Convincing Win for San Manuel's James Stewart
April 18, 2011, 1:00pm
CONVINCING WIN FOR TEAM SAN MANUEL'S JAMES STEWART, TEAMMATE KYLE REGAL FINISHES SEASON BEST 7TH
Seattle, WA -Team San Manuel Yamaha Red Bull’s James Stewart showed more than 52,000 fans in Seattle’s QWEST Stadium, what the speed and determination of a multi-time champion looks like as he posted a convincing win Saturday night on a deeply rutted track. The day started out well, with Stewart posting increasingly fast lap times in practice before the night’s event started. In Heat One, Stewart was off to a great start taking the lead within the first lap and leading a full eight laps. His Heat win was exceedingly fast, a full 17 seconds faster than the total winning time of Heat Two. In the Main, Stewart shot out of the gate in second and was able to gain the lead halfway through lap one and never looked back. He led the remaining 19 laps, finishing nearly three seconds ahead of everyone else on what all regarded as one of the most challenging tracks of the series. “That was a perfect night in Seattle,” Stewart said. “The main event was so gnarly, but it kind of played to my skills. I rode really consistently and it feels great to get a win again.” Seattle’s win put Stewart even closer to the championship, now sitting only nine points shy of the lead with 284 points in fourth place.
Stewart’s teammate Kyle Regal also had a great night with his best finish so far this season. Regal had good practice rounds and a solid heat race, finishing out in the top five. Regal, having much more experience with motocross tracks, seemed to excel with the soft sand and huge ruts, as he rode flawlessly in the Main Event to a seventh place finish. “All my hard work finally paid off,” Regal said. “It feels great to get that seventh. The track was pretty difficult and started to wear down, but I was able to hang in there.” Regal still maintains 15th place, now with 86 points.