2004 Glen Helen 125cc Moto 2 (James Stewart's Final 125cc Moto [on a KX250F])

This is the 2nd and final 125cc moto of the 2004 Motocross season from Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, CA.

In 2004, Team Kawasaki's James "Bubba" Stewart, Jr. was only 30 min. + 2 laps away from completing his 125cc career. During the National season, James had rode a KX125 to 10 wins in 11 races. His only moto and overall loss came in the 2nd moto at Red Bud due to 2 crashes and a seized clutch. Taking advantage of Stewart's misfortune was Yamaha of Troy's Mike Brown #3. Brown took the overall win with a 2-1; it was Brown's first 125cc Motocross win since May 2003 at the High Point National in a straight-up battle with fellow 30-year-old rival, KTM's Ryan Hughes. Hughes lost out on the 2003 title by just 7 points to his KTM teammate Grant Langston, but Ryan's 2004 season ended several races early due to an arm injury and riding a KTM 125cc 2-stroke.

Since winning the Red Bud race, Mike Brown had gone through a mid-season crisis. Brown missed the podium overall by just one point at Unadilla; since then, Brown had yet to earn an overall podium. Brown's results started suffering due to bike problems and pulling out of a moto at Millville for no reason at all. At Steel City, Mike Brown opted out of his 2-year-deal at Yamaha of Troy, saying he was burned out from racing in the states after nearly 4 complete seasons. Team Suzuki's Broc Hepler #60 took advantage of Brown's misfortunes and snagged 2nd overall from Brown; Mike would end up 3rd overall in the final points tally. Brown announced he would go back to Europe aboard a CAT Honda; he would return for the 2005 125cc Motocross season on a privateer Honda.

As for James Stewart, 2004 was a ho-hum year. He won all 125cc titles with the 125cc East Supercross title; Stewart had won the 125cc Motocross championship in 2002 with 10 wins out of 12, and the 125cc West Supercross title one year later in 2003 with 7 wins in 8 races. Stewart's dizzying pace left other competitors racing for 2nd place. James iced the 125cc East Supercross title at St. Louis with his 5th consecutive win; a practice crash at the penultimate round at Indy cost him his only chance at a perfect season. James would win the final round at Pontiac to tally 6 wins in the 7-race-series. James would make it 7 out of 8 with a shootout win at Vegas; in total, James won a record 18 125cc Supercross races going back to 2002 -- a record that has stood to this day.

Coming into this race, James had just surpassed history once again. At the last round at Steel City, James won his 27th career 125cc Motocross -- all on his KX125 -- surpassing Ricky Carmichael's record of 26, which Ricky set at the same place (Steel City) in 2001. This final round at Glen Helen would mark James' last ride in the 125cc class before he would advance to the 250cc class for 2005 and beyond. As an extra addition, the Motocross community would get to see James Stewart aboard a KX250F for the first and only time in his career. James got some pretty bad starts on that KX125, but he still managed to come through all the 250F 4-strokes to win 10 of the 11 races.

In this moto, James got the holeshot, and the race was immediately done. Stewart would run away with another piece of history -- a 125cc season record 11 victories out of 12. James had shattered his own record from 2002 when he won 10 races -- 1 more than Ricky Carmichael's 1999 record of 9 victories. The battle was for 2nd place, which went to Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Ivan Tedesco #29 -- the 125cc West Supercross champion. Stewart would win the moto, but AMSOIL Honda's Chris Gosselaar #35 would get 2nd overall, and Team Honda's Nathan Ramsey #25 would get 3rd overall (11-4) because Broc Hepler and Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Matt Walker #122 both crashed out in moto #2. As for James, he ran away with his 28th career 125cc National win; his record of 28 wins in 31 starts still stands to this very day.

Enjoy.