Stewart Interview On Racer X - What Is Not Said

[Sawblade]

Ok guys and gals. The closer we get to Anaheim the more the press is going to focus on Stewart. From what I've seen there has not been much out of the Stewart camp about the start of the SX season. Other the I feel good and I'm ready type of comments. That is until I read the Stewart interview on Racer X tonight. Read between the lines my friends. Its not what he says in the interview, its what he REFRAINS from saying. Check out this quote, IMO the first sentence says it all. This kid isn't the little engine who thinks he can, he know's he can beat RC and CR. He just didn't directly say it. After all, RC and CR are the competition. KW, TP, DV, LaRocco and McGrath are dark horses until the season opens up.



Q - Paul Carruthers from Cycle News asked Stewart if he is looking forward to finally having riders to battle with this year.

A - “Um, yeah, if you think it’s going to go like that, yeah. I have a belief in what I can do. But I had better keep that to myself. I think things are going to be a little different from what people expect. But if you think it’s going to be good racing week in and week out, yeah, I’m excited to see if I can run with those guys, so if that’s what you guys think, that it’s going to go like that, then that’s cool".

Of course the proof is always in the pudding...

 

[Okiewan]

Not sure how to read that? Seems like he's saying "people expect me to win, I want to be confident, but can't promise anything". Am I missing something?

 

[OldassKDX]

Seems to me like he's saying he REALLY belives that he's going to lay the law down this season and beat the hell out of the other guys. At this point, I'm not even going to speculate on whether he's right or not.

 

[SpectraSVT]

Okiewan has one way of reading it and the other is, um, well...Alessi-like. "If you think that RC and CR can run with me thats fine for you to think so but I don't think it will be that way. I'm faster and its not going to be me racing with them because I'll be way up front...but if that makes you more excited about the upcoming season to think that they can beat me I'm not gonna burst your bubble just yet!"

 

[SoCalMatt]

This next season is going to be the best yet, I can't wait. I just got my tickets last week for the opener, row W right behind the 3rd base side dugouts! :)

Bubba is bad ass, Reed is fast, but never doubt RC. When the pressure is on RC steps up. My money is on Carmichael!

 

[Okiewan]

I can see your interpretation SpectraSVT.

 

[jboomer]

These comments from RacerX's January '05 magazine interview with Stewart had me wondering:

RX: Being that you're both from Florida and now at the top of the sport, how is your relationship with Ricky Carmichael going?

JS: [Long pause] I don't really want to talk about that, actually.

RX: Really?

JS: Yeah, I'm just kind of over the whole situation. I don't want to go there.

RX: Okay. How does Fox Racing balance out dealing with both you and RC?

JS: I was joking around with Pete [Fox] the other day. I was saying, "Hey, dude, one of us is going to be bummed next year. I don't know who it's going to be, but one of us is going to be pissed." Pete just started laughing. I guess they'll have to deal with it. Fox is a great company--they'll figure it out.

 

[kmccune]

That got me thinking that he and RC are not so close any more.

 

[CaptainObvious]

“Um, yeah, if you think it’s going to go like that, yeah. I have a belief in what I can do. But I had better keep that to myself ..

I believe that Bubba doesn't want to face the backlash that Alessi faced when answering a similar question in a not-so-diplomatic fashion. Remember the "Believe The Hype" shirts? For an 18-year-old athlete who is one of the top three riders in the world, Bubba handles himself well.

We all know he can ride fast, but fast wins races, not a series. If he can ride consistently, he will do well this season.

 

[jsned]

Sounds to me like he was refraining from say he is going to humiliate them. I dont see it any other way, other than he feels he will be able to win easily.

 

[buffmaster]

I think I'm going to have to agree w/rv6 on this one. With all the flack that hit the fan w/the Alessi camp, Bubba knows he can't really get away w/talking smack. I think he knows he's going to be giving RC and Reed the competition that they're worried about, but he doesn't want to come off like the Alessi schmuck.

 

[oldguy]

When I read the interview Boomers quote also had me wonderring what the big fallout was between Bubba and RC. I don't recall seeing anything in the past but then again before the SX on the preview show RC was not real cordual to Bubba in some of his statements.
Anybody know the source of their friction?

 

[dirt bike dave]

Anybody know the source of their friction?

Don't know anything about it, but I'll guess that now they are competing against one another for MX and SX titles, there's a lot more friction. The relationship has fundamentally changed from apprentice/mentor to direct competitors.

It is easy to be buddies with somebody who you never line up against. But IMO its human nature for pro athletes to treat their primary opposition like 'enemies' (well, within reason). Afterall, that guy is standing between you and what you want the most: the championship.

 

[dante]

People always say "can bubba keep it on two wheels" as if he's always crashing and getting dnf's... I don't get that... I know he does get squirly at times making a bold outside passes over some rutted whooped out section, bouncing all over the place, but he pulls it off... Maybe he does crash allot I don't know but he's still won 23 of 24 motos or somehing like that... Also I've heard his lap times on a 125 two stroke are close to the guys on the 250's and 450f's... Put him on a 250, he does'nt have to go that much faster to be getting 2nd and third if not winning... I think Bubba can beat Reed but I don't know if he can beat Carmichael... I see the two of them pulling the disappearing act battling it out the entire moto passing eachother the whole time back and forth...

