2005 Dallas 250cc Main (James Stewart's First 250cc Supercross Victory)

This is the 250cc main event from Texas Stadium in Dallas, TX.

In 2005, Team Kawasaki rookie James "Bubba" Stewart, Jr. entered his 3rd career 250cc Supercross race. Stewart finished a respectable 5th place at a muddy Anaheim 1 in January. Unfortunately, an arm injury at round 2 in Phoenix put the 4-time 125cc Supercross/Motocross champ on the sidelines almost immediately. James returned at the last round in Orlando and managed to pull the holeshot, but he crashed around the midway point and finished in 3rd behind defending champ Team Yamaha's Chad Reed #22, and Team Suzuki's Ricky Carmichael #4.

AMSOIL Honda's Kevin Windham #14 took the win at Anaheim 1. At Phoenix, Ricky Carmichael netted his first win of the 2005 season. Phoenix marked the beginning of a 5-race win streak for Carmichael, while Chad Reed was having trouble finding a good bike setup. At round 7 in San Diego, Chad Reed found himself and reeled in Ricky Carmichael in the main (after lapping the entire field). Chad would lead the final lap of the race while Carmichael made a last-ditch effort to pass Reed back, but crashed. Ricky won the next 2 races at Atlanta and St. Louis to total 7 wins in 2005. The 7 wins for Carmichael would be enough to win both the 2005 THQ 250cc AMA Supercross Championship, and the 2004/2005 THQ World Supercross GP (with 9 wins).

Daytona saw a recharged Chad Reed. He managed to pull the holeshot and lead all 20 laps despite numerous challenges from Carmichael. Reed kept the lead until Carmichael crashed with 3 laps to go. Daytona was Chad's 2nd win of the 2005 season; Reed made it 2 wins in a row at Orlando (his 3rd of the season). He would win Pontiac, but suffer a first turn crash at Seattle ([no] courtesy of James Stewart). Amazingly, Reed would come back to finish 4th. After a 2nd at Houston behind James Stewart, Chad Reed would win the finale at Las Vegas to total 5 wins in 2005 -- exactly 50% of the 10 wins Reed earned in 2004. Chad Reed would also double as the sport's LAST winner aboard a 250 2-stroke.

In the main, James Stewart pulled a clean holeshot and led all 20 laps en route to his first ever 250cc Supercross win. Ironically, it took James 2 races to win his first career 125cc race at San Diego in 2002. Despite losing a front brake on lap 3, James went unchallenged, but Reed and Carmichael battled behind him. Chad closed in on James, and only sat about 5 seconds behind, but Reed crashed on the last lap while trying to get around Team Honda's Travis Preston #70 to lap him. At the checkers, it was James Stewart with his first career 250cc Supercross win. Carmichael finished 2nd, and Chad Reed finished 3rd.

The win did a lot for the remainder of James Stewart's shortened Supercross season. After a 4th at Pontiac, Stewart won the next 2 races at Seattle and Houston, but tragedy struck at the Vegas finale. James crashed in his heat race and sprained his thumb. He did not report to the gate for the semi-final. Despite missing the Vegas finale, yet winning 3 of the last 5 races, Stewart ended up 8th in the final points tally; his rookie 250cc MX season wasn't any better.

Enjoy.