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Edited Date/Time
1/27/2012 9:32am
There's a great interview in the latest issue of MOTO magazine with Chad Reed and James Stewart by Frank Hoppen.
What comes across is their dislike for each other, but during the Stewart interview Frank asks James if he will be racing the nationals this year.
He says no, basically because Yamaha only support SM Team for the SX rounds and if they raced the nationals, they would have to spend their own money.
James says they may do a few of the local west coast races but cant afford to go to the east coast rounds as it would be far too expensive!
Gimme a break James!, when your nailing down a reported 7/8 Million $ a year from your sponsors, spending a little of that money to get your only title of this year, please your sponsors and fans would seem a good investment.
Kinda ironic that the GP teams are now having to pay to travel half way around the world to compete at Glen Helen GP, yet James can't afford to get out to the East Coast!
What comes across is their dislike for each other, but during the Stewart interview Frank asks James if he will be racing the nationals this year.
He says no, basically because Yamaha only support SM Team for the SX rounds and if they raced the nationals, they would have to spend their own money.
James says they may do a few of the local west coast races but cant afford to go to the east coast rounds as it would be far too expensive!
Gimme a break James!, when your nailing down a reported 7/8 Million $ a year from your sponsors, spending a little of that money to get your only title of this year, please your sponsors and fans would seem a good investment.
Kinda ironic that the GP teams are now having to pay to travel half way around the world to compete at Glen Helen GP, yet James can't afford to get out to the East Coast!
it's a job, he's over it.
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it's not rocket science
He's a PROFESSIONAL, not a hobbyist
He races to EARN money, not LOSE money
For the Nationals to attract all the top guys, they have to be important enough to sponsors so the teams can get the support to do it. Apparently, they aren't.
Also, as others have pointed out, James has 3 National championships and a perfect season in the can - titles that he broke a lot of bones and took a lot of risks to win. What's left to prove?
Pit Row
It's not like the team rig sat idle throughout the SX season, it was on the road and at every race every week, and so far has consistently been a front runner and/or on the podium.
So, who's to pay for all of this unplanned, over budget, additional expense?
His contract with SM is over this year, knowing that he is on a SX-only deal, he must be unemployed shortly after Vegas SX. So, if he wants to go race the outdoors, I am sure there would be a good number of sponsors following him.
Despite strong TV presence thanks to his Fuel show (that's a bit too staged at times, but all reality TV show seem to be like that - except the awesomeness Nitro Circus which is just about trying crazy things and Inside The Outdoors), James is not really giving his main big-paying sponsors the necessary ROI on exposure for the year. If he doesn't race the Outdoors, he is going to have a year without title, not good for the title of the "fastest man in the world".
If James Stewart decides to go "grass roots" for the Outdoors, partly on his own dime and mostly on his sponsors budget, with 1 or 2 Sprinter vans and his motorhome, there is no doubt in my mind that he would be one of the 3 or 4 very strong title contenders and most probably win the series. If he did that, his popularity would shoot through the roof and he would gain the respect and admiration of all across the MX world. He'd be the Emperor of MX.
Yes, I understand the comments saying "why should he go on his own money and pay to race" but this isn't about dollars, we all know that Nike, Red Bull, Tucker Rocky, would cover a lot of the expenses and James would not be cleaned poor at the end of the season. This is not about the money, it's about his legacy, it's about his name in the history of MX.
James, go racing this Summer, for MX's sake!
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