This is the 2nd 125cc Qualifying Heat from the 2003 San Francisco Supercross.
In 2003, Team Kawasaki's James Stewart, Jr. was on a roll having won 2 races in a row in Phoenix and Anaheim 2, and ended up tied with defending champion, Travis Preston of the AMSOIL Chaparral Honda team at 47 pts. apiece coming into the last race; Anaheim 2 proved to be the big turning point of the season as James ended up winning by over 30 seconds over his competition -- and for the first time ever in Anaheim after 4 failed attempts (going 0-3 in 2002, and losing the Anaheim 1 opener earlier in the 2003 season).
Little did we know that was going to be the new James Stewart until he would eventually move up to the 250cc class in 2005. Stewart would win out the rest of the 125cc West season by dizzying margins and even matching or besting the best times of the 250cc class. The 17-year-old Kawasaki prodigy ended up with 7 of 8 wins in the 125cc West... until the Vegas Shootout. James pulled the holeshot, but ran into troubles on lap 2. A mistake off an on-off section dropped him from 1st to 6th, but that was only the beginning. James then bailed off a double jump immediately after the FINISH jump and was knocked out of the race. He sustained a broken collar bone and a concussion in the crash; Stewart remained on the sidelines until the 5th round of the 125cc National season where he would end up 3rd overall in the final points tally.
2nd in points, Travis Preston took a 6th place after an altercation with Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Eric Sorby, who put him to the Anaheim turf after a block pass in a right hand turn before the mechanics' area; it then turned into a blocking game, even with Sorby cutting in front of Preston, forcing him to roll the FINISH jump. The usually humorous Travis Preston did not act very humorous in an after-race interview with pit reporter, Cameron Steele. A heated argument between mechanics broke out in the pits after the race. During the week, Sorby apologized with any chance he got -- every magazine, interview, and even on the Internet. As for James, with 2 straight wins under his belt (out of 3), watch him break from the pack in this 2nd 125cc heat race from a new stop on the THQ Supercross circuit -- San Francisco's Pacific Bell Park.
The main even was nearly a carbon copy. James got the holeshot, and Travis Preston was forced to fight through the pack again. Preston made it up to 3rd -- passing his new enemy, Eric Sorby cleanly... but another Pro Circuit cohort stood in the way. #30 Matt Walker was running in 2nd place when Preston made the pass on him. In the last turn, Walker tried to pass him back when Preston went totally wide to get a run at the FINISH jump. Unfortunately, Walker slid out and tried to avoid cleaning Preston out; as a result, Travis Preston was sent into the FINISH line scaffolding while Walker reclaimed 2nd place, which would be where he would finish. Preston remounted and finished 11th, dropping him another 15 points behind James Stewart, Jr., who lapped him; Preston was now down by 25 points -- the equivalent of 1 full race.
Preston would finish 2nd in the next 3 races in Anaheim 3, San Diego, and Dallas. He would lock up 2nd overall in the 125cc West. Travis was also planning to ride the 450cc 4-stroke at the final round of the West in Salt Lake City, but a knee injury (having a cortisone shot before Dallas) cancelled those plans. Preston did not join for the National season, but returned for the 2004 125cc West season on the new CRF250 4-stroke. He did not win a race, but earned 5 of 6 podiums after an 8th at Anaheim 1.
Enjoy.
