Stewart ends 2011 AMA SX series in 4th

San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart has finished the 2011 AMA SX series – also an FIM World Championship – in 4th position after suffering a crash and DNF at the seventeenth and final round of the competition in Las Vegas last Saturday. Stewart did not break into the podium positions for the title after an exciting and unpredictable campaign but he did capture five victories and was the first of four YZ450Fs in the top ten of the season standings. 39, 506 spectators filled the Sam Boyd stadium for a tense climax to a schedule that has been relentless since the second week of January. Stewart started well and moved from third position into the lead where he stayed for three laps until a mistake through the whoops section caused him to fall and ended his evening. 2011 has seen ‘JS7’ experiencing the highs and lows of the racing spectrum and now the Floridian will make a late decision on whether to enter the AMA MX Nationals, due to start in two weeks at Hangtown. “We didn’t end the season like we thought we would,’ he said afterwards. “I got a good start but struggled through the whoops. I dropped the front end. I have been crashing a lot in the whoops lately and I’m not really sure what is going on. We will keep trying to get better. We have some other things going on now that I am excited about. It’s a bummer year but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I appreciate all the support I’ve had this year and we’ll step it up.” Austin Stroupe was the best Yamaha runner in Las Vegas with 6th position and finished one second ahead of Nick Wey while Kyle Regal was 9th. In the 2011 points table JGR’s Davi Millsaps managed 8th in his first season on the YZ450F. His team-mate Justin Brayton took 9th while Wey made sure of 10th on his VMS Rockstar Yamaha. Ryan Sipes used his YZ250F to confirm 3rd overall in the AMA Supercross Lites East category.

2011 AMA-SX United States Sam Boyd Stadium 09/05/2011 20 Laps race I 1 Chad Reed Honda AUS 20'20.082 2 Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 0'01.351 3 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 0'35.302 4 Chris Blose Kawasaki USA 0'48.142 5 Andrew Short KTM USA 0'51.374 6 Jake Weimer Kawasaki USA 0'52.939 7 Austin Stroupe Yamaha USA 0'55.504 8 Nicholas Wey Yamaha USA 0'56.597 9 Kyle Regal Yamaha USA -1Laps 10 Tye Simmonds KTM USA -1Laps 11 Tyler Bowers Kawasaki USA -1Laps 12 Weston Peick Yamaha USA -1Laps 13 David D Millsaps Yamaha USA -6Laps 14 Michael Byrne Suzuki AUS -12Laps 15 James Stewart Yamaha USA -14Laps 17 Thomas Hahn Yamaha USA -17Laps 19 Justin Brayton Yamaha USA -18Laps AMA-SX World Standing Rider Standings After Race 17 of 17 1. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 338 2. Chad Reed Honda AUS 334 3. Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 328 4. James Stewart Yamaha USA 301 5. Trey Canard Honda USA 255 6. Andrew Short KTM USA 230 7. Kevin Windham Honda USA 207 8. David D Millsaps Yamaha USA 180 9. Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 155 10. Nicholas Wey Yamaha USA 152 11. Ivan Tedesco Kawasaki USA 134 12. Mike Alessi KTM USA 117 13. Chris Blose Kawasaki USA 112 14. Kyle Regal Yamaha USA 107 15. Brett Metcalfe Suzuki AUS 107 16. Michael Byrne Suzuki AUS 74 17. Thomas Hahn Yamaha USA 70 18. Austin Stroupe Yamaha USA 69 20. Weston Peick Yamaha USA 54 22. Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 46 29. Vince Friese Yamaha USA 17 39. Jeff Alessi Yamaha USA 3 40. Ben Lamay Yamaha USA 2 41. Antonio Balbi Yamaha BRA 2