***** Well, true. The fact that they've become near-impossible to start has certainly gone away. That was one of the biggest problems with 4-strokes; a 2-stroke was sometimes hard to restart, but in the end, the playing field was just about even.
***** Good to hear :) I still ride a YZ250 (albeit from 2006) in trails though; it's good to see the 2-strokes making a comeback, but I think it's a little unfortunate that they can only compete with the 250Fs; it wasn't long ago they were competitive with the 450Fs.
***** Yeah; Mitch Payton said it best -- "All 4-strokes did was make racing 5 times more expensive." I believed him, but then again, I wouldn't have guessed that it'd be all 4-strokes for 2006 and beyond; at first when they were introduced in 1997 when Henry won the '97 Vegas finale, I thought it was still fair going into '98 because it depended on the rider. When Fonseca introduced it to the 125cc class in 2001, I thought it was only fair if Henry and Jimmy Button rode the 400s in '98 and '99 in the 250cc class.
Give the guy credit because Alessi showed he could compete with Stewart until that gut-wrenching crash at Red Bud; from that point on, a perfect season for Stewart all depended on if he got through Unadilla.
Stewart DID announce his retirement this past May. That's after his 18-month WADA suspension, which knocked him out of all of the 2015 season. Then after a lost 2016 season, Stewart went into hiding for 2.5 years saying he would be back. David Vuillemin was saying if we didn't hear from Stewart by the time the 2017 Monster Energy Cup came around, he is done -- we didn't hear a peep from him. I have my respect for Stewart when he was on the 125, but my opinion of him just went downward with all the on-track incidents he caused in the premier class between 2005 and 2012. The fact that he played this "hide-and-seek game" for 2.5 years really took the rest of it away... especially after I began to change my tune after how he acted in '13. When I heard he announced his retirement, I was like, "... And it took him 2.5 years to finally make it official???" James even said himself that he was done after crashing out of Anaheim 1 2016. Me, I was thinking James was done if we did not hear from him by either the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, or after someone takes his #7. When Aaron Plessinger won the 2018 250cc Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, he took the #7 after James didn't come out for ONE race after '16. Right now, the latest rumor is that James just does not want to ride anymore, and he may be selling the Stewart Compound on his property. 98 AMA wins is a lot, but that WADA suspension really did him in -- especially when he was just 2 wins away from an even 100 AMA wins.
No question about it. It showed how fast Stewart USED to be. Unfortunately, after this season, James' decision making was all wrong. It should also be duly noted that Carmichael was already retired, and Reed and Windham were "SX only" riders then until Reed made a last-minute decision to ride the Nationals again in 2009 for Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames im sure it wasnt all james fault he stated kawasaki didnt show him any love , plus we all know how "white" mx/sx is they showed him no love behimd the scenes from what i see i cant blame stewart, people dont realize you cant compare riders unless they race each other in their prime which they never do someone is always more experienced, reed never could touch a healthy stewart or RC
Agreed that it wasn't all James' fault, but I think the REAL issue was sponsorship conflict -- Stewart's sponsored by Red Bull, and Monster Energy became the new sponsor for Kawasaki. And agreed again that people don't realize you can't compare riders unless they race each other in their prime. Today's talent pool wouldn't stand a chance against RC, Stewart, and Reed when they were in their prime.
True, but a title is a title no matter who's out there and who's not. Chad then made himself better than James with his decision making; James' very poor decision making did him in and is exactly why he's nowhere to be found today.
I have almost all of SX and MX Lites... save for Lake Elsinore; if you mean for 2008, I have already posted 11 of the 12 races (the Southwick 250cc race I do not have).
Yes I know. I watched this season a number of times myself, and after Alessi crashed out at Red Bud, Stewart had no more challengers (save for Cody Cooper in the 2nd moto at Unadilla in the mud)
Lol James thanked every one but mo Monster Energy..I remember that year he had to give up his Red bull deal because monster energy became a monster energy Kawasaki but that next year he went to Yamaha he was back with Redbull..pay attention he didn't thank monster energy much during his perfect season with Kawasaki
I actually did notice that myself. It was obvious that James had Red Bull as his sponsor. No matter how you slice it, going to San Manuel Yamaha was the beginning of the end of James.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames not at all James won the 09 SX series with Yamaha and after that Yamaha redesigned the bike completely and James crashed his ass off on that bike the bike was so bad he said that's why he walked away from the JGR Yamaha contract! The last time Yamaha won a SX championship in the 450 class was won by James Stewart! Yamaha hasn't done anything in that class since and no one wins on that bike case in point Cooper Web..When James switched to Suzuki he became 2nd all time to only RC!😊..I'm glad he is happyly retired and enjoying his life and family..ohh by the way no one has done anything on that Yamaha oh they did win a MXGP championship.Barcia and Aron are getting paid and hurt on that thing..
