We had the pleasure of catching up with James Stewart and got the US icon to reflect on his career, including his rivalry with Chad Reed!
The Floridian had this to say about his career-long rival turned friend:
I never hated Chad, I just hated racing Chad because of what how he was which made me hate him, because my life was about racing! But now, I mean we’re good now, we played golf, we talked so no I they were just different going back on how different guys ride.
Chad, I had to race Chad differently, I couldn’t let him hang around like close like Ricky, I would let him sit behind me and I would be comfortable with him within a second, I knew he wouldn’t do anything crazy. Chad, I couldn’t I couldn’t race like that so I had to beat him in a whole different way, otherwise it was a different problem.
I don’t think people realize how good Chad was on a two-stroke, you know? I think if he would have been on two strokes he would have been continually better because in 03 and even 04 and 05 like, dude, he was legit. He had to take a little time to get used to the four stroke era and by the time he got used to it I was already beating him, and Ricky, so I think I had the confidence over him.
But for sure I used to watch him when I was hurt or when he was riding in 03 and be like, dude, he was the only person I used to watch that looked like me, you know? Chad, I knew he he had the talent to beat me just by the way he rode a motorcycle and yeah he was tough.
Watch the full interview below:
