Running on Fumes

James Stewart must win the Las Vegas Supercross finale. Regardless of the 6-point advantage, which would allow the Yamaha ace to lay off and let his rival Chad Reed cruise to the finish unchallenged, Stewart needs to win the final race to salvage a great season and ensure his SX title is untarnished.

The reason for this, of course, is the boneheaded maneuver of his Yamaha teammate, Kyle Chisolm. Upon getting lapped, Chisolm allowed his star paddock-mate an easy pass (perfectly understandable) but then set up and took a run at Stewart’s sole rival in the title hunt in the corner. Replays of the incident only inflame sentiments that the move was a blatant, near successful take down attempt. As it turned out, Reed was relatively unscathed but still lost time to Stewart in a close Salt Lake City Supercross that saw both riders pass the other on multiple occassions.

So, who would have won the Salt Lake race had Chisolm not made his blunder, intentional or not? Judging from the reader feedback in our Salt Lake City Supercross reports, it depends on if you’re a fan of Chad Reed or James Stewart. But really it’s all speculation.

The problems Chisolm created, which his subsequent disqualification, suspension and $5000 fine cannot remedy, are two-fold. First there is the question of retaliation, will Reed’s teammate, Mike Alessi, be pressured into some kind of similar maneuver? Second, is the fact that Stewart’s title will be ignoble in the eyes of many. It is unfair to both Reed and Stewart.

Fortunately, the ultimate resolution to the championship dilemma is simple: James Stewart and Chad Reed need to deliver a bar-to-bar last-man-standing performance for racing fans. Reed obviously has the interest in such an encounter as the man down on points, so it is up to Stewart to make the Vegas finale a must-win race.

In a perfect world, the AMA would make it a two-man main event, winner take all. In the real world, however, all Supercross fans need is two stars to line up and once the gate drops, deliver the rides of their careers.