2003 San Francisco THQ 125cc West AMA Supercross Championship (Round 4 of 8)

This is round 4 of the 2003 THQ 125cc West AMA Supercross Championship from Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, CA.
Returning 125cc West contenders like 125cc sophomores James Stewart, Jr. and Billy Laninovich, Chris Gosselaar, Andrew Short, Eric Sorby, Matt Walker, 125cc rookie Josh Hansen, Josh Woods, Sean Hamblin, Danny Smith, and defending champ Travis Preston battle it out for the 2003 THQ 125cc West AMA Supercross Championship. This series is totally dominated by James "Bubba" Stewart, Jr. Defending champ Travis Preston has a 2nd bad encounter with the Pro Circuit Kawasaki team as Matt Walker unintentionally sends Travis Preston into the FINISH Line scaffolding after Walker got totally sideways while trying to pass Preston back and try his best to avoid Preston at the same time. The result for Preston is an 11th place and being very upset with Walker after having an incident with Eric Sorby at the last race at Anaheim 2 that resulted in a 6th place finish, and a $1000 fine for Matt Walker.
Enjoy.

[@tonyhopkins6705]

Mathew I don't think Walker did that on purpose but Preston should have been ready for something like that. Especially when he did it to Walker last race. I think that Preston just got some karma back. If you are that fast you have to think and pick your battles. I agree with what Walker said at the end. 45:10 mark

[@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames]

I didn't think Walker did that on purpose either, but I WAS scratching my head to why Preston went wide like he did. I can understand Walker giving Preston some payback, but it was clear that Walker was trying to miss Preston. Unfortunately, the AMA didn't seem to agree and Walker was fined $1000. I agreed with what Walker said, too, and Preston left the door wide open for some wacky reason. In Preston's own defense, Stewart WAS getting away and Preston was about to lose the points lead at Phoenix (2 rounds ago actually). Travis Preston even said it himself at Phoenix, "Bubba was getting away so I had to do something." If that were me, I'd have done the same thing.

[@tonyhopkins6705]

@@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames I meant to tell you Thanks for these old races! I know I have watched a lot of these from you! If I knew about Stewart back in these years I would have found a way to go see him live Especially becoming divorced in 2000. Enough about that but definitely a Big Thanks Mathew. 👍🇺🇸✌

[@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames]

You're very welcome. I watched Stewart from day 1 of his career (as well as Chad Reed) on ESPN2. James really knew how to make you shake your head in disbelief at the mind-blowing speeds he showed on a KX125 -- he did with me. I unfortunately had the displeasure of seeing him run away with almost every race from 2003 to the end of 2004. To me, seeing James run away with these races was "watching grass grow." Unfortunately, my respect for James began to decline after Toronto '06 when he got in a scuffle w/ Ivan Tedesco in practice, and with Travis Preston in the main, and was fined a total of $6000 and put on probation until May 2007. Hope you'll see some of the other races I posted through the years, too. I was only beginning high school when James dominated the 125cc class, and Chad Reed saved me from possibly leaving this sport after '03. Now look -- Stewart's retired as of this past May (after a 2.5 year absence), Carmichael's retired as of 2008, and Chad Reed's still going today. As soon as Carmichael retired, Chad Reed became the ONLY reason I had left to follow the sport, but as of Foxboro '18, Marvin Musquin has been on my favorites radar.

[@abracing199]

How in the world did Stewart used to win like that

[@MathewVsSportsMediaandGames]

+abracing199 Simple -- nobody in the 125cc class was man enough to challenge him once he got the 125cc class figured out to a point where winning was a science to him. Everyone had to rely on bad luck on his end, too, which made the 125cc class such a boredom. To me, watching him dominate and win by a whole minute was "watching grass grow".