Who was the worst 250 SX champ turned 450 ?

ohh_454
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12/15/2025 7:29pm
Dave v3.0 wrote:
Unpopular opinion incoming...but these 3 underperformed on 450's.3 riders who threw away their talent with crashes and/or bad life choices.1. James Stewart2. Travis Pastrana3. Jason LawrenceStew...

Unpopular opinion incoming...but these 3 underperformed on 450's.

3 riders who threw away their talent with crashes and/or bad life choices.
1. James Stewart
2. Travis Pastrana
3. Jason Lawrence

Stew only has 2 big bike SX championships.  Never learned to dial it down from "win a race" to "win a championship".  The ultimate checkers or wreckers guy.  Unbelievable talent, unbelievable that he was so dominant on the smaller bike and couldn't convert it into a string of big bike championships.

kage173 wrote:

That's not true about James. His problem was that he wasn't as good as the Ryans. 

I feel he screwed himself in his peak years with the SX only deal and then staying on that first gen backwards motor yamaha. He wasted 3 SX seasons on that bike, and skipped 3 outdoor seasons riding a Yamaha. I always wondered with Honda being sponsored by RedBull at the time, and with James being a RedBull guy, why he never went to Honda from ‘09-‘12 before his Suzuki era or why Honda didn’t go after him during that time. Too much money and SX only from L&M? Him skipping outdoors those years mixed with that Yamaha is why I think he didn’t win more titles, not necessarily because of the Ryan’s. 

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stewie94
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12/15/2025 8:17pm
Dave v3.0 wrote:
Unpopular opinion incoming...but these 3 underperformed on 450's.3 riders who threw away their talent with crashes and/or bad life choices.1. James Stewart2. Travis Pastrana3. Jason LawrenceStew...

Unpopular opinion incoming...but these 3 underperformed on 450's.

3 riders who threw away their talent with crashes and/or bad life choices.
1. James Stewart
2. Travis Pastrana
3. Jason Lawrence

Stew only has 2 big bike SX championships.  Never learned to dial it down from "win a race" to "win a championship".  The ultimate checkers or wreckers guy.  Unbelievable talent, unbelievable that he was so dominant on the smaller bike and couldn't convert it into a string of big bike championships.

thts a whole different argument & debate with ur statement on stew , stew is far far far FAR AWAY from being the worst of wht the op is asking 

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KurtJ99
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12/15/2025 8:25pm
Dave v3.0 wrote:
Unpopular opinion incoming...but these 3 underperformed on 450's.3 riders who threw away their talent with crashes and/or bad life choices.1. James Stewart2. Travis Pastrana3. Jason LawrenceStew...

Unpopular opinion incoming...but these 3 underperformed on 450's.

3 riders who threw away their talent with crashes and/or bad life choices.
1. James Stewart
2. Travis Pastrana
3. Jason Lawrence

Stew only has 2 big bike SX championships.  Never learned to dial it down from "win a race" to "win a championship".  The ultimate checkers or wreckers guy.  Unbelievable talent, unbelievable that he was so dominant on the smaller bike and couldn't convert it into a string of big bike championships.

stewie94 wrote:
thts a whole different argument & debate with ur statement on stew , stew is far far far FAR AWAY from being the worst of wht...

thts a whole different argument & debate with ur statement on stew , stew is far far far FAR AWAY from being the worst of wht the op is asking 

How does one include a rider with an undefeated 450MX season in the “worst” category. You really have to reach to say he underperformed in not racking up the Championships he should have. Higher highs than the Ryan’s, just not on average as good in getting championships. 

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stewie94
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12/15/2025 8:43pm
Dave v3.0 wrote:
Unpopular opinion incoming...but these 3 underperformed on 450's.3 riders who threw away their talent with crashes and/or bad life choices.1. James Stewart2. Travis Pastrana3. Jason LawrenceStew...

Unpopular opinion incoming...but these 3 underperformed on 450's.

3 riders who threw away their talent with crashes and/or bad life choices.
1. James Stewart
2. Travis Pastrana
3. Jason Lawrence

Stew only has 2 big bike SX championships.  Never learned to dial it down from "win a race" to "win a championship".  The ultimate checkers or wreckers guy.  Unbelievable talent, unbelievable that he was so dominant on the smaller bike and couldn't convert it into a string of big bike championships.

stewie94 wrote:
thts a whole different argument & debate with ur statement on stew , stew is far far far FAR AWAY from being the worst of wht...

thts a whole different argument & debate with ur statement on stew , stew is far far far FAR AWAY from being the worst of wht the op is asking 

KurtJ99 wrote:
How does one include a rider with an undefeated 450MX season in the “worst” category. You really have to reach to say he underperformed in not...

