AMA Supercross News

James Stewart would love nothing more than to put this behind him. I know this had to be a night to forget, and I have a feeling it was losing his composure after a tough supercross race. There are definitely much cooler pranks and fun things to do I would imagine, and the chances that there would be 2 off duty cops in the car....slim.

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James Stewart Pleads No Contest to March 28th Arrest

by Dan Cooper on November 16, 2011

James Stewart finally in court for his March 28th arrest of impersonating an officer.  It looks as though the case has finally been settled on a night in which I’m sure Stewart would love to forget.

On March 28th, a couple of days after a frustrating Supercross race for Stewart, him and a passenger were traveling in a 2008 Toyota Tundra on a Florida Highway.  For some unknown reason Stewart used a realistic police light to slow a car on the high way down to a stop.

Unfortunately both passengers in the car that was pulled over were off-duty police officers.  Fortunately no words were exchanged between Stewart and the officers and left the scene but were eventually pulled over at Orland Internal Airport where they apparently fully cooperated with the local police. 

Read more at ama-supercross.com

This is good news for motocross fans. NBC Sports Network has already quadrupled viewership in the last 3 years, now with exclusive coverage this will only increase the popularity. Great for the sport which at times struggles to make ends meet, bad for the local motocross riders because district races will get more and more packed!

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Lucas Oil Motocross and NBC Sports Network Announce TV Partnership

by Dan Cooper on November 15, 2011

In a recent announcement that is great news for Motocross / Supercross fans, MX Sports Pro Racing has partnered with Alli Sports, a division of NBC Sports Group.  This will make the NBC Sports Network, which took over Versus and will be renamed NBC Sports Network on January 2, the new home for the 2012 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. 

The partnership will feature 3 live hours on NBC Sports and 21 hours of race programming on NBC Sports Network, 11 hours of which will be live.

The news is welcome to MX Sports Pro Racing President Davey Coombs who attributes the relationship with Alli Sports as the cause for more exposure and rapid growth.  Alli which is currently owned by NBC began their partnership with motocross in 2009 and has quadrupled the audience size over the last 3 years.  Now, Coombs says, with the ownership of NBC over the entire series, it will bring motocross into homes in ways not previously possible.

Read more at ama-supercross.com

I think this is a good pickup for team Ohlins getting Les Smith. Smith is young, has a great background, and has shown signs of potentially being a threat in the lites points chase in Supercross and Motocross. Hopefully he stays healthy

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Team Ohlins USA Signs Les Smith 2012

by Dan Cooper on November 4, 2011

Team Ohlins USA announced the signing of Les Smith for the upcoming 2012 AMA Supercross and Motocross seasons.  Smith will be competing in the Lites class under team Manager Grant Langston and will sport the number 46 aboard his Gold Ohlins Honda CRF250 machine.

Smith is a 21 year old native of York, South Carolina and a three time amateur Loretta Lynn’s champion.  Smith had a moderately successful 2011 Supercross season.  He finished inside the top 10 and had five top ten finishes.  His 2011 Motocross season was no existent.

Read more at ama-supercross.com

Well it's official, James Stewart is going to Joe Gibbs racing breaking off his ride with San Manuel. What is interesting is how similar Stewart and Carmichael are. Stewart is chasing Carmichael's records, and now he is part of a team that also own a NASCAR racing team. Stewart has mentioned that he has thought about a career after Supercross racing cars.

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James Stewart to Joe Gibbs Racing – NASCAR in the Future?

by Dan Cooper on October 26, 2011

James “Bubba” Stewart has officially parted ways with San Manuel and signed a multi-year deal with Joe Gibbs Racing team, JGRMX.  Also JGRMX has extended its contract with Yamaha Motor Corp., USA staying exclusively with Yamaha through the 2014 season.

Stewart expressed his goal to pass Jeremy McGrath on the all time Supercross win list (currently at 72).  Right now Stewart is 3rd all time only 6 behind Ricky Carmichael.  Stewart will join possibly Kyle Chisholm on the team who recently lost Justin Brayton to Honda led by Joe Gibbs son Coy Gibbs.

Team JGRMX gets a huge boost with Stewart at the helm.  Not only does he get results, but he also brings plenty of media attention and fans.  Stewart brings with him a Supercross championship from 2007 and 2009 to join his 2008 Outdoor Motocross championship. 

Read more at ama-supercross.com

I think this is redemption for Chad Reed who has had a pretty long road to get where he is today. After having a successful season in 2010, he found himself surprisingly without a ride (possibly due to his age). He decided to form his own team and received little to no support from Honda. After coming up 4 points short in Supercross and being in contention in Motocross, everyone knows the speed is still there. Go Chad

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Chad Reeds Announces 2 Year Support from American Honda

by Dan Cooper on November 15, 2011

Chad Reed recently announced his plans for the upcoming 2012 Supercross and Motocross Series with his new race team.  According to recent reports after a 7 week vacation, Reed signed a two year deal for support from American Honda for his Two Two Motorsport racing team.

The announcement is a big one but not a huge surprise after Reed’s strong performance and his battle for the overall title in both Supercross and Motocross in 2011 missing the Supercross title by 4 points to Ryan Villopoto.  Apparently American Honda took notice and made the decision to up their support for Reed in 2012 and 2013.