 

[Erick82]

Who has he raced the last two years? Mike Brown, Ryno, I can't even name the guys he raced last year in SX. If he thinks beating those guys and stepping up and not just beating but smoking RC and CR is the same, he is for a rude awakening.

 

[SpectraSVT]

LOL, Bench racing is fun...especially when people get all fired up over it!

I want Bubba to succeed because he is an entertainer but at the same time, he's been winning so much that I want him to lose also. I like Reed so I think he will pull it off again because he is so consistent. Not to say that RC and Bubba are not just CR doesn't allow for mistakes in SX. We all know what happened to Bubba when Roncada got on him hard in Vegas. Imagine RC and Reed putting that type of pressure on him for 20 full minutes. RC was obviously frustrated losing the last 6 races in 2003. Reed got to him too.

 

[dirt bike dave]

RC was obviously frustrated losing the last 6 races in 2003. Reed got to him too.

In recent interviews, RC has said his frustration was with his CR250. He claims they were experimenting in hopes of finding something that worked as well as Chad's YZ.

For the '05 season, I expect on epic battle. In order, I like RC, Chad and Bubba. Each is going to win some races.

Previous contenders like the Cobra and Windham are going to find themselves a long way back in '05. I think Ferry will make the podium a few times.

 

[Okiewan]

Ferry is faster than Kevin? Humm...

 

[XRpredator]

I think some people read a lot into what's said.

I just decide not to read.

 

[marcusgunby]

I do believe bubba hasnt been REALLY tested as yet, i dont rhink out doors reed can beat him but indoors is another story, RCs honda(in sx) was lacking IMO but reed also out rode him the last part of the series, you could see his extra speed and smoothness.Reeds YZf out doors IMO isnt as good as RCs crf so it balances out,i think bubba will get a massive shock IF he thinks he can whip reeds and rcs ass, bubba just hasnt faced that pressure before, also yes he got very flustered with ron ron last season, i can see rc making that 10 times worse than ron ron.Lets face it when hasnt RC won a championship he entered?

In conclusion we have
RC super fast, super strong mentally ,super cool under pressure, sx skills not pretty but do work,

Reed, super smooth, very fast , very strong in the head- never gives up, may well believe he is the best sx rider out there.

Bubba, as fast(probably faster) and smooth as anyone, mentally not been fully tested, tends to make mistakes under exteme pressure.Must have some doubts in his first 250 season. Is very young still and can get hot headed.

I dont think anyone really can say they are more than 33% sure who will win.

I never knew rc and bubba were close before-interesting to find out what changed?

 

[2smoke]

Its just that old fighter pilot mentality. No one else can shoot me down cause Im the best. If you have doubts at that level you'll end up a KW or a DV. The three best all think the same....but only room for one ego at the top.

 

[john3_16]

Also I've heard his lap times on a 125 two stroke are close to the guys on the 250's and 450f's

RC had laptimes faster than the 250's when he was on 125's in both SX and outdoors...Windham, McGrath, and Huffman did the same indoors in their day...




Yeah I can agree with Marcus's statement...RC and CR are going to make pressure 10 times worse than Ron Ron did..

Now, we did see Bubba humiliate Reed outdoors while they were both on 125's, But I've never seen them both on an SX track together and Reed is clearly much better in SX than he is outdoors so this may be the balancing factor that'll make it close...

We've seen Reed up his game outdoors Bigtime and he has also improved in supercross as well as he spends more time on the 250...Even though RC would put a very large distance between himself and Reed at the end of a mx race, Reed has come a very long way and I think Bubba is going to face a different and faster Reed come January 8th as well as a faster RC.

I just don't see how Bubba thinks he's going to beat these guys so easily as it seems in his interview. I mean, yeah he's putting a big distance on some of these guys but there is no one of the same caliber of RC, Reed, and Windham in the 125 class...Matter of fact the gap is quite large...

I think Bubba will be in there, but this time he will be facing guys that are of the same caliber he is.

 

[dante]

I don't think it matters what the caliber of the racers Bubba raced against... His lap times on a 125 two stroke are right up there with carmichael, reed, k-dub on their 250s, and 450fs... Bubba could hang with them on the two stroke 125... He will be at least a little faster on the 250... He's most like chanting "January 8, January 8 January 8" right now... JBS will be so prepaired, we'll all just have to wait and see...

 

[marcusgunby]

its one thing to hang with rc and reed but what when bubba gets a bad start and is 20 seconds down-when was the last time Rc got a really bad start-he has some luck even the devil would be proud of.

 

[Okiewan]

Humm .. for the sake of argument, let's just say that JBS is in the same league as Reed indoors. Haven't we seen Reed run down RC and vise-versa?

on a different note; was pretty wild reading McGrath say that he doesn't think RC can hang with Stewart outdoors. (Cycle News, Nov. 24)