How does one include a rider with an undefeated 450MX season in the “worst” category. You really have to reach to say he underperformed in not racking up the Championships he should have. Higher highs than the Ryan’s, just not on average as good in getting championships. 

I mean it’s fair to say tht stew definitely left some titles on the table with his crashes & his checkers & crashers mentality but thts whole different convo we have to have , but we all in here pretty much watch his whole career & even if ur just stat sheet guy , eye test & numbers on the stat sheet , stew 450 career is not even close to being considered basically wht the op is asking a “bust” 

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The Shop

jambalaya
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12/15/2025 9:08pm

stew's downfall was not simply "he wasn't as good as the Ryans". Just a bad take and I won't stand for it 

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1
12/15/2025 9:22pm

What is Branden Jesseman up to ⬆️ 

kage173
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12/16/2025 5:55am
Factoid of the day.  Brandon Jesseman actually did move up to 450 for one national at Freestone in 2009 on the factory Kawasaki.  They brought in...

Factoid of the day.  Brandon Jesseman actually did move up to 450 for one national at Freestone in 2009 on the factory Kawasaki.  They brought in him and Ricky Dietrich to fill in for the injured Tim Ferry and Villopoto.  Jesseman crashed hard in practice and never raced.

Also, few people remember, but Jesseman actually beat out Chad Reed for 2nd in the 2002 125 Motocross standings.  The RacerX vault has it wrong and shows them tied.  Jesseman got one more point and was second to James Stewart.

image 2383.png?VersionId=ZyC

Your spreadsheet is glorious

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12/16/2025 8:39am
HonDawg17 wrote:

Mike Brown... Never won anything after he moved up. Was a career 125'r. Similar to J-Mart, but J-Mart won back to back MX titles.

Flatliner wrote:

I don't think he won a 125sx title.

My bad. Didn't pay attention to "SX champ".. oops.

Then I'd say recently its Nichols. Sorry Colt. And Vialle to be added to that list by the end of next summer.

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12/16/2025 8:41am

Anyone say Preston yet?

PRESTON

 

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zippytech
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12/16/2025 9:25am

I wonder if alot of these guys not doing well in the big boy class has alot to do with racing against 1/2 the field with the east, west stuff, and when they to get on the track with the best, they find themselves getting spanked and they loose confidence, next the loose motivation, finally they just get burnt out.

flopper12
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12/16/2025 9:44am
HonDawg17 wrote:
Anyone say Preston yet? 

Anyone say Preston yet?

PRESTON

 

He won a SX main event. 

-MAVERICK-
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12/16/2025 10:12am
HonDawg17 wrote:
Anyone say Preston yet? 

Anyone say Preston yet?

PRESTON

 

flopper12 wrote:

He won a SX main event. 

Not on a 450/250. 

He's got four main event wins, all in the 125 class. 

2
12/16/2025 9:54pm

Cooper Webb outdoors lol. He has like one podium in 8 years. 

Radical
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12/16/2025 10:00pm
Nairb#70 wrote:

Ferrandis

-MAVERICK- wrote:

2021 450 MX Champion. 

Far from the worse 450 career. 

jmo443 wrote:
He may be the biggest fall off though. He moved up started killing it then somewhat fell off. Not to say he’s a horrible rider now...

He may be the biggest fall off though. He moved up started killing it then somewhat fell off. Not to say he’s a horrible rider now but no where near the form when he won on the 450. 

He simply didn't gel with the new Yz.

-MAVERICK-
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12/16/2025 10:12pm
Radical wrote:

He simply didn't gel with the new Yz.

He did for SX, but then had the incident with Roczen that left him knocked out for a minute. He then struggled outdoors with the new bike and got better towards the end of series. Opposite with the previous gen bike. Struggled in SX and won the outdoor title. 

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motojoel1
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12/17/2025 5:17am
Spoonguy wrote:

I can certainly see Boomslang's point. Any qualifier for a 450 main is a bad ass scooter racer.

I must be slower than you, anyone in either night show is a bad mofo. 

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thewrizzle
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12/17/2025 5:26am
HonDawg17 wrote:
Anyone say Preston yet? 

Anyone say Preston yet?

PRESTON

 

flopper12 wrote:

He won a SX main event. 

When and where?

t_baum88
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12/17/2025 5:42am

Cooper Webb outdoors lol. He has like one podium in 8 years. 

5 podiums and a win but yes, not the sx record he has.

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t_baum88
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12/17/2025 5:43am
Radical wrote:

He simply didn't gel with the new Yz.

-MAVERICK- wrote:
He did for SX, but then had the incident with Roczen that left him knocked out for a minute. He then struggled outdoors with the new...

