McGrath Returns, but He’s Not Alone

In 1993, Jeremy McGrath was on his way toward winning the AMA supercross championship in his rookie year. During a race in Florida, an 8-year-old youngster ran up to him and asked for his autograph and his jersey.

“I laughed at him and said, ‘I’ll give you mine if you give me yours,’ ” McGrath recalls. “He took off running to the pits and pretty soon, back he came, waving a blue and white Fox jersey that he had signed front and back. The signature read, ‘James Stewart 259.’ ”

James Stewart Jr. today is the hottest property in motorcycle racing, a teenage African American rider from Haines City, Fla., best known as Bubba. (He wears jersey No. 259 as a tribute to a childhood friend paralyzed in a motocross accident.)

McGrath is a former superstar from Encinitas who retired two years ago, after elevating the sport to heights never before known, but like so many great athletes, couldn’t stand giving it up and is about to start a limited comeback.

Saturday night, in the THQ AMA supercross series opener at Angel Stadium, they will be major figures in what is the most eagerly awaited event in the history of the sport. Not since Mike Goodwin took natural-terrain motocross out of the countryside and moved it into the Coliseum for the 1972 Superbowl of Motocross has there been such a world-class entry for a stadium event.

All 45,050 seats have been sold out for a month.

Stewart, the 19-year-old rookie, and McGrath, the 33-year-old elder statesman, are the bookends of the supercharged entry list. Prominent between them are the dominant 250cc riders of today -- Ricky Carmichael, 25, three-time champion coming back after sitting out last season because of an injured knee, and Chad Reed, 22, an Australian who took over in Carmichael’s absence and hopes to prove this year that his 2004 championship was no fluke.

A closer look at the cast:

* Stewart is making his debut in the major league 250cc class after recording the most remarkable winning record in amateur and 125cc support class record books. He won 11 of 12 races last year on a Kawasaki en route to his second AMA 125 championship. All the records he bettered had belonged to Carmichael.

* Carmichael sat out the 2004 supercross season because of a knee injury but returned in the outdoor season to win his fifth straight motocross title while winning all 24 motos -- a feat that had never been done before the Havana, Fla., rider did it in 2002. He will be on a Suzuki after switching from Honda.

* Reed not only won 10 races last year to take the No. 1 spot in supercross, but in 2003 proved his worth by beating Carmichael in the last six races of the year to finish a close second in the points. The Aussie’s home is in Kurri Kurri, but while in the U.S. he lives with his new wife in Lake Elsinore. He rides for Yamaha.

* McGrath, the best supercross rider in history, with seven 250cc championships and 72 event wins, is coming back -- sort of -- after retiring Jan. 2, 2003 because of a painful hip injury caused by two crashes. He plans to run in only seven of the 16 races on this year’s schedule. He will be back on a Honda, returning to the factory he once left in an acrimonious parting.

There are others, notably Mike LaRocco, Kevin Windham, David Vuillemin, Travis Pastrana and Ernesto Fonseca, who might have been headliners in other years, but are overshadowed by the foursome of Bubba, Ricky, Chad and Jeremy.

There are more angles to Saturday night’s 20-rider, 20-lap main event over a treacherous obstacle course created with 500 truckloads of dirt that cover the Angel baseball diamond than there are in a trapezoid:

* Can Stewart, whose speed made a farce of the 125cc series last year, carry his momentum over into the heavier and more competitive 250cc class?

“It’s funny, but I actually find the 250 easier to ride,” Stewart said. “I had to ride the 125 to 110% to make that thing go. The 250, I feel like I can relax a little more and it suits my style a little better. I just feel more in control and more stable on the 250.”

The 250cc bike is heavier than the 125 and has an engine displacement twice the size of the smaller bike. It is faster in the straightaways and quicker out of the turns.

Said McGrath, who still has the jersey Stewart gave him: “Stewart is amazing. He has shown some skills on a bike that no one else ever has at his age. He will win some races. How many depends on whether he can stay on the bike the whole season. One thing we know for sure -- he has no fear. That’s the way guys are when they’re that young.”

Said Carmichael: “If he thinks it’s going to be a cakewalk ... it’s going to be different. I know he’s the hot topic and he’s going to be good and be fun to watch, but let’s wait until the season is about half over and see how he’s going.”

* Can Carmichael, who received the AMA Pro Racing athlete-of-the-year award last year, continue the undefeated run he made outdoors into the tighter, more technical stadium races, with the added handicap of doing it on a new bike? “I want the supercross title back,” the 5-foot-5 firebrand said. “I want it real bad, not only for myself, but for Suzuki. I look forward to the challenge. If I can win [the series], there would be nothing left in life for me except to have fun.

“I won the two world supercross races in Canada, and I feel good on the bike. We’ve improved it 20 to 30% since the U.S. Open. I feel really in tune with the bike, and Anaheim has always been good for me.”

In the U.S. Open in October, on a Las Vegas casino course more suited for arenacross than supercross, Carmichael, in his first start on a Suzuki, lost to Reed. He came back to win two so-called world-championship races last month in Vancouver, Canada, and Toronto, but neither Reed nor Stewart was entered.

* How do the three contenders see the series playing out?

Said Carmichael: “At the start, there will be three guys at the top, but I think as the season wears on, I expect only two guys -- me and Chad -- to be in the hunt. I know how tough it can be moving from 125 to 250. It took me a couple of years to get going.”

Said Stewart: “When I hear Ricky tell how tough it was for him, I would rather talk about Jeremy. He won the supercross championship as a rookie. I’m not saying I’ll do that too, but I’m ready to prove all the doubters wrong. I just want to prove to myself that I’m the real deal. I just want to beat everybody.”

Said Reed, after returning from a five-week vacation in Australia: “I think, other than Ricky, Stewart is going to be really competitive, and there is a lot of hype around him. I think Kevin Windham is going to be strong. He is a guy that can never really be counted out.”

McGrath added: “I wouldn’t be surprised if Reed won. If those three guys stay healthy, no one gets hurt, it will be one of, if not the, greatest season ever. I’m excited to be part of it, to mix it up with these guys.”

* What can we expect from McGrath after two years away from big-time racing?

“Getting out of the gate is very important in supercross,” he said. “All of them are very good at the start. I consider myself a good starter, so I plan on getting a hole shot Saturday. I’ve got to get in front sometime. It might as well be at the start.”

Said Carmichael: “He’s so cool. He says he’s coming back just for the fun of it. I believe him, but you know what, if he gets a hole shot and leads for a while, the old man might want to keep on going. You never know. The guy was an unbelievable supercross rider. Wouldn’t that be something if he won one?”

* What effect will recent rains have on the event?

It is scheduled to go on as scheduled, rain or not, although AMA Pro Racing and Clear Channel Motorsports have canceled Friday’s practice because of track conditions. Steady rains have prevented crews from being able to load and sculpt the dirt properly for racing conditions.

“We race in the rain, but it’s terrible,” McGrath said. “When it rains so much, the track gets so muddy that you can’t do anything about it. We raced at the Coliseum in 1997 in the rain, and it was a muddy mess.”

*

The Facts

* What: First of 16-race THQ AMA Supercross Series for 250cc and 125cc motorcycles.

* Where: Man-made course, Angel Stadium.

* When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

* 2004 winner: Chad Reed, Australia, Yamaha.

* Tickets: Sold out. Tickets available for Jan. 22 and Feb. 5 at Angel Stadium.