Stewart’s supercross return could be muddy

As the supercross season opens tonight at Angel Stadium, the question is whether reigning champ James Stewart will be slowed either by a muddy track or his layoff from an injury last year.

The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series holds three of its first six races in Anaheim each season, and Stewart made history in 2007 by becoming the first rider to sweep all three.

Stewart, 22, also won 13 races overall for his Kawasaki team en route to his first championship in supercross, the stadium version of off-road motorcycle racing known as motocross.

But during the motocross season in July, Stewart suffered a knee injury that ended his year.

The Floridian said he has recovered. But his layoff, combined with what’s expected to be a sloppy track from this weekend’s rain, could give Stewart trouble.

“We know what to expect,” said Grant Langston, a Yamaha rider who won the motocross title last year. “[Stewart] is going to be lightning fast.”

But in the mud, he and others can be competitive if they get to the front quickly and force Stewart to chase them, said Langston, a South Africa native who lives in Murrieta.

“At the end of the day he’s only human,” Langston added. “I always look at mud races a little like the lottery.”

Stewart agreed that “it’s obviously going to take more than speed to get the job done,” even though “I feel like I’m a pretty decent mud rider.”

“I feel like I’m the underdog,” he said. “I’m the one who hasn’t raced in a while. Not being able to race, it makes you really motivated and it makes you realize how much you miss racing.”

Stewart became the sport’s dominant rider in 2007 after seven-time champ Jeremy McGrath and five-time title winner Ricky Carmichael retired. Carmichael, who also has seven motocross titles, ran a partial schedule last year while beginning a career in NASCAR stock car racing.

Other scheduled riders include Australian Chad Reed of the Yamaha team, who won the series title in 2004, and Stewart teammate Tim Ferry. Also scheduled to debut is a new team from Joe Gibbs Racing, a major player in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Its riders are Josh Hansen and Josh Summey.

Supercross racing returns to Angel Stadium on Jan. 19 and Feb. 2. The overall 17-race series ends May 3 in Las Vegas, then the motocross season begins.

james.peltz@latimes.com