He did for SX, but then had the incident with Roczen that left him knocked out for a minute. He then struggled outdoors with the new bike and got better towards the end of series. Opposite with the previous gen bike. Struggled in SX and won the outdoor title. 

You guys are not talking about prime stew. This is over the hill stew.

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Spoonguy
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12/17/2025 6:21am
Spoonguy wrote:

I can certainly see Boomslang's point. Any qualifier for a 450 main is a bad ass scooter racer.

motojoel1 wrote:

I must be slower than you, anyone in either night show is a bad mofo. 

That is exactly what I meant, sorry for the confusion.

OT
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12/17/2025 6:43am

Bogle hasn't done much on a 450 

ohh_454
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12/17/2025 6:49am
Radical wrote:

He simply didn't gel with the new Yz.

-MAVERICK- wrote:
He did for SX, but then had the incident with Roczen that left him knocked out for a minute. He then struggled outdoors with the new...

He did for SX, but then had the incident with Roczen that left him knocked out for a minute. He then struggled outdoors with the new bike and got better towards the end of series. Opposite with the previous gen bike. Struggled in SX and won the outdoor title. 

t_baum88 wrote:

You guys are not talking about prime stew. This is over the hill stew.

They were talking about Ferrandis on this one lol

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motojoel1
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12/17/2025 6:51am
Spoonguy wrote:

I can certainly see Boomslang's point. Any qualifier for a 450 main is a bad ass scooter racer.

motojoel1 wrote:

I must be slower than you, anyone in either night show is a bad mofo. 

Spoonguy wrote:

That is exactly what I meant, sorry for the confusion.

You’re probably still faster than me. 

ML512
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12/17/2025 6:52am
ThreadKill wrote:

Unpopular opinion - Pastrana

I initially wanted to say "WTF" but you have a solid point under the terms of this discussion.

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t_baum88
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12/17/2025 7:16am
-MAVERICK- wrote:
He did for SX, but then had the incident with Roczen that left him knocked out for a minute. He then struggled outdoors with the new...

He did for SX, but then had the incident with Roczen that left him knocked out for a minute. He then struggled outdoors with the new bike and got better towards the end of series. Opposite with the previous gen bike. Struggled in SX and won the outdoor title. 

t_baum88 wrote:

You guys are not talking about prime stew. This is over the hill stew.

ohh_454 wrote:

They were talking about Ferrandis on this one lol

Oh shit, I speedread. Thanks.

1
12/17/2025 7:23am
Flatliner wrote:
I mean,  to a degree maybe.... but he was dominant two years in a row sx wise.... and also won a bunch outdoors.  I don't think...

I mean,  to a degree maybe.... but he was dominant two years in a row sx wise.... and also won a bunch outdoors.  I don't think RV had any interest in being teammates.  Really doubt they signed Weimer on the cheap, but probably less than 377 was asking for.

UpTiTe wrote:
Pourcel moved up during bad economic times for motocross. RV took a sizable cut to stay on Kawasaki, and Pourcel was demanding more than RV got...

Pourcel moved up during bad economic times for motocross. RV took a sizable cut to stay on Kawasaki, and Pourcel was demanding more than RV got. Kawasaki countered, he said no, Weimer told them he would race for that amount. 

 I felt bad for him until he turned down a factory connection Honda ride on a bike he tested and rode because they would only pay bonus money, to take a paid ride on a Yamaha he hated but for good money. Them left early because he hated the bike. 

ohh_454 wrote:
This would’ve been cool to see 

This would’ve been cool to see 


IMG 4064 1.jpeg?VersionId=cmayG1FREp1f

Right, and he loved the bike. He would’ve done well in that bike and it might have turned into something special. 

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Spoonguy
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12/17/2025 9:25am
motojoel1 wrote:

I must be slower than you, anyone in either night show is a bad mofo. 

Spoonguy wrote:

That is exactly what I meant, sorry for the confusion.

motojoel1 wrote:

You’re probably still faster than me. 

I'm so slow paper cups and napkins blow past me in the wind while I ride.

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12/17/2025 9:55am Edited Date/Time 12/17/2025 9:57am

Carmichael. Couldn't watch a 450 race for seven years because of him.

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flopper12
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12/17/2025 1:13pm
HonDawg17 wrote:
Anyone say Preston yet? 

Anyone say Preston yet?

PRESTON

 

flopper12 wrote:

He won a SX main event. 

-MAVERICK- wrote:

Not on a 450/250. 

He's got four main event wins, all in the 125 class. 

You must be right! I could have sworn he won ONE Premier Class 450 main in SX on a Honda…I must be thinking of Ramsey. 

My mistake. 

1

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