Page 74 - ISSUE42

MALCOLM STEWART
450 SX / 15TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Since making his debut at Anaheim 2, Malcolm Stewart has show- cased his speed and natural talent on several occasions. Unfortunately, he has not been able to translate that into solid main event finishes. “Mookie” comes out swinging in the heat races at nearly every race and qualifies straight out of them more often than not. Some of those times he has worked up to secure one of those coveted top fours. His main events have just been very mistake prone and he looked to finally turn that around in the Motor City.
Mookie qualified modestly in thirteenth place but he was only one second off the top time. He was looking to get things going in the heat race with another great start. When the gate dropped, he found himself just outside the final transfer spot in fifth place. He immediately locked his eyes on the fourth-place rider Trey Canard. He pushed the pace and made the pass at the halfway point. He pumped out just enough of a gap to lock down the spot and transfer straight on through to the main event. We were all waiting to see if he could finally put together a complete twenty plus one.
Mookie could not notch another great start as he started right in the mid- dle of the field in eleventh place. He looked aggressive early by jumping up to ninth but that would be as far as he’d go. He held the spot for a few laps but then he started slipping backwards. He struggled on the ultra- slick course and it ended up being his demise. Throughout the race, he continued to lose spots until he landed in fifteenth. He made sure he did not fall back any further and ended up finishing in that position. Another disappointing main event finish for Mookie after a stellar showing in the heat. It is only a matter of time before he puts all the pieces together.
74 GRITMOTO • MARCH 26, 2017