If they were supposed to be rivals, you wouldn’t have known it. On the eve of the Amp’d Mobile Supercross Season, Chad Reed and James Stewart, the two men who were expected to go toe-to-toe and head-to-head for supercross supremacy, sat together, talking, laughing and smiling. We had all gathered at the Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto for a pre-season press conference, and the pressure was off. While Chad and James jabbered back and forth, Stewart’s new Monster/Kawasaki teammate Tim Ferry was the one on the spot. After the press conference, a representative from the hospital had asked the riders to read some children’s books to the kids. Ferry, who does this at home with his own child, volunteered, and there was no doubt he was the only one feeling the heat when under the lights and in front of the kids.
Everyone else seemed super-relaxed, including defending Amp’d Mobile Supercross Champion Ricky Carmichael, who showed up the next day wearing a huge smile. Between the love everyone had for each other in the press conference, and the good vibes in Friday practice, you would have been hard-pressed to believe that a grueling championship fight was about to begin. A day later, though, there would be no doubt.
In practice, Stewart came together with Makita/Suzuki’s Ivan Tedesco, and Tedesco ended up with a broken hand—a blow he would never recover from all season long. Just a few laps into the Toronto main, more chaos had broken loose. Reed made a pass on Carmichael on the first lap, and when Carmichael tried to respond, he clipped a tuff block and went down. Stewart maneuvered past Ferry and went after Reed. With Reed coming in off of a long layoff, few expected him to put up a fight, but fight he did. Stewart made a hard pass, but Reed came back by him—Stewart has only been passed for the lead a handful of times in his entire life, so this was a shocker. Stewart passed Reed again, but then caught some wheelspin in the next corner, allowing Reed to catch right up to him. They touched wheels and Stewart went flying off the course. When he jumped back on in a hasty attempt to get Reed back, Travis Preston—a lapped rider—was already in the air. He collided with Stewart, and trouble began.
Reed hung on for the win, a huge one for him and his new team. Stewart, meanwhile, dropped to the ground after the race. The impact with Preston crushed his ankle, and James had to grit out the finish of the race just to get third-place points. While he was down, a banged-up Preston walked over to Stewart and grabbed his helmet, giving him some advice akin to “you need to make better decisions.” Stewart’s crew was soon in between Preston and their rider, and they carried James off.
The series was wild now. Tempers were flaring and words, rumors and stories were spreading. The love shown at the press conference was gone.
Stewart’s status was much in doubt for the next weekend’s race in Vancouver, but he showed up and rode well when it mattered. He led most of the main before Carmichael finally pounced on him. Carmichael won, giving the retiring rider the points lead in the World Series as it finished the short Canadian swing. Reed had left his mojo behind in Toronto, Stewart, Tedesco and Preston were banged up, and the series was on fire heading into the holiday break. Any love would be saved for Christmas dinner at home.
