Monday, May 4, 2009

AMA-SX: Stewart 2009 Champion!

Yamaha Racing

RACE REPORT 03/05/2009
Stewart 2009 AMA and FIM SX Champion!
2009 Champion
2009 Champion

Yamaha rider James Stewart has won the 2009 AMA SX Championship (also an FIM world championship) thanks to third position taken at the seventeenth and last round of the series in front of almost 40,000 spectators at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. The 23 year old claimed his second SX title and the sixth of his career while successfully defending Yamaha's crown in the premier class.

The 19th Supercross event to take place in Las Vegas saw a tense final face-off between points-leader Stewart and defending number one Chad Reed; the pair had been trading places at the top of the standings throughout the campaign. Stewart carried a six point advantage and could afford to ride conservatively and within distance of Reed. He led for the opening laps of the Main Event but relinquished control to Ryan Villopoto and then withstood close pressure from Reed, no doubt hoping to force a mistake, before settling for third behind the Australian and confirming the championship by just four points.

Through the whoops
Through the whoops

"I might not have ridden the best tonight, but I did what I had to do, and I'm so happy," said Stewart who had previously won in both classes at Las Vegas and managed to stretch his career tally of wins to 36 through his efforts in 2009. "It's so emotional. There is so much hard work that went into this, and honestly I'm exhausted right now because it's been the toughest year for me. Every race this year, I've had to win, and that's hard mentally. I don't think anybody's ever been in a situation where they had to win every race. Chad has been on the podium 16 out of 17 races this year, so I had to win after Anaheim I, and then after Daytona. It pays off to have a great team, a great trainer, and a great supporting cast. I'm so happy."

2009 was the first season for the Floridian on the YZ450F and he already forged a milestone by becoming the first rider to give Yamaha 11 victories in one term (an achievement not even seen in the dominant era of Jeremy McGrath, although '09 was only the sixth season since the inception of the sport in 1974 in which the calendar stretched to 17 rounds). Stewart only finished off the podium twice and his DNF at Anaheim for round one was the sole blight on his scorecard.

No.1
No.1

"I've said it before, but I don't care if I win by 100 points or one point, I won it, and I don't care what anybody says," he added. "I won this championship, and my team won this championship, and I won it fair and square. I had the most race wins, and I had the most points. I won't take anything away from Chad. Hat's off to him, he rode great this year, but the number-one plate's mine now."

Joe Gibbs Racing's Josh Grant registered a twelfth top ten finish of his rookie season with 7th in Las Vegas. The youngster's victory at Anaheim 1 meant that Yamaha owned 12 of the 17 races in 2009 and Grant was able to cap the year with 4th overall in the championship.

Circuit Length: n/a
Crowd: 39,506
Weather: Dry

Lap Record: 0'52.030 (Kevin Windham, 01/01/2004)
Last Years Winner: Chad Reed
2009 AMA-SX Las Vegas, NV 03/05/2009
Race 1 - 20 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 22'25.438
2 Chad Reed Suzuki AUS 0'08.090
3 James Stewart Yamaha USA 0'28.033
4 Kevin Windham Honda USA 0'35.783
5 Ivan Tedesco Honda USA 0'43.639
6 Mike Alessi Suzuki USA 0'55.968
7 Josh Grant Yamaha USA 1'00.509
8 Andrew Short Honda USA -1Laps
9 Nathan Ramsey Yamaha USA -1Laps
10 David D Millsaps Honda USA -1Laps
11 Jason Thomas Honda USA -1Laps
12 Nicholas Wey Yamaha USA -1Laps
13 Paul Carpenter Kawasaki USA -1Laps
14 Matt Boni Honda USA -1Laps
15 Jesse Casillas KTM USA -2Laps

Rider Standings 02/05/2009
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1.James StewartYamahaUSA377
2.Chad ReedSuzukiAUS373
3.Andrew ShortHondaUSA270
4.Josh GrantYamahaUSA237
5.Kevin WindhamHondaUSA236
6.Ryan VillopotoKawasakiUSA233
7.Ivan TedescoHondaUSA226
8.David D MillsapsHondaUSA219
9.Mike AlessiSuzukiUSA218
10.Josh HillYamahaUSA146
11.Heath VossHondaUSA103
12.Matt BoniHondaUSA103
13.Tim FerryKawasakiUSA100
14.Nicholas WeyYamahaUSA98
15.Paul CarpenterKawasakiUSA96
16.Kyle ChisholmYamahaUSA80
17.Broc HeplerYamahaUSA76
20.Jason LawrenceYamahaUSA43
25.Nathan RamseyYamahaUSA27
40.Sean HamblinYamahaUSA3

Manufacturer Standings 02/05/2009
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1.Yamaha408
2.Suzuki377
3.Honda318
4.Kawasaki278
5.KTM79



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