In our interview with James Stewart we asked the iconic legend, about the move to the 250 class in 2005 that maybe had the most hype ever as well as his thoughts on Ricky Carmichael saying he retired because of the speed of Stewart. He felt he was winning Supercross races due to James mistakes and not because he was faster!
See what James had to say about both subjects below:
On moving to the premier class in 2005
I just wish I wouldn’t have got hurt at Phoenix. Because that, and then only having I think I raced maybe five races when I came back, and I won three of them, but I crashed out another two. I think just what happened in Phoenix set me back and then the races I did, I didn’t get enough confidence of winning and getting comfortable with Ricky before he just blew my doors off!
I try to talk about this on the the broadcast but I think you look at guys that come in, if you look at their first 10 races, it kind of tells you exactly how the next two years are going to go.
For me, Orlando was huge for me when I did come back because, I was like, I’m fast, but I was still crashing and I knew if I was up I would win. I didn’t have enough times of beating Ricky or really believing in myself that when I was losing I didn’t have anything to fall back on. So that’s why I go back to I wish I would have raced the whole supercross season and then I hopefully would have some equity to build up and be like it’s just a motorcycle because I beat this guy on equal planes. Yeah, I didn’t have that so it had me questioning a lot of things and all that. Then in 06 it was almost like my rookie year.
Orlando – his first dry 250 Supercross
I remember riding that heat race and thinking, ‘Oh my gosh! If I’ve got to ride this fast, I’m not going to make it,’ even though I won! I was like ‘dang, they are fast!’ Watching it now he wanted to beat me just as bad cause he kind of knew, so I probably got the best version of him and Chad. I do remember winning that heat race and, truthfully, that’s why I won 3 of the next 5, cause I beat him that heat race because it kind of solidified I am good. A1 was a mud fest and at Phoenix I got hurt, then I’m watching those guys on TV and I knew how good Ricky was and I knew how good Chad was, if I wouldn’t have beat him in that heat race, it would have been a struggle to kind of get, so it was important for me.”
On Ricky Carmichael saying Stewart made him retire because he was winning on a technicality in Supercross!
That’s an honour. It’s cool and Ricky’s told me that too, we became really good friends obviously working in a booth just on a personal level. We can get to know him as a dad and all that so I have so much respect, so it does mean a lot. But I don’t believe what he’s saying, I don’t think people realize that dude was really good, like he was really good! He’s a little bit like Cooper Webb in that he had speed and you are like, ‘how is he going that fast?!’
At no point was I like he’s only beat me because he’s got better equipment. It wasn’t until you retired I was like, oh yeah, that’s the reason but no, I just knew how good he was, so I had a lot of respect. So that’s cool for him to say that but I never thought that, not while I was racing him.
