James 'Bubba' Stewart dominated 2007 AMA Supercross season, winning 13 races, his first championship and establishing himself as the 'person to beat' in the minds of many. This Saturday, he'll begin defense of that championship when the 2008 racing season opens live on SPEED (and SPEEDHD for DirecTV customers) from Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. Pacific.
SPEED play-by-play announcer Ralph Sheheen recently talked about where Stewart might stand in Supercross history, what he expects for the 2008 season and what might be shaping up as a three-way battle for the championship among Stewart, 2007 U.S. Open winner Grant Langston and 2007 Paris Bercy Supercross top dog, Chad Reed, the 2004 Supercross champ.
SPEED: Stewart simply dominated AMA Supercross last season, quickly putting an end to the talk, 'Can anyone replace Ricky Carmichael?' What is history likely to say about this young superstar?
Sheheen: "Every now and then, we get a rider in Supercross who really sets themselves a part from the rest of the field. When you go back and look at Rick Johnson, Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael and now, James Stewart, he's the next guy to elevate the sport to a whole new level. He's done it in a way that's completely different. Ricky worked himself into perfection, while James has an incredible amount of natural ability. Not that he doesn't work as hard as anybody else - he certainly does - but he's just got this unbelievable natural speed and flow to his riding style that has really left a lot of guys scratching their heads as to 'how did he do that?'
"It's been an amazing opportunity to watch this guy ride, and to just sit back and appreciate what it is your seeing."
SPEED: Some have compared Stewart to rising Formula One star, Lewis Hamilton, who nearly won the World Driving Championship in his rookie campaign this past year. Do you see it that way?
Sheheen: They are both incredibly young talents and they both perfected their craft from a very early age. All the way up the ladder, they've both had all the right training and each have been on a collision course with history and championships. James has gotten there quicker than Lewis, but I think they are both extremely talented in their own environment. I think you can draw comparisons with James and a lot of different people, not just racing however. This guy is on the same level as a Roger Federer in tennis; Tiger Woods in golf or a Tom Brady of the NFL. They each re-define(d) how you go about competing in that particular sport. Their competitors have really had to re-evaluate at what level they go about training, competing, strategizing and all the different elements they thought they had a handle on. Everything they had been doing, and knew about previously, has completely been thrown out the window because these great competitors are doing it in a whole different way."
SPEED: Can anyone compete in 2008?
Sheheen: "If you were to look at the immediate past and base it strictly on those results, the answer would be a definitive, no. But in reality, I think there are a couple of guys that can. Grant Langston from the factory Yamaha team, who won the Motocross championship in 2007, had a tremendous boost of confidence by winning that title. He also ran really well at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas. He's also got a brand new Yamaha which he received about halfway through the Motocross season, and that bike has seemingly made all the difference in his performance level. I've never seen a form of motorsport where mental strength is such a huge part of the success of the competitor. In other forms of racing, there are a lot of mental games that are played - as in you against your competitor and trying to psyche that person out. But in Supercross, the competitors can psyche themselves up quicker, having more impact in their performance and results than any other form of motorsport I've ever seen.
SPEED: Does Grant have that mental edge heading into Anaheim?
Sheheen: "I think Grant has a huge mental boost of confidence right now because of the new bike - he's very much one with that new bike - he's got the success of knowing he won a championship with that bike, he beat everyone except for James who ran half to two-thirds of the season before getting hurt. Grant also ran very well at the U.S. Open so he's carrying a lot of momentum into Anaheim. Maybe that confidence boost will be enough to get him to ride even harder once the Supercross season begins.
"Another guy I would put into that category is Chad Reed, who's on the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Yamaha Team. He ran the Supercross season, took the Motocross season off, rested up, got training, came and won the U.S. Open and won the King of Bercy Supercross (a big off-season Supercross event in France). He's run really well at every event he's been in getting ready for the Supercross season. Here's another guy whose now rested up, charged up and fired up to give James a run. Chad's a former Supercross champion and he might have enough of that inner strength, mentally, to give him (James) a run for his money.