January 09, 2006

Seeing is Believing

Sometimes you just have to see things with your own eyes. Most of us “saw” what happened in Canada via Speed or the CBS Preview, but we didn’t really “believe” what we laid eyes on. And we heard all of the talk, which some would even go so far as to call excuses: “I didn’t train to peak in Canada”, “These rounds are for training purposes”, “The real championship starts in Anaheim.” And all of that talk served to pump up the hype for A1.

Well now A1 is over, and James Stewart is sitting on a three-race win streak. Not only did he win at what the CBS announcers erroneously called “the birthplace of supercross” (that would be the L.A. Coliseum), but he did so after a mid-pack start, having to come from behind both of his main rivals. And he did so despite the fact that Chad Reed managed to set fast time for the night. Check out the great race reports at Transworld Motocross Online and Racer X Online for the details, if you haven’t already. It was a fantastic race!

So a lot of people left Angel Stadium buzzing about what they just witnessed, and more than one industry pundit is talking about the “torch being passed.” Is it now officially James Stewart time? I don’t think one race will tell, but I do think that if he pulls off the win in Phoenix in a similar manner, meaning another come-from-behind, chase-them-down-and-run-away victory, the sound you hear will be the pounding of the first nail in the coffin containing the title hopes for Carmichael and Reed.

Personally, I would like to see this championship chase go all the way down to the wire in Vegas.

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