Northern California’s motocross faithful packed into the home of the Oakland Raiders (and A’s) on Saturday night to witness round number four of the 2012 AMA Supercross Series, and for the second year in a row, James took home the win in NorCal after a hard-fought battle!

Having lost his practice mechanic, Mark “Tex” Adams, earlier in the week to a tragic traffic accident, James no doubt rode an inspired main event, and later dedicated the win to his fallen friend. The victory was James’ first of the year, and gives him a much-needed boost in confidence as the series heads back to Anaheim for round number five next weekend.

Here’s how James put his Red Bull-backed JGRMX Yamaha on the top of the box in Oaktown…

SUPERCROSS QUALIFYING HEATS
• When the gate dropped for Supercross Heat #2, James got a great jump to enter turn one with the momentary lead, but after nearly washing out his front end midway through the corner, he dropped back to fifth in the blink of an eye.
• After quickly regrouping and weaving his way to the front, James put a move on Andrew Short to take over the lead on lap five.
• Under pressure from Ryan Villopoto at the finish, JS7 held strong to take the heat win—his fourth of the series.

SUPERCROSS MAIN EVENT
• After another great jump out of the gate, James circulated lap number one in the fifth spot, but made a couple quick passes to move into second by the beginning of lap three.
• After patiently stalking early leader Chad Reed for several laps while Villopoto pressured from behind, James finally made a pass for the lead on lap number 10.
• By lap 15, JS7 had opened up a fairly comfortable four-second lead over Reed, but still had plenty of lapped riders to contend with ahead.
• Riding strong and confident up front, James successfully navigated through the slower traffic, and then crossed the checkers in dominant fashion to capture his first win of the series.
• During his podium speech, James proudly dedicated his win to Tex.

SUPERCROSS RESULTS
1. James Stewart
2. Chad Reed
3. Ryan Villopoto
4. Ryan Dungey
5. Andrew Short
6. Kevin Windham
7. Davi Millsaps
8. Jake Weimer
9. Justin Brayton
10. Josh Hansen

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After a long summer off from AMA competition, James Stewart kicked off his 2010 racing campaign in style at round number one of the AMA Supercross series in Anaheim, California, on Saturday night. Though a pesky preseason illness threw a monkey wrench into James’ plans and preparation during the off-season, the defending Supercross champ put his head down in the few weeks leading up to the season opener, and his hard work and determination no doubt paid off by the end of the night. Claiming the top spot on the podium at A1 has become a tricky task over the past several years, but James and his Red Bull-backed racing program did exactly that as the checkers waved in Anaheim.

With his sights set on holding on to the bold number one that graces the front of his San Manuel Yamaha, James looked spot on as he set the fastest overall lap times during both of the day’s timed qualifying session, and then went on to dominate Supercross heat number two with a walk away victory. With a stacked gate of the world’s best Supercross pilots frothing at the chance to beat the champ, the field rocketed down the start straight and into turn number one to kick off what would unfold to be an incredible main event! Moving into the second spot behind Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey by turn two, James began a patient and controlled assault on the Anaheim circuit. Losing ground at times due to a few uncommon mistakes, it wasn’t until lap 18 that Stewart finally made his move on Dungey for the lead. Despite a last lap retaliation by Dungey, James held on to the top spot, and motored on to a well-deserved win!

“Ryan rode really well tonight,” James said after the race. “I kept making mistakes in a couple of the sections over there, but I got it together, put my head down, and made a run for him. It wasn’t perfect, but in the end I’m really thankful to leave here with the win.”

Stay tuned for round number to in Phoenix, Arizona next Saturday night!

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