July 29, 2007, James Stewart's quest for his first premiere class Pro MX title ends abruptly at round 8 (Washougal).
I got a weird deja vu feeling when Eli Tomac pulled off the track while leading the 2023 Denver SX. He rode straight to medical, his season (and his achilles) ruptured. What seemed like a sure championship instantly evaporated.
"This feels so familiar," I said to myself.
It finally hit me. I was at Washougal in 2007 as a producer on the SPEED TV crew. Stewart won the first moto by 5 seconds. He started moto 2 with a 31 point championship lead over Tim Ferry.
And all these years, I saved the raw footage from that day.
With 9 motos left in the season, 31 pts. doesn't seem like much for a guy as fast as Stewart, right? Remember, Stewart crashed out of round 6 (Unadilla) in practice. He scored ZERO points at that race.
Also keep in mind, that this was Ricky Carmichael's part-time year. RC won all 5 overalls of the first 5 rounds of the season. Stew was 2nd overall at all 5 rounds. In fact, before the gates fell at round 8 in Washougal, Carmichael was STILL 2nd overall in points.
Anyway, Stew got a horrible start in moto 2. He was 17th at the end of lap one. Grant Langston led all but one of the 15 laps and controlled the race from the front. Stew settled into 3rd behind Windham. Stew had the overall win in hand as the moto neared the finish. On lap 13 of 15... DISASTER.
Stew stabbed his left leg into the ground entering a corner. Like Tomac's injury, it just didn't make sense to any of us there. It was "what just happened!?"
Examining the tape (it really was tape!) you can see the rock that threw Stew's front wheel in the air. Anyone who has ever ridden a bicycle or a motorcycle knows that feeling. It's awful, the way yourr stomach flips upside down as you try to muscle out of a crash.
It doesn't look like much but that dab was enough to pop his ACL. Stewart skipped the next round in Spring Creek with hopes of returning for the final 3 rounds but headed for surgery instead.
Season over. Stew should have walked away with that title.
After Washougal, Langston was 4th in points, 34 back. He won the title.
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26 авг 2024