In the beginning of the 2011 Season, Reed, a 3-time AMA SX/MX champion in the Supercross class found himself without a ride and decided to start his own team.  Reed received limited help in 2011 from Honda but in 2012 will have access to design and manufacturing aspects as well as American’s Honda’s California racing facility. 

Read more at ama-supercross.com

It's going to be interesting to see how Millsaps responds to moving from the top guy on the team to falling into the background of the JGRMX team behind James Stewart. Millsaps has had moderate success but overall has been disappointing, I'm thinking have Stewart as a teammate will inspire him to pick up the pace.

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Millsaps Back with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2012

by Dan Cooper on November 4, 2011

According to recent reports from Millsaps himself, he will ride for Joe Gibbs racing again in 2012.  He will be joining his new teammate James Stewart on his Muscle Milk/Toyota YZ450F for the AMA Supercross and Outdoor Motocross 2012 season.

 Millsaps will be riding in a big shadow this year casted by his new teammate James Stewart who is filling the void left by Justin Brayton.  As Millsaps has stated he hopes to learn a lot from Stewart.  Millsaps at times in 2011 looked like he had speed, but inconsistencies and sometimes lack of conditioning possibly held him far off the pace of the tops riders.

 Millsaps will be looking to top his 8th place Supercross Series finish and 10th place Motocross Series finish from 2011 in the 2012 season.  Maybe the addition of Stewart to the team will light a fire in Millsaps and get him into the top 5, only time will tell.

Read more at ama-supercross.com

MotoConcepts needed a miracle, and Mike Alessi is just the person they need. He's decently consistent, one of the best starters in the game and he's a well known rider who was a short time away from riding for his own team in 2012. Jake Canada has a lot to prove and with quite a few injuries to the team in 2011 MotoConcepts was definitely struggling. Hopefully for them Alessi stays healthy in 2012

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Alessi In Viullemin Out for MotoConcepts in 2012

by Dan Cooper on October 24, 2011

In case you were watching the Monster Energy Cup and thought Mike Alessi looked a little different, well Alessi is no longer a part of Red Bull/KTM (may have something to do with Dungey?) and will be riding for Suzuki in 2012.

According to a recent report Alessi will be riding for MotoConception for the 2012 Supercross and Motocross Championships. With his signing also comes the departure of David Vuillemin as team manager. The new manager will be current team owner Mike Genova.

The signing of Mike Alessi to the team was a great pick up for both parties. Alessi was on the verge of the Chad Reed 2011 route by forming his own team and riding for himself, on the other hand MotoConcetion was also on the verge of going belly up having no riders under their tent for 2012. Alessi will bring a unique style of personality and one heck of a starter.

Read more at ama-supercross.com

This is an interesting signing as James Stewart has expressed interest in NASCAR racing and Joe Gibbs just happens to have a NASCAR team. Obviously this will be after the 2014 season when Stewart's contract is through. As far as the signing goes, this is a big move for JGRMX who previously had Justin Brayton as their top dog, now Stewart gives them Championship caliber finishes. Still not sure if Stewart will race the outdoor season or not.

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James Stewart to Joe Gibbs Racing – NASCAR in the Future?

by Dan Cooper on October 26, 2011

James “Bubba” Stewart has officially parted ways with San Manuel and signed a multi-year deal with Joe Gibbs Racing team, JGRMX.  Also JGRMX has extended its contract with Yamaha Motor Corp., USA staying exclusively with Yamaha through the 2014 season.

Stewart expressed his goal to pass Jeremy McGrath on the all time Supercross win list (currently at 72).  Right now Stewart is 3rd all time only 6 behind Ricky Carmichael.  Stewart will join possibly Kyle Chisholm on the team who recently lost Justin Brayton to Honda led by Joe Gibbs son Coy Gibbs.

Team JGRMX gets a huge boost with Stewart at the helm.  Not only does he get results, but he also brings plenty of media attention and fans.  Stewart brings with him a Supercross championship from 2007 and 2009 to join his 2008 Outdoor Motocross championship. 

Read more at ama-supercross.com

It's always exciting to see the Supercross schedule come out, because it means racing is right around the corner. One of the things that stood out to me in the schedule is the new venue at the Superdome in New Orleans. This venue should be amazing, I'll just be interesting to see if the fan presence is in that area. Should be fun to watch

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2012 AMA Supercross Schedule

by Dan Cooper on September 28, 2011

AMA Supercross releases the 2012 Monster Energy AMA Pro Supercross schedule.  The circuit will consist of 17 races starting at Angel Stadium (Anaheim I) on January 7th and finishing up in Las Vegas at Sam Boyd Stadium on May 5th.

2011 was one of the most memorable seasons in a long time for supercross, with a number of young talented new comers gracing the podium, and the Supercross class coming down to the last couple of races between veterans like Chad Reed and comeback stories like Ryan Villopoto.  Many of the top riders remained healthy and each of the top riders never really pulled away from the pack.

The 2012 season will showcase reigning 2011 AMA supercross and Outdoor motocross series winner Ryan Villopoto.  He will be challenged by the 2010 sweeping champion Ryan Dungey, and the man who at times looked untouchable James Stewart.  Stewart did not compete in the 2011 outdoor series so look for him to be recharged and looking for a championship.  It remains to be seen if Chad Reed will follow up his successful 2011 season on the self backed Two Two racing team. 

Read more at ama-supercross.com