It’s never too early to look ahead to the 2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season, especially when two big deals were announced over the weekend. Honda HRC locked in Ken Roczen for another three years last Friday, and at the final round of the 2019 championship in Las Vegas, Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda announced that they have re-signed Malcolm Stewart for the 2020 season. The deal is for one year.
Stewart joined the team last off-season and finished a strong seventh at the opening round of the championship. Unfortunately, he sustained a broken femur at round two and missed the rest of the season.
“I’m very excited and blown away at how we did the deal! We were in the middle of the autograph signing and the next thing you know, I was signing a contract,” said Stewart of the extension. “I’m so happy and it’s great to be with the team for another year. I’m thankful that they gave me another shot and excited to work with the same great group again. I have a whole year to get ready for Anaheim 1 next year!”
Team manager Tony Alessi added: “Our team is very loyal to our riders, especially when they are making the needed improvements daily to their race program. It’s only natural for us as a team to resume where we left off with Malcolm Stewart for the 2020 race season.”
“To get things moving in the right direction early is always good. It’s actually one of the reasons we choose to do a supercross-only program, because it gives us more time to perfect our team,” shared team owner Mike Genova. “Malcolm has proved that he puts in the work and is committed, and we all know how fast he is. It’s a great combination. Because of the way he was injured, we felt he deserved another shot.
“Everyone was impressed by his speed in the first part of the season,” continued Genova. “We think we have a contender for next year’s championship right now. Our goal is to coach him from now to January to get him to a level of speed and skill that might not be his full effort, but more than enough to run at the front, and that he would have a little extra in reserve in case he needs it.”
The team will also have Justin Brayton back for next year, as they agreed to a two-year extension in Las Vegas last year.
