The AMA Supercross series made its return to Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday night after a five-year hiatus, and James celebrated by taking home his 11th win of the series! Leading up to the main, James once again laid down the fastest qualifying lap times of the day on the rough, challenging Rice-Eccles Stadium circuit, and then proceeded to take a convincing heat race win en route to the night’s main event.

Despite chilly temperatures that dipped into the low 40s, all eyes of the enthusiastic Utah crowd were on the battle for the lead, as things quickly heated between James and series rival Chad Reed. With Reed capturing the holeshot to kick off the race, James wasted no time as he moved into the second spot and went to work on Reed’s lines. Despite making passes on laps four and eight that didn’t stick, James remained patient, stalking Reed for a few more laps before eventually taking over the lead for good on lap 12. Motoring on to another impressive victory, James extended his points lead to six with just one more round of action to go!

“That was a fun race for me,” James told us at the end of the night. “Chad and I passed each other several times, which always makes things exciting. He was on it tonight, and I almost crashed a few times, so it was a challenge. We have one more race to go next weekend in Las Vegas, so I’ll continue working hard all week to try to bring home that number one plate.”

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