RV CRUSHED THEM!!! JS was Fast till about the half way point then slowed... Arm pump?? Reed falls, RD falls, JS falls RV GONE by over 12sec before any of them fall though!!! Like I said a month ago its not going to be like last year unless there is some bad luck for RV. The only one who can run his pase or faster is JS. It could be a boring year.

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Nice work in Shelbyville from Ricky Rarick.

Go Sethro!

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Bill C, I agree with you on JS being the only one that can run RV's pace, but for many laps? lol

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BILLC, just for future posts, it's PACE.

I'm pretty disappointed with the race too. Happy for RV2, but not much of a race all evening. maybe it was just the track layout, as nobody stated how great the track was and how Reed stated how much he disliked it. I don't think that guy's ever happy about anything, always finds something to complain about.
BUT, I'm still looking forward to the rest of the season.

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I cant believe there was no mention of Billy Laninovich finishing 14th the guy hasnt raced in years !!!! good job !

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Here is me review:

Track - I think its fair to say nobody liked the track (people who raced it) Reed "hated" the track and another rider said it was like racing on " a fair grounds" track....Slow and no flow, mostly one lined and too easy for those guys....they tried something new and it didnt work. JS7 said it was "hard"...meaning it was crap and hard to get a flow going....

RV - Wow!! Not surprised..but I didnt think he'd have that kind of night in round 1 with all the hype and all. RV came close a few times to going down, but luckily avoided it. If he gets a start like that every week, boy oh boy he'll be hard to catch.

Stewart - Overall I think JS7 rode well....little rusty is fair to say....seemed to have trouble finding a groove or pace he could stick with, but a bad start in the heat and he passed dudes and won. Coming from 12th in the start of the main up to 4th on that track, then a 3 way battle for second before crashing I think says alot as well...Reed, Dungey, Tedescoe and many others all found the ground as well. I was impressed on JS7 patience and i think that is good moving forward....I think in a week or two he will be up front. I dont know if he was tired or just playing it cool or maybe just first race jitters..both of which can be improved on...1st race since July and he didnt ride over his head....PRactice those starts James!!

Reed - Same ol' Reed....However, after a 2nd place start RV was 3-4 seconds ahead of him in one lap. He didnt like the track and you could tell and he even went down in a "big" crash as Bates would say.

Dungey - I predicted he would get 4th and had stew not fallen, I think thats where he would have ended up. But JS7 did crash and thats where he ended up. James was able to pass him in the heat and pull away and did so in the main after Dungey tipped over.

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First time I attended A1 and was probably the worst venue I've been to. Like so many other people have already said the track was wack. As far as the race goes I had a feeling RV would be the man to beat after seeing him sweep the Monster Energy Cup Series. I had question marks about JS and RD.

When Stewart clocked the fastest qualifying time I thought he would give RV a run for his money. JS looked fast in his heat race but almost lost it a few times and didn't look comfortable. That's why I think he decided to ride conservatively in the main event. He was obviously riding very cautiously. It feels like Stewart is trying to re-invent the way he rides to cut down on crashes. It didn't work in this race because he still crashed even though he wasn't pushing it.

At this point in Stewart's career I think he is what he is. He is a mistake prone rider. Slowing him down won't change that. He's developing an MO for cracking under pressure. I think JGR just needs to release the beast in Stewart and just let him ride.

The only way Stewart has any chance to compete with RV and a chance at McGrath's record is if he returns to his 2009 form. You just have to take the good with the bad. JS will never ride with the consistency of a Chad Reed or Ryan Villopoto. I think JGR just needs to turn him loose and let the chips fall where they may.

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I think everyone needs to take a step back and consider all the info we have on JS7. When James was an amatuer he dominated everything, nobody was close. when he turned pro and rode 125's, he dominated. this was happening just after the McGrath era of supercross, which McGrath dominated with a new style, when he landed a jump he was on the gas hard until the corner. Mc's success came with almost no training off the bike. Then u have RC who attacked the track everywhere like Mc, but RC trained harder than anyone else on and off the bike. All the while with JS turning practice laps at races on a 125 that were super close too RC on a 250. I still watch TGO videos that has JS7 joking about training off the bike. So JS7 moves up and has the speed to run with RC indoors and outdoors but lacks the ability to SUSTAIN this pace outdoors in 2nd motos. So RC moves on and JS7 gets Aldon. and how many times did we hear JS7 complain about it on his TV show. We hear Big James complain about training off the bike too much and not riding enough. At this point the Stew crew still thinks they can just ride faster than everyone. Now the entire time JS7 has been pro he has amazed us with his speed, style, and scrubs. He has been on TV alot and all the kids start to change their riding. Now everyone scrubs like Bubba and everyone is fast seemingly everywhere on the track, and everyone is training hard off the bike. So JS7 takes some time off with injuries and lack of outdoor mx motivation. Now we have all these young guns that have a JS7 like style, they are fast eveywhere, they scrub everything, and instead of having TV obligations, these othr guys go home and train like crazy on and off the bike.
Now JS7 has rust from not racing, all the other riders are so much closer to his speed, and they outtrain him which brings them even closer to the once untouchable JS7.
I will not argue that JS7 doesnt have the speed it takes to be the champ. i think he does. But with all the other factors involved, JS7 now has to do the things the others are doing. everyone has caught up to his speed and style, and ability.
Now we have RV who has entrenched himself in the RC mold. He has accepted the training and has not quit because it is too hard.
I think JS7 will win a race or 2. but i also think he will crash to much.
James you cant ride the current pace for the entire season without prepareing your body correctly. IMO
and just wait until the outdoors! then we will see an even bigger gap!
This is just the evolution of our great sport. JS7 was different not to long ago, now not so much.

