Team San Manuel Yamaha Gets Through The “Bad Luck” At Supercross Season Opener

Round 1 – Angel Stadium Of Anaheim – January 3rd

LOS ANGELES, CA (January 5th, 2009) - Team San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart started the long January 3rd day off by setting one of the fastest qualifying times on the tough Anaheim course - the first rider to come in under the one minute mark with a 59.806.

With evening race conditions chilly and drizzly by Southern California standards and a season opener Angel Stadium crowd that was close to being sold out, Stewart had fans on their feet with a dominant win in the second Supercross heat race, finishing 11.4 seconds over second place and cutting a best lap time of 1:00.382 on the deteriorating track.

When the gate dropped on the main even, Stewart jumped out into the lead with a strong holeshot. Reed followed and the two riders started pulling away from the pack, dicing back and forth for the lead when disaster struck. Stewart missed a gear coming out of a turn that led into a short whoop section and Reed slammed into the back of Stewart forcing both riders down. Stewart, taking a hard hit to the head, was slow to get up and remount and as he valiantly pushed his bike off the racing line, was T-boned by Kevin Windham and slammed to the ground yet again. Stewart remounted but could not get his bike restarted; he ended up walking back to the pits in frustration. Stewart was credited with 19th place and earned two Supercross Championship points.

Team San Manuel’s rookie rider Kyle Chisholm rode well throughout the day, earning a qualifying spot for the heats with a respected lap time of 1:05.346. Kyle finished 12th in his heat race and looked to be in contention to take the Last Chance Qualifier, but was knocked back to 8th.

“We’ll regroup and come back stronger next week,” said San Manuel Yamaha Team Manager Larry Brooks. “Hopefully, we’ve gotten all of our bad luck out of the way now and we can focus on just winning races. James is the fastest rider on any track and he knows how to win races and Championships. Now, we don’t have to protect a point’s lead so we’ll concentrate on winning races.”

Team San Manuel Yamaha Highlights/Anaheim 1 – Round 1 -

James Stewart – Winner Heat Race #2

Kyle Chisholm - 12th place Heat race #1; 8th place LCQ

James Stewart – Holeshot Supercross Main Event

James Stewart - Fast Qualifying lap; 0:59.806

Kyle Chisholm – Fast Qualifying lap; 1:05.346

Team San Manuel Race Recap

Round 1 – Anaheim/January 5, 2009

About Team San Manuel

Team San Manuel is a unique partnership between the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and L&M Racing, LLC, with the sole purpose of reaching out to Native and non-Native communities and sharing with them the value of perseverance and dedication. Building a winning team comprised of top-notch talent and community service, Team San Manuel honors the Serrano belief of caring for our community. (www.sanmanuelracing.com)

About the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians

The San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians is a federally recognized American Indian tribe located near the city of Highland, California. The Serrano Indians are the indigenous people of the San Bernardino highlands, passes, valleys and mountains who share a common language and culture. The San Manuel reservation was established in 1891 and recognized as a sovereign nation with the right of self-government. Despite challenges and hardships, the San Manuel tribal community has continued to progressively maintain and enhance its unique form of government – focusing all efforts on providing a better quality of life for its citizens. Through economic diversification, both on and off the reservation, the tribe has been forward thinking in its efforts to build infrastructure, maintain civil services and promote social, economic, educational and governmental units including the departments of fire, public safety, education and environment and continues to pursue opportunities for future generations.

About L & M Racing

L&M Racing was formed in 2006 by Owner/Team Manager Larry Brooks and partner Mike Kranyak. L&M Racing's 2008 team, Team San Manuel Yamaha, consisted of 2004 Supercross Champion Chad Reed and former West Coast Lites Champion Nathan Ramsey producing the indie race effort the 2008 Supercross Championship! The 2009 race season has 2007 Supercross Champion James Stewart and rookie Kyle Chisholm in place for L&M Racing. Led by Brooks, a key component in the Jeremy McGrath/Chaparral Racing team's three-year championship reign in Supercross, Brooks’ race effort yielded the first and only independent team to ever win an AMA Supercross Series Championship. L&M Racing is headquartered within an 8,000sf state-of-the-art race facility in Southern California and is one of the most successful independently owned and operated teams in professional Supercross racing today. 2009’s Team San Manuel Yamaha presented by James Stewart Entertainment is sponsored by: DID Chains, Yamalube, Akrapobic, Vortex, Bridgestone, Cycra, Braking, Light Speed, TAG Metals, Big Bear Mountain Water, Factory Effex, VP Racing Fuels, and GYTR.