@@ericd.4253 Yes he won the '09 SX title, but going SX-only at the prime of his career was one of the worst decisions he ever made. Yes, Yamaha has not had a title since then, and that backwards frame 2010 model was definitely to blame. Whether or not they went back to the regular frame is beyond me though. I'm not personally sorry to see James go, but after he kept playing that "hide and seek game" of his after getting out of his contract w/ Suzuki took away a lot of my respect for him. Luckily Malcolm was able to find a home w/ MotoConcepts Honda.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames hide and seek getting out of his Suzuki contract? Suzuki didn't do a team after his contract was up! Hide and seek I think he was just over it..but I bet he made a killing on his reality show 😂 and that I'm sure helped pad the retirement fund..Have watched his retirement video? Fox took care of him beautifully
james had no real competition this year. He was so dominant. Everyone give guys like Dungey crap when they win a title without the top dog there to challenge. Stewart got lucky this year going 24-0. If RC would have been there no way would he have won every moto.
I would tend to agree. Mike Alessi was showing he was willing to take Stewart on until his crash at Red Bud. There was a time where I was saying that whether Stewart could go 24-0 all depended on if he could make it through Unadilla (which he did).
Yeah seriously. I kind of forgot about this but when you look at the line up of competition it seems like Stewart had it pretty easy. RC was the true beast. I still can't believe that Unidilla race where JS landed on his back and he threw his bike off and still wins the moto
R Stratton That was Unadilla 2005 moto 1 -- and actually, Kevin Windham was the winner of that moto (Carmichael came back for 2nd), but Carmichael won the 2nd moto and the overall for the day. Anyway, yes, Ricky had more challengers in 2002 and 2004 (his 2 perfect seasons [where he scored all 600 pts.]), while he won all 12 races in 2005, but lost only 2 motos. I don't know if Windham would've given Carmichael some headaches in 2002, but at that point, Windham was injured (broken femur @ Atlanta) and was burnt out.
So RC didn't go 24-0 in 05? I thought I remembered Kdub getting that gift. So I have had it wrong RC went 24-0. If my memory serves by not looking it up didn't Reed beat him also in a moto at the Wick in that same year?
R Stratton That's right, Ricky didn't go 24-0 in 2005, but he did win all 12 races. You're right, Reed did beat him in the first moto at Southwick (after Ricky fell on his own), which stopped a 31-moto win streak by RC, but Carmichael came back to win the 2nd moto and the overall (just like at Unadilla over Windham). Carmichael has 3 perfect seasons to his credit (including back-to-back in 2004-05), which is a record just about etched in stone with today's talent pool. I'd like to think Carmichael would've won all the races in 2003 if he opted to ride the 450F instead of his CR250 (even though that guided him to a perfect season in '02), but we'll never know if that would've happened (perfect season in '03) if RC made that switch.
thanks for uploading this season!
You're very welcome :)
Thanks matthew. It's so cool to be able to watch these and compare techology and riding styles through the years!
You're very welcome. Hope you will see my other races I've posted so far.
***** Well, true. The fact that they've become near-impossible to start has certainly gone away. That was one of the biggest problems with 4-strokes; a 2-stroke was sometimes hard to restart, but in the end, the playing field was just about even.
***** Good to hear :) I still ride a YZ250 (albeit from 2006) in trails though; it's good to see the 2-strokes making a comeback, but I think it's a little unfortunate that they can only compete with the 250Fs; it wasn't long ago they were competitive with the 450Fs.
***** Yeah; Mitch Payton said it best -- "All 4-strokes did was make racing 5 times more expensive." I believed him, but then again, I wouldn't have guessed that it'd be all 4-strokes for 2006 and beyond; at first when they were introduced in 1997 when Henry won the '97 Vegas finale, I thought it was still fair going into '98 because it depended on the rider. When Fonseca introduced it to the 125cc class in 2001, I thought it was only fair if Henry and Jimmy Button rode the 400s in '98 and '99 in the 250cc class.