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@mxguy94 great insight. I never really looked at that way. You're right at one time JS was blowing away the comp. Now these young bucks have modeled their riding style after him plus they train hard the competition has now caught up with him and perhaps surpassed him (Ryan Villopoto). James Stewart just has too much on his plate to become top dog again in my opinion.

I think JS has built up such a strong brand it's all about the money now. RV is just focused purely on racing right now and it shows. The only other guy I think that can eventually compete with RV is Trey Canard. Can't wait until he gets healthy.

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I agree with mx guy. He used to be something special. Now hes just another regular guy

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Killomoto better watch out, thats what I said yesterday about Dungeys finish and I was the the bad guy here. I think Dungey was good saturday but got a little lucky with 3rd. He'll be fine,after a few things are sorted out. Thats just my opinion>

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A lot of guys are doing what only JS could do a few years ago. For example Kevin Windham went for it in Vegas last year by latching on to everything James was doing. When James realized he could not get any separation he felt the pressure and crashed. I think A1 was a wake up call and a major dose of reality for Stewart.

I Think it's still way too early to predict what the season will bring but A1 answered a lot of questions for me. I could be wrong but from what I saw I don't think this season will be much different from last season for Stewart. I expect him to win some races but be very inconsistent throughout the season. Some people think his new bike and new team will cure his crashes. It's not the bike. Supercross is 90% rider, 5% bike, and 5% luck. Look at RC he dominated on a Kaw, Hon, and Suzuki.

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Indeed MF637 - Not discrediting Dungey at all....He looked really good and he'll be top 5 every week pending any crashes, race craziness or whatever....James was behind RD5 in the heat and caught and passed him....In the main James was way back, Dungey tipped over and James got by....then James hit a funk and RD5 caught back up to him and passed him back when James made a bobble....then before you know it James passes him again and Reed was right there after his crash.....James may have been trying to play it safe too and that causes guys to make mistakes as well....bummed james got 6th, had the bike not been damaged a 4th for sure...lets go PHX!

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ive been reading the comments and i agree with most of them,one thing i saw with Dungey is his reluctence to get more aggressive when passing or even showing a wheel.It looked like he was showing way more respect for stewart and others in the past then he should.

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I am a big fan of Dungey and I hope and think the KTM experiment will work its self out.I was at Southwick on the starting line when his bike was't for the start i watched that race,that kid has a lot of heart alot more than all but maybe 1 or 2 guys racing today.Sorry for pumping up Dungey so much,I'mreally just a fan of the sport and I still wish Carmicheal was racing

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TV Coverage: Coverage is better than no coverage, but what is with the new sport coat wardrobe for these guys? so silly.... RC looked like he was wearing a pair of parachute pants as a jacket with all those zippers....This is MX, not basketball...Just wear the SPEED shirts crying out loud..... The rider interviews with the head sets dont work to well when you have 3 guys spouting at a guy who just jumped off the bike..and atleast give them a minute to whipe their face off...jeez louise.......sure, there is less Bates time which was a plus, but maybe just through Emig down there with a head set so he can commentate with RC and Ralph....Bates still manages to exxagerate what happened " Reed had a BIG crash"...which Reed had to quickly tell her to "take it easy babe, i just tipped over".....and same with Stewart, Bates " heavy look of frustration"...james " nah, not really frustrated"......maybe she can do the Josh Hill story type stuff and leave the racing to the guys in the booth....Sometimes I wonder about RC's comments, if I didnt know it was RC, I would wonder if this guy knew anything about moto...some of the littlest things suprise him....

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I'm sorry to butt in, but did ya get a look at Ms. Supercross shirt in pic above?

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Yeah, looks see through to me, I think I see nipples.

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hey mx94, that had to of taken awhile to type all that, but you hit the nail on the head. It's all about the evolution. I get asked by parents how to get lil Joey faster. They think by starting their kids off at a young age it will be the difference. I tell them everyone starts out young now, it's got to do with Talent, the Will to want it more than the others, and the Heart and strength to dig deep and go get it. Most young kids possess none of these traits....but they are damn good at texting.

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Nips ahoy

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