On Monday, March 27, at 4:50 p.m., James Stewart was arrested for allegedly impersonating a police officer.  The incident occurred on Florida’s Highway 417 in Orlando, as Stewart was taking a friend to the airport to catch his flight.  According to police reports, Stewart allegedly used his vehicle lights and red and blue lights to slow down a vehicle containing off duty police officers that had passed his vehicle.  Stewart was in street clothes and never exited his vehicle during the incident.  No confrontation or exchange of words between the officers and Stewart occurred.  Stewart was not charged with any dangerous driving or any other negative action.   The police report is clear that once Stewart slowed the police officers’ vehicle that he then drove towards the airport; several miles later, Stewart and his friend were pulled over at the airport where they fully cooperated with police.

Stewart is extremely sorry that the incident occurred and that any negative inferences may arise that reflect poorly on his fans, his team, or his sponsors.  Stewart will continue working with authorities to resolve the incident quickly.

In James’ words:  “Thanks to all that are standing by me.   I hope to resolve this incident quickly and show people that I am someone that upholds the law and someone they can respect as a competitor and as a person.”

Stewart is free to race and is preparing for this weekend’s Supercross race in Arlington, Texas.  He and his team will continue competing in the remainder of the Supercross series.

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After rounding lap one in 12th, James put his head down and charged to a respectable fourth-place finish in Toronto, helping to gain some valuable championship points. Take a look at the gallery to see how it all went down…

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The 2011 AMA Supercross series headed north of the border on Saturday night to take on the chilly confines of Toronto’s Rogers Centre, and James walked away a few points closer to the series leaders after a scrappy fourth-place performance.

Heading into Toronto, JS7 spent the week recovering from his nasty crash in Jacksonville that ended with a trip to the local hospital just one week ago. Thankfully, all tests came back negative for serious injury, but James was still forced to stay off his bike all week in hopes of recouping enough to perform at an optimum level in Toronto. Entering the event in serious need of a win in order to keep himself in the championship hunt, JS7’s streak of main event bad luck unfortunately continued, and the gritty Floridian scrambled to secure a points-salvaging fourth-place finish in the end.

Here’s how all the action unfolded in the great white north…

SUPERCROSS QUALIFYING HEATS

• Despite the lack of midweek seat time prior to Toronto, James remarkably set the fastest qualifying lap time (51.818) by over a full second ahead of Trey Canard.
• JS7 quickly asserted himself as the man to beat in Supercross Heat #2, as he grabbed the lead just before the end of lap one.
• Riding a flawless heat aboard his San Manuel Yamaha, James eventually crossed the checkers 20 seconds ahead of Chad Reed in second.

SUPERCROSS MAIN EVENT

• After jumping out to a top-three start, James made a mistake and went down as he entered a tricky sand section, and eventually rounded lap one in 12th place—not the way he wanted to start the main event.
• On lap three, JS7’s bad luck continued, as he and series points leader Ryan Villopoto collided in a tight right-hander, sending both riders to the Canadian soil.
• After losing two spots during the incident with RV, James once again put his nose to the grindstone and began a fierce charge toward the front.
• Miraculously, JS7 moved all the way up and into the fourth spot by the end of lap eight, but had his work cut out for him if he hoped to close the gap on the three riders way out front [Ryan Dungey, Chad Reed, Trey Canard].
• With the gap between he and third seemingly insurmountable, James continued charging hard, but chose not to push the envelope in hopes of salvaging valuable championship points.
• With series leader Villopoto finishing the night in ninth, JS7’s fourth-place result was still a step in the right direction, but definitely not what he was hoping for in Canada.

• With five rounds still to go, James now sits 20 points behind new series leader Reed, 17 behind Villopoto in second, and 12 back of Dungey in third.

SUPERCROSS RESULTS

1. Ryan Dungey
2. Chad Reed
3. Trey Canard
4. James Stewart
5. Justin Brayton
6. Nick Wey
7. Andrew Short
8. Kevin Windham
9. Ryan Villopoto
10. Cole Seely

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