***** I'm looking to do the same on my Yamaha in the trails (a flywheel) -- according to my Dad, the expert.
Alessi, u can't with the fastest man in the planet
Give the guy credit because Alessi showed he could compete with Stewart until that gut-wrenching crash at Red Bud; from that point on, a perfect season for Stewart all depended on if he got through Unadilla.
Thx for all these uploads man!!
@Chapster You're very welcome. I have to admit that while I was hoping someone would beat Stewart, the 250cc class was definitely enjoyable to me.
James Stewart is going all the way. If he retires, he's retiring on top.
Stewart DID announce his retirement this past May. That's after his 18-month WADA suspension, which knocked him out of all of the 2015 season. Then after a lost 2016 season, Stewart went into hiding for 2.5 years saying he would be back. David Vuillemin was saying if we didn't hear from Stewart by the time the 2017 Monster Energy Cup came around, he is done -- we didn't hear a peep from him. I have my respect for Stewart when he was on the 125, but my opinion of him just went downward with all the on-track incidents he caused in the premier class between 2005 and 2012. The fact that he played this "hide-and-seek game" for 2.5 years really took the rest of it away... especially after I began to change my tune after how he acted in '13. When I heard he announced his retirement, I was like, "... And it took him 2.5 years to finally make it official???"
James even said himself that he was done after crashing out of Anaheim 1 2016. Me, I was thinking James was done if we did not hear from him by either the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, or after someone takes his #7. When Aaron Plessinger won the 2018 250cc Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, he took the #7 after James didn't come out for ONE race after '16. Right now, the latest rumor is that James just does not want to ride anymore, and he may be selling the Stewart Compound on his property. 98 AMA wins is a lot, but that WADA suspension really did him in -- especially when he was just 2 wins away from an even 100 AMA wins.
Awesome
Glad you liked the race.
when you could wreck more than 2 times and still win a race😂😂 good ole james bruhhh
No question about it. It showed how fast Stewart USED to be. Unfortunately, after this season, James' decision making was all wrong. It should also be duly noted that Carmichael was already retired, and Reed and Windham were "SX only" riders then until Reed made a last-minute decision to ride the Nationals again in 2009 for Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames im sure it wasnt all james fault he stated kawasaki didnt show him any love , plus we all know how "white" mx/sx is they showed him no love behimd the scenes from what i see i cant blame stewart, people dont realize you cant compare riders unless they race each other in their prime which they never do someone is always more experienced, reed never could touch a healthy stewart or RC
Agreed that it wasn't all James' fault, but I think the REAL issue was sponsorship conflict -- Stewart's sponsored by Red Bull, and Monster Energy became the new sponsor for Kawasaki.
And agreed again that people don't realize you can't compare riders unless they race each other in their prime. Today's talent pool wouldn't stand a chance against RC, Stewart, and Reed when they were in their prime.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames reed isnt in the same class as them sorry bro lol he only won w hen they were injured lol
True, but a title is a title no matter who's out there and who's not. Chad then made himself better than James with his decision making; James' very poor decision making did him in and is exactly why he's nowhere to be found today.
could this be the day lol jeff emig favorite words
No need to continuously write off Emig as analyst.
Do you have any of the lites races for this year
I have almost all of SX and MX Lites... save for Lake Elsinore; if you mean for 2008, I have already posted 11 of the 12 races (the Southwick 250cc race I do not have).
***** wow that is so cool i just found them on your channel thanks! And you have 2010 and 2009 races i wanted to see
You're very welcome. Hope you plan to comment.
The most exciting rider ever fuck a championship lol
Especially after 1 or 2 crashes, I agree.
Alessi always holeshots then gets roasted
At first, yes, but Alessi started getting better until Red Bud.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames i aint hatin just sayin
Yes I know. I watched this season a number of times myself, and after Alessi crashed out at Red Bud, Stewart had no more challengers (save for Cody Cooper in the 2nd moto at Unadilla in the mud)
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames just like when Carmichael had no competition
@@johnnybgood774 I don't buy that for two seconds, and neither did the old racers when RC went 24-0 the first time around in '02.
