Stewart's supercross win

Kawasaki’s James ‘Bubba’ Stewart ignored an early crash to secure a thrilling victory in front of a sell-out 45,050 at the Anaheim in the first round of the AMA Supercross series on Saturday night (January 6, 2007).

Stewart led the race but crashed on the finish line jump handing the lead to Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael but Stewart fought back to take his 13th career AMA Supercross win.

Carmichael also crashed but recouped to finish second ahead of Yamaha’s Chad Reed who was in pain for a shoulder injury after crashing in practice in the week preceding the race.

Stewart said: “I was lucky enough those guys saw me when I went down. I had a couple of burns and scrapes on my arm but was able to get back up and get the win.”

Fifteen-time AMA Supercross/Motocross champion Carmichael was racing at his final Anaheim event after announcing plans to combine NASCAR Craftsman Truck racing with select Supercross and motocross events. He said: “I was in there tonight, but a little on the edge and that’s why I crashed.

“James was better than me tonight and I couldn’t quite put it together. I’ve got some great memories from Anaheim and I’m really happy to have been part of this great sport.

“This has been a fun weekend and it’s been very emotional for me. The whole night I felt like I was chasing my tail in the 90-degree turns. James was riding good.

“At one point he made a mistake, I got the lead, and then he passed me right back. I was right on the edge.”

Results: 1 James Stewart (Kawasaki), 2 Ricky Carmichael (Suzuki), 3 Chad Reed (Yamaha), 4 Travis Preston (Honda), 5 Tim Ferry (Kawasaki), 6 David Vuillemin (Honda), 7 Nick Wey (Honda), 8 Heath Voss (Honda), 9 Kevin Windham (Honda), 10 Michael Byrne (Suzuki).

AMA Supercross Points (after 1 round): 1 Stewart 25, 2 Carmichael 22, 3 Reed 20, 4 Preston 18, 5 Ferry 16, 6 Vuillemin 15, 7 Wey 14, 8 Voss 13, 9 Windham 12, 10 Byrne 11.