Six months ago when James Stewart hired trainer Aldon Baker, I'm not sure even he had any idea just how important a trainer can be to a rider's overall success. After sitting out most of the supercross season with a knee injury, James's return to racing at Glen Helen would be the true test of the pair's efforts during the unplanned off-season. With Aldon guiding him through the rehab process and fully implementing the "Aldon Program," we all waited for the gate to drop to see if he was able to work the same magic with James as he had for years while training Ricky Carmichael.
The Glen Helen results speak for themselves and yesterday we caught up with Aldon as he sat on a delayed airplane that was headed to Italy in support of his other rider, MotoGP contender, Nicky Hayden. Exhausted from his neverending travel schedule, Aldon still talked for over an hour as I asked him about James's rehab, his fears heading into the Glen Helen national, the current state of James's knee, and on a lighter side, whether he has ever slipped up and called James, Ricky! Go to www.racerxvt.com to read the complete interview.
