Page 104 - Issue-46

RONNIE STEWART
450 SX / 20TH
IMAGE / LANG WORDS / LANNAN DESIGN / WILSON
>> Ronnie Stewart has been a regular name in the privateer pits of Supercross
for many years. This season, Ronnie hasn’t had the results he has wanted but he continues to push on. The Pennsylvania native was looking forward to the somewhat home race this weekend in New Jersey and was determined to show off to his friends and family. He looked comfortable and quick in the practice sessions and went on to the races with confidence. He was placed in 450 Heat 2 and got off to a terrible start when the gate dropped. With much resilience, Ronnie fought his way through the race and took a commendable top ten finish. Although it was not enough to qualify for the Main he would gain some much needed confidence from the performance. When the Semi began, He was ready and got off to a much better start. Ronnie had put himself into qualifying position and it seemed it would be an easy race for the Suzuki rider. Unfortunately, nothing goes to plan in this sport as Dakota Tedder took Ronnie’s spot aggressively. He was bumped off the track and was forced into the oncoming whoop section. Ronnie navigated the whoop section, BACKWARDS, but was able to avoid the oncoming riders. As he nearly completed half the whoop section backwards, he was finally able to re-enter the correct lane and continue on his way. At this point all hope of qualifying was lost but he continued to put down solid laps. As the white flag waved, Ronnie was two spots out of qualifying contention. When he came around the second-to-last corner, he could see there might be a chance as the two riders in front of him had tangled in the last corner. He gave the Suzuki everything it had and he was able to squeeze by another rider going up the finish line lip. As timing and scoring confirmed that Stewart had taken the final spot, the New Jersey crowd went crazy. Specifically, the Ronnie Stewart section came alive as their rider punched his ticket
to the Main. Ronnie was determined to get a good finish as the gate dropped for the last race of the night. He was running just inside the top 15 in the early moments of the first lap. Unfortunately, he would slowly fall back as the race ensued and would go on to finish 20th in just his 2nd Main Event of the year.
104 GRITMOTO • APRIL 30, 2017