Coming off the only off-weekend in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross schedule, riders had an opportunity to reflect on the first half of the season and use Birmingham as a reset. One of the highlights of the first half of the season was undoubtably Malcolm Stewart’s win at round five in Tampa. But, despite riding well and snagging a couple heat race wins, Malcolm has struggled off the gate and failed to put his Rockstar Husqvarna on the box since then.
That all changed in Birmingham Saturday night. The weekend of fishing seemed to have done Mookie some good, as he was on fire all night. His 3-2-3 scores put him second overall, getting him his second podium of the season and sixth of his career. His starts improved from the past few rounds, but with first lap positions of seventh, fourth, and fifth, Stewart still had to make moves in each of the three mains.
Malcolm talked about his struggle to get back on the box after Tampa at the post-race press conference. “I kind of felt like I rode so well in Tampa and then I’m like kind of finding myself not even getting top five, it was hard to fight for that,” he said. “That just goes to show you how this field can change, right? One start or anything like that, everyone is riding so phenomenal. Everybody has got their suspension, and everything dialed so as the season kind of goes on, it just gets tricky. So yeah, I kind of felt like I lit a little bit of a flat spot, and I don’t know maybe [that crash during] the day with Justin Hill just kind of loosened me up a little bit.”
Yes, that incident with Hill. It only makes Malcolm’s performance even more impressive. On the first lap of the second qualifying practice, Monster Energy Team Tedder’s Hill had a huge off in the first rhythm section. Hill’s bike went for a ride and clipped Stewart’s Husqvarna as he was taking off the next jump. Malcolm ejected and landed with his hip straight to the top of the hard Alabama clay. He was slow to get up but did remount to put in a lap good enough for fourth in the session and fifth overall. To add insult to injury, Stewart would get into the tough blocks and crash again late in the session.
Early reports were that Stewart was fine, and after his stellar ride in race one, it seemed that was true. But when he skipped his post race interview, the broadcast crew headed to Rockstar Husqvarna truck where they found Malcolm in clear discomfort struggling to walk to the truck. That shot would change the perspective on Malcolm’s night, making it even more impressive than it would have been if he were healthy.
When reflecting on the night and mindset coming into the night Malcolm said, “I just felt really good, connected with the whole track. My team manager Nate Ramsey, he was like, ‘Dude you look so well, just go out there and give it everything you got and let’s see where the cards fall.’ Here we are, on the podium!
“As soon as I would get off the bike it was hurting quite a bit,” he explained. “Just hit my hip pretty good and just gave myself a nice little Charlie horse. We did everything we could. Dr. G helped me out, but it’s racing. I got a job to do and just put my head down and just tough it up and I can cry later!”
Of course, the pain was clearly on his face, but there’s a strange scenario in racing where an injury or illness can lower expectations and remove some pressure.
“Sometimes, I think it goes back to the old saying that riders ride their best whenever they go down in the first turn and stuff like that, like they're loose. I don’t know why,” he said. “All I had to do was go out there and do the best I could, right? It did hurt, but I think that kind of helped me out because I wasn’t too worried about anything else but that. Sometimes it's just kind of a mental thing. Again, at the end of the day we did everything we could, and we got on the box., I’m hurting now, but it felt good.”
Malcolm Stewart has had rough couple of years of battling injuries and rebuilding, but in Birmingham he proved that Tampa was not a fluke. He should be considered a podium contender week in and week out. Free agency is looming for many riders in the 450 class, and this is the time of the year where riders are looking to prove their worth. With a win, and now sitting fourth in points, Malcolm should be in a great spot to lock in a new deal. We will see if he can heal up and get back-to-back podiums for the first time in his 450 career next weekend in Seattle, Washington.
