When Kawasaki’s James “Bubba” Stewart won the East/West 125cc shoot-out race last weekend, his father was jubilant. Bubba, on the other hand, seemed unhappy . . . and ungracious. What happened?
In the midst of contract negotiations for 2005, James Stewart showed his vulnerability. He not only diced closely with Stephane Roncada during the first half of the race (being passed by Roncada more than once), virtually unheard of for Stewart this year, he rather clearly disrespected Roncada after the race, when Roncada offered to congratulate him (and Bubba ignored him). Roncada has written about this on his web site.
James Stewart is undoubtedly a great talent. But a sore loser is one thing. Ever hear of a sore winner? That’s what Stewart was in Las Vegas. What will it be like when Stewart has an off night against riders who are consistently much faster than Roncada, such as Chad Reed, Kevin Windham and Ricky Carmichael next year in the 250cc class? Potential employers of Stewart have to be asking themselves this question.
