Despite skipping the third and final practice session altogether, San Manual Yamaha’s James Stewart set the fastest qualifying time in preparation for tonight’s round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

Deciding that the track was too “blown out” to set a faster time than what he had already posted, Stewart sat out the final session of practice, hoping that his time of 52.756 seconds would hold up as the fastest overall time. It did. Stewart’s time was just over a half-second faster than Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, who turned a 53.323.

The Phoenix track features a long and deep sand section, which was a good distraction for the riders, while the two whoops sections were gnarlier than usual. Stewart looked particularly good through the whoops; and Dungey looked quite comfortable in the sand, so tonight should be a good match up.

Looking for more luck than he experienced last week at Anaheim, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Chad Reed turned the third-fastest lap in practice, coming in just behind Dungey with a 53.366.

Meanwhile, Stewart’s teammate, Josh Hill, was not far behind with a 508.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto (53.523) and Red Bull Honda’s Davi Millsaps (53.533) rounded out the top five.

Sixth through 10th went to GEICO Powersports Honda’s Kevin Windham, JGRMX Yamaha’s Justin Brayton, Suzuki’s Austin Stroupe, Red Bull Honda's Andrew Short, Valli Motorsports’ Ivan Tedesco and J-Law Racing’s Grant Langston.

In the Lites division, it was Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammates Josh Hansen and Jake Weimer dominating the time sheets, with Hansen posting the fastest time, his 54.169 topping Weimer’s 54.267.

GEICO Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard was third with a 54.371, with TLD Honda’s Wil Hahn (55.044) and GEICO Powersports Honda’s Blake Wharton (55.364) fourth and fifth.