James Stewart Jr.
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Stewart Jr. | |
| Nickname | Bubba | |
| Date of birth | December 21, 1985 | |
| Country | United States | |
| Team information | ||
| Current team | Monster Energy Kawasaki | |
| Professional team(s) | ||
| 2002-present | Kawasaki | |
| Major wins | ||
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James Stewart Jr., widely known as James "Bubba" Stewart, (born December 21, 1985) is a professional motocross racer sometimes referred to as the Tiger Woods of supercross. He is known for his tenacity and speed as well as being the first African-American to have success at the very top levels of the sport of motocross. He was born in Florida and currently resides in Haines City. His father, James Sr., was a motocross enthusiast and introduced his son to the sport at a young age. Stewart entered his first motocross race when he was just four years old and soon went on to enjoy much success as an amateur racer.
Winning multiple Amateur national titles all before the age of 16, James made a name for himself as one of the most promising future stars of the sport. In fact, his pro debut for the 2002 racing season was one of the most anticipated debuts in the history of the sport. With outright blazing speed, he showed many flashes of brilliance as he competed in the AMA 125cc class. While crashes and rookie mistakes kept him from winning the 2002 125 West Supercross title, he went on to dominate the 2002 125cc national championship and was named the 2002 AMA Rookie of the Year. With so much success so early in his career, it led Teen People to name him one of "20 Teens Who Will Change the World" in its April 2003 issue.
Stewart went on to easily win the 2003 125 West Supercross Championship but suffered a severe crash at the season ending 125 East/West Shootout in Las Vegas, Nevada. With his collarbone broken in two places as a result of the crash, he was forced to sit out the first few rounds of the 2003 AMA Motocross series, ruining his championship hopes for that series.
His 2004 season went as planned as he won both the 125 East Supercross title and the 125 Outdoor national title.
For 2005 he moved up to the premier 250 class for both the AMA Supercross series and the outdoor motocross nationals. While Stewart immediately showed that he had the speed to race with the top riders in supercross, a crash in practice at Round 2 in Phoenix meant he would have to wait before he notched his first career supercross win. On April 2, 2005, at Texas Stadium, Stewart captured his very first career 250 supercross victory in just his third 250 class start. James would go on to record many more supercross victories and eventually win the 2007 AMA Supercross Championship.
Like fellow motocross legend, Ricky Carmichael, Stewart has mentioned that he might like to attempt driving in NASCAR after his two wheel career is over.[1]
Stewart made a guest appearance on the January 7, 2008 showing of Deal or No Deal.
[edit] Bubba Scrub
Stewart perfected a maneuver that eventually came to be known as the "Bubba Scrub". It involves riding up to the jump faster than normal, leaning the motorcycle over on the face of the jump, and then quickly flicking the handle bars to the side. This is attempting to lower the trajectory and speed (thus the name scrub) and allows the rider to land and get back on the ground faster.
