so. I want you to win another title, but I am not sure how to root for you, as the more confident I am of your success, the more likely you are to ultimately lose.

Please forgive me,

Joseph Graf

In all seriousness though, I have never seen such a skilled and premier rider have so much trouble with their bike, essentially losing races based on something they have no control over. The whole reason that Stewart switched from Yamaha to Suzuki this year was because he was worried that the Yamaha malfunctions were holding him back from a title. But then the same thing happened again, on a different ride. Maybe Stewart needs better mechanics, and I can’t imagine there are many out there that wouldn’t jump at the chance to help out the only current rider who isn’t injured that has a legitimate chance to out-race Villopoto.

So with that, I wish Stewart the best of luck in two weeks when the outdoor nationals start. I love the outdoor racing, and can’t wait to see more top-end speed and bigger jumps, as I was getting tired of all the technical whoop sections in supercross. These faster and more open tracks should play well to James Stewart’s advantage, as throughout all the injuries and mishaps, he is still known as “the faster rider on the planet.”

Moto Mondays: Where’s The Love For James Stewart?

After a disappointing opening round, James Stewart has been a steady contender in the supercross championship series, claiming back-to-back victories over the past few weeks and a pair of second place finishes last month. But until JUST this past weekend, it seemed that the media was shorting Stewart on the respect he’s deserved.

In winning the Monster Energy Cup this past October, JS7 made a statement to the motocross world that he was back on the top of his game. But somehow during this season, the announcers and live TV never really brought to attention on what Stewart was doing in the races. Even last week when Stewart won his first SX race of 2014, the live coverage was focused on the 3rd through 7th place spots almost the entire race, never really mentioning James after his early pass on Villopoto until he had crossed the finish line. He rode flawlessly, but was somehow an afterthought to the rest of the pack.

It’s understandable that there is a lot going on with a very deep field in the 450 class. Rookie Ken Roczen is turning heads with his ability to keep up with the best in the world, Chad Reed was (until last week’s injury) going into the biggest comeback run of his career, and Ryan Villopoto is of course having an interesting year as the 3-time defending champion who is all of a sudden not dominating as he used to. But those are not reasons to forget about James Stewart, who has quietly been moving up the points chase and is now within striking distance of a championship himself.

Over the past few years, Stewart has been prone to crashing often, and between injuries and unfortunate position drops due to his wrecks he has been held back from reaching the top of the final standings at season’s end in both MX and SX. His style has become reckless and even desperate, losing control of his bike from pushing it beyond it’s limits. But lately, Stewart has reeled in his focus and is riding much smarter, all while still not sacrificing his speed. He deserves more respect than he’s been given this season, and his confidence in himself has slowly but surely started to return.

When I watch him ride, I see something different in him than I’ve been used to. It’s been years since he won a title in professional motocross, and the fans have almost forgotten his dominating run from over half a decade ago. The circus of his success has died down, and the doubters have emerged in full force. The result is that Stewart now has regained what pushed him to win before: he has something to prove again.

I admit that I had often rooted against Stewart in years prior, wanting to see attention be granted to newer upcoming riders. But even as a fan, I feel that the Villopoto domination has become stale for the sport. I’ve become much more interested this season as a result of knowing that there are now a handful of riders who can consistently race and win, not just a couple named “Ryan.”

With Reed out of the picture, the next best comeback season could very well belong to Stewie. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m making it official now: I predict and hope for James Stewart to win this year’s SX title. And I hope to God I didn’t just jinx him.

Moto Mondays: Unpredictability Reigns Supercross in 2014

3 weeks. 3 races. 3 different winners. 3 different points lead changes.

Unpredictable enough for you yet? Wait, there’s more.

The winner of Anaheim 1 wasn’t Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey, or any other 450 favorite. In fact, they had never won a pro 450 supercross race in their lives, and never even raced one as an official 450 rider.. Ken Roczen, the rookie rider hailing from Germany, won his debut after making the official and permanent change to the 450 class this season.

The winner of Phoenix was Ryan Villopoto, which seems predictable enough, right? Except for the fact that this was the one venue that Villopoto had never won in supercross. Until now.

But the most unpredictable and probably most inspiring win of all goes to Chad Reed taking the checkered flag at Anaheim 2. Reed had a disappointing 2013 season in both supercross and motocross after injuries plagued him in 2012. Many had believed that in his early 30s, Reed was too old to seriously compete in the sport and that he should have retired. Company sponsors were reluctant to fund Reed, and he struggled to find recognition or a team to ride for until late last year. And in a race where Ryan Dungey, Ryan Villopoto, and James Stewart all led laps, it was Reed whose constant hard charging kept him creeping up, until with 4 laps remaining he was able to take the lead and break away for the win. Though the misfortunes of the Ryans gave Reed a chance that had seemed out of reach (both Dungey and Villopoto crashed separately in the race), I had never seen Reed race like the mad man he was this past Saturday. He was visibly the fastest guy on the track.

In a sport that recently has been dominated by a small handful of guys, no riders have even made all three podiums this season. We knew the 450 class would be stacked this year, but it’s the veterans like Reed and Stewart who have seemingly revived their careers that are making it even more interesting. Perhaps the marketing agency over at Monster Energy was on to something this year when they advertised 2014 as having a great chance to be the best season in supercross history.

2014 Supercross Pump-Up Video: The Best Season Yet?

The return of the Monster Energry Supercross championship series is set to kick off in Anaheim, California on January 4, 2014. With the return of three-peat champion Ryan Villopoto, an always competitive Ryan Dungy, and the recent resurgence of James Stewart (who won the Monster Energy Cup race this past October), the heavy hitters of the sport are back in business. Also returning from injuries that kept them out of the outdoor nationals are fan favorite Chad Reed, Trey Canard and the always underrated Davi Millsaps. And if that wasn’t enough, last year’s 250 SX and MX champion Eli Tomac is moving up to the 450 class, along with Geico Honda teammate Will Hahn, to compile one of the most stacked 450 SX classes of all time.

Even though this is really just a marketing commercial tactic for Monster Energy Supercross, naming their 2014 pump-up video “Best Season Yet” could actually turn out to be pretty accurate. It may be hard for them to top the action and drama of the 2011 season (currently referred to as the best season in recent SX history), but if there’s any lineup of riders that can do it, this would be the year.