Toyota/Yamaha/JGRMX Teleconference 4

James Stewart and the Toyota/Yamaha/JGRMX crew finalized their deal last Tuesday, and as you've seen, there's been a flurry of press activity with their press conference at the Joe Gibbs Racing headquarters, interviews on ESPN2's NASCAR Now, and more. We got a chance to talk with Joe and Coy Gibbs, as well as James Stewart via teleconference.



Coach Gibbs started it off by expressing that, "It's a huge deal for us. This gives us a chance to be serious contenders for a Supercross and motocross championship. It's stuff that we've dreamed about. Coy started the team, and we've been four years working our guts out, trying to do the right things. We think we've got a great team assembled. We've got real good partners in Yamaha and Toyota and we appreciate them going forward helping us do this. We got to this point, but this, I think, makes us a credible threat to have a chance to win the championship. Coy's worked hard at it, put everything together and we think we've got a great team with Jeremy and all the guys. We started off and Coy had a great game plan. He said, 'I want the best people.' I think that's what he went and did. We had to earn our way, and I feel like we went and did that."

"When Coy and I were working together in coaching, he said, 'Hey Dad, I think I want to go back and do something in racing,' I said, 'What do you think that is,' and he said, 'Supercross and motocross.' I said, 'What?' It was his dream, he jumped out on it, and we got going. I think for our series next year and for the race fans, this thing is going to be awesome. It's looking very competitive, and I think it's going to lend to great racing. Our sport itself, is taking off. I think we're still gaining viewers, fans, and I see us having a great year. Coy and all of us are excited."

Coy added, "For us, the exciting part is that James chose us. He could have gone anywhere, and that means a lot to us. We haven't won championships, and he has, so hopefully our team's at the level where we can bring those championships to him and hopefully have a good partnership going into the future."

While there have been plenty of rumors about a second rider, Coy said that they didn't have anything to announce at the moment. "Not yet. This was obviously our primary goal, so we kind of put everything on the backburner until we had James on board. Now we'll start turning our direction that way."

As for the chance that they might have changed up brands for 2012, Coy mentioned, "We went down that road and had offers from another manufacturer and just weighed the pros and cons of it, and decided that we were going to stay on Yamahas. We're excited about that relationship. They've been with Joe Gibbs Racing from day one."

So what went into his decision-making process on team selection? James told us, "I think the decision as far as coming here to Joe Gibbs Racing, that part was the easiest decision. It took a while. I felt like with not racing outdoors this year and how the season went that I needed to make some changes, to switch up the program and kind of start out fresh. I felt like last year there was just a lot going on and I felt like with the help of what these guys could do I thought it would be a great fit for me. But at the same time, I wanted to make sure that I was making the right decision, so I took my time and made sure I had every possibility in front of me and every chance...every manufacturer's offers and stuff like that, but I felt like Joe Gibbs Racing was the best part for me. Working with Yamaha again, what we can do, and just make it more comfortable and win some races, I thought it was a good opportunity."

When he was noted that he looked like he was happy and having fun during this morning's press conference, and how a happy James usually translates into a fast James, he said, “Obviously I think that's going to help a lot. In this industry and this sport, there are so many things that are a lot mental. I felt like watching the outdoor season, and what I went through last year, I just felt like I needed to be happy where I was. There were just so many different things going on, whether it was from the team, on the track, racing, and all that...it was just too much. I felt like coming over here, it was a chance for me to step back and not be the lead guy in development or out there trying to come up with ideas, 'Hey, let's try this.' I felt like with these guys, they want to win, and it's cool to really come to a team that's all about winning, from the motocross side to the NASCAR side with Coach here. Everything's about winning. But it's also a family, to where we do things right. So yeah, I'm super-happy. Ever since I signed and got this deal behind me, where this is the direction we're going, I'm super-excited about being here and I know how it is, I know how when you first start out off everything's happy, but this is truly the first time I've been this happy since I won all those races outdoors."

When asked what he'd tell the fans, James said, "It's hard to go racing when things are not going right on the track. When you're not feeling comfortable, you know? It's hard enough to try and do that. But I think it's really hard when you're trying to run a program or whatnot, and things are still not going right. I think for the fans, it just puts me back to a place where I know when it comes down to the bike, and then the team, they're doing 100 percent, maybe even more work than I'm doing as far as development of the motorcycle. So that part, it just kind of makes it easy where I show up at races, I win races, I have chances to spend more time with my fans and just kind of be happy. The goals for next year is obviously just to win some championships. Coming over here with Coach and Coy, the atmosphere's super laid-back. We're serious about racing, but we also want to have fun doing it. If you're not having fun, it's hard to go racing. I think that's the biggest thing as far as going into next year, I'm excited about going testing, I'm excited about going to the races, and I think that's going to lead to good things."

