Team San Manuel's James Stewart Takes Third At San Diego
February 21, 2011, 11:15am
San Diego, CA -Team San Manuel Yamaha Red Bull’s James Stewart takes third at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego on Saturday in front of 53,342 fans. The day started out raining on and off making the track more difficult as the night went on. Practice times were shortened, but Stewart was still able to pull the fastest qualifying lap time of the day. In Heat 2, Stewart got the holeshot and easily led the way throughout the race, finishing in first. As the Main Event began, track conditions worsened and Stewart had a disappointing start. Stewart pushed on and worked his way through the mud up to second place where an unfortunate stall in Lap 16 pushed him back two spots to fourth place. Shortly after Stewart was able to take advantage of another rider’s mistake and moved up to a third place finish, gaining valuable points and narrowing the gap between he and the series Leader. “The track was gnarly and I didn’t have it tonight,” Stewart said. “I gave it my best, but my best just wasn’t good enough.” Stewart is now just three points shy of the lead.
Stewart’s teammate Kyle Regal had an impressive Heat race, following behind Stewart in third place. The wet track proved to be challenging for Regal in the Main Event, starting out in 16th place. Regal rode cautiously but was able to work his way up to a 12th overall finish. “The track got worse as the night went on and I wasn’t able to perform as well as I had hoped,” Regal said.
Stewart now sits in second place with 143 points and Regal is in 13th place with 52 points.