Lol James thanked every one but mo Monster Energy..I remember that year he had to give up his Red bull deal because monster energy became a monster energy Kawasaki but that next year he went to Yamaha he was back with Redbull..pay attention he didn't thank monster energy much during his perfect season with Kawasaki
I actually did notice that myself. It was obvious that James had Red Bull as his sponsor. No matter how you slice it, going to San Manuel Yamaha was the beginning of the end of James.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames not at all James won the 09 SX series with Yamaha and after that Yamaha redesigned the bike completely and James crashed his ass off on that bike the bike was so bad he said that's why he walked away from the JGR Yamaha contract! The last time Yamaha won a SX championship in the 450 class was won by James Stewart! Yamaha hasn't done anything in that class since and no one wins on that bike case in point Cooper Web..When James switched to Suzuki he became 2nd all time to only RC!😊..I'm glad he is happyly retired and enjoying his life and family..ohh by the way no one has done anything on that Yamaha oh they did win a MXGP championship.Barcia and Aron are getting paid and hurt on that thing..
@@ericd.4253 Yes he won the '09 SX title, but going SX-only at the prime of his career was one of the worst decisions he ever made. Yes, Yamaha has not had a title since then, and that backwards frame 2010 model was definitely to blame. Whether or not they went back to the regular frame is beyond me though.
I'm not personally sorry to see James go, but after he kept playing that "hide and seek game" of his after getting out of his contract w/ Suzuki took away a lot of my respect for him. Luckily Malcolm was able to find a home w/ MotoConcepts Honda.
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames hide and seek getting out of his Suzuki contract? Suzuki didn't do a team after his contract was up! Hide and seek I think he was just over it..but I bet he made a killing on his reality show 😂 and that I'm sure helped pad the retirement fund..Have watched his retirement video? Fox took care of him beautifully
@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames Malcolm earned that ride and was riding very well until the injury!
Jeff emig needs to stop commentating
Not a chance in hell! I LIKED Jeff Emig as the analyst because he's a rider I remember watching, and Emig also knows what he's talking about, too.
Jeff Emig was a rider before. I would hang on to him.
@@alexanderkahl1288 That's right -- from the late '80s until his last race in 1999.
james had no real competition this year. He was so dominant. Everyone give guys like Dungey crap when they win a title without the top dog there to challenge. Stewart got lucky this year going 24-0. If RC would have been there no way would he have won every moto.
I would tend to agree. Mike Alessi was showing he was willing to take Stewart on until his crash at Red Bud. There was a time where I was saying that whether Stewart could go 24-0 all depended on if he could make it through Unadilla (which he did).
Yeah seriously. I kind of forgot about this but when you look at the line up of competition it seems like Stewart had it pretty easy. RC was the true beast. I still can't believe that Unidilla race where JS landed on his back and he threw his bike off and still wins the moto
R Stratton That was Unadilla 2005 moto 1 -- and actually, Kevin Windham was the winner of that moto (Carmichael came back for 2nd), but Carmichael won the 2nd moto and the overall for the day. Anyway, yes, Ricky had more challengers in 2002 and 2004 (his 2 perfect seasons [where he scored all 600 pts.]), while he won all 12 races in 2005, but lost only 2 motos. I don't know if Windham would've given Carmichael some headaches in 2002, but at that point, Windham was injured (broken femur @ Atlanta) and was burnt out.
So RC didn't go 24-0 in 05? I thought I remembered Kdub getting that gift. So I have had it wrong RC went 24-0. If my memory serves by not looking it up didn't Reed beat him also in a moto at the Wick in that same year?
R Stratton That's right, Ricky didn't go 24-0 in 2005, but he did win all 12 races. You're right, Reed did beat him in the first moto at Southwick (after Ricky fell on his own), which stopped a 31-moto win streak by RC, but Carmichael came back to win the 2nd moto and the overall (just like at Unadilla over Windham). Carmichael has 3 perfect seasons to his credit (including back-to-back in 2004-05), which is a record just about etched in stone with today's talent pool. I'd like to think Carmichael would've won all the races in 2003 if he opted to ride the 450F instead of his CR250 (even though that guided him to a perfect season in '02), but we'll never know if that would've happened (perfect season in '03) if RC made that switch.