The bike shown at the intro with James had an FMF pipe (and they also have their own energy drink), and James has a sponsorship with Red Bull. Does he thing that will lead to the same type of conflict that we saw during the 2011 season? "I don't think so. I think we understand where we're going, and where Red Bull's at, and we're using FMF for the pipes. I think everybody wants to go win races and I think we'll keep it separate, where Red Bull's happy and FMF's happy. At this point I don't see a problem, there isn't anything that's come up, and I don't expect anything in the future.

Going back to the 2011 Supercross season, we asked James what wasn't working, and what's different now? He said, "Being surrounded by a good team that's number one. Last year, obviously it wasn't a secret, I did struggle with the bike. But I also think that this is the opportunity to come here and do something special with these guys. Seeing their motorcycle compared to what we had over at L&M, it's a lot different, so I believe when you're unhappy and struggling, everything's maybe a lot bigger than it really is. Knowing this team's doing 100 percent, I think that's the best part.

Curious about the team that he'll surround him with for 2012, we asked about trainers, mechanics, etc. The mechanic has yet to be determined, but as far as trainers, James said, "I talked to Johnny a couple days ago, and our relationship's still good. Johnny's such a great guy. I talked to Sergio, and we were thinking that I was going to keep him on board, and just having him probably mowing the grass at my house because I liked the guy so much (laughs). I didn't want him to work for anybody else, but I wanted to give him an opportunity to go, and I think he's actually going to work for Reed's team. So that should be exciting for him to learn something different over at the Honda program. For me, it's these guys up here. I think those are the biggest changes going on as far as the team. As far as my program, I always felt like I was in shape, and my training regimen is good. I've had a lot of trainers, with Aldon and Johnny, so I know what to do, and they've got a really good guy up here. I think it's going to be great. I'll be able to take everything I've ever learned and put it up here and do it for 2012."

So what's James excited about in 2012? He hasn't overlooked that there are a handful of riders who could make things tough. "What makes me excited is just the competition. I felt like coming into 2010 I was expected to win, and obviously I didn't. I got hurt at the second race, and obviously this year was supposed to be a great year, but now it's kind of fun because you've got Ryan (Dungey) switching to a different bike, and the other Ryan (Villopoto) winning everything, Chad and Trey...those guys are ready to rebound also. I think it's fun. I look forward to that. I used to get out of bed and what really made me get up was racing against Ricky. Just that level of competition. Knowing I had to be perfect and be the best. The way I look at the season and how close I was to still winning it last year, and obviously not winning it, and watching those guys progress through the outdoors, for me, I'm more excited than I've probably ever been."

James will be reunited with his old mechanic, Jeremy Albrecht, who is the team manager at JGRMX. "I think with me and Jeremy, coming into my career with him, he was a the first pro mechanic I ever had, and we had a good relationship. He's seen me grow up from being 16 years old to winning my first ever Supercross title. He knows me because he's seen the good and bad. Obviously when he came over here (to JGRMX), I was bummed because he was my right hand man, and my crew chief on this whole deal. It's an opportunity to work with him again, and hanging out with him I forget how fun he is, and how much fun we had. You throw him and Coy and Coach together, and it's going to be party city over here."

I think the difference between being at L&M, and the resources we have as a team over here at Joe Gibbs Racing, I want to say the difference is that we'll run whatever's best. We're not really being tied down to this and that. We'll make whatever's best to work for Yamaha. Yamaha's always supported me. Obviously they're going to support me just like they did last year, which was great. They're going to do the same thing here. But I think what we can do is take what they give us and continue to make it better. I don't know if some of you guys have had the chance to come up here, but I see for sure once we show up at some races next year, I see this as being the factory team...the new standard of racing. I've been at Kawasaki, and I've been at Factory Yamaha and have seen them all. What these guys have got and the resources we have up here, it's just unbelievable. It's amazing what these guys can do. I know what we have can win races. Obviously I won races this year on the Yamaha, but I know what we're going to have this year is going to be a lot better. I'm looking forward to making it happen."

While there was a fully decked out bike with James' number seven, and familiar sponsors like Toyota, Yamaha, and bunch of others, it's likely you'll see some changes between now and the start of the season at Anaheim. According to Coy, "We spent all our time and effort going after James, and it's the same old story. You go to sponsors day in and day out and they always ask you, 'Hey, who's the rider?' It was kind of futile shopping until we him done, but now I think we can start moving forward with some sponsors that we've been working with the last couple years, and hopefully put something on the table."