MOUNT MORRIS, Pennsylvania: Riders cannot learn anything from the pits. Malcolm Stewart confirmed as much prior to Round 4 of the Pro Motocross Series, Round 21 of the SuperMotocross.
“You’re going to go through the ups and downs and you’re battling,” Stewart told NBC Sports. “And then we moved forward to the outdoor season and the biggest thing that’s helping me out is racing.”
Stewart knows better than many riders that track time is critical.
Measured one way, the difference in performance between the two series is not striking. Stewart finished 10th in Monster Energy Supercross points. He’s currently ninth in Pro Motocross, but he’s eliminated the extreme peaks and valleys he experienced in the stadium series. That gives him a better set of notes from which to work.
Points standings aside, in this week’s 5 Things to Watch for in High Point, it was noted how much better Stewart is performing overall in Pro Motocross than he did in Supercross. His average finish in six motos in the outdoor season is 2.7 spots better than he experienced in 17 features in Supercross. And while there is still plenty of racing in the next eight rounds, Stewart has shown remarkable consistency. In 2024, he finished in an extremely narrow range of seventh through ninth in every race.
No magic wand
“People don’t understand; it’s not like you can just bounce back from a whole year of injury,” Stewart said. “It took me 11 months when I blew my knee out — all the way, every element possible. That’s not an easy injury to come back from healthy. Ten, 11 months off the motorcycle alone is enough. You can feel a vibe taking a few weeks off.
“You can bounce back, but the one thing I couldn’t take with me was my racing strategy.”
Things change quickly in professional dirt bike racing. For one thing, the last time Stewart was on a 450 bike before the Supercross opener at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, in January, he did not have to face Jett Lawrence. Hunter Lawrence and Justin Cooper have added their names to the division this summer in the outdoor season.
“At this stage I’m just enjoying it,” Stewart said. “Not really trying to recreate the whole wheel. For the most part in Supercross, I was doing a lot of changing the motorcycle, fighting it a little bit. I was trying recreate something that wasn’t necessarily there.”
Bike setups also go through cycles of change and what worked for him in 2022, simply didn’t work the same way this year. It took several rounds in the stadium season to figure all that out.
“It’s a learning curve again, but reality set in,” Stewart said. “I’m having fun and for me all racing is good racing. If it’s good, bad, ugly or not, I’m learning something with the team, with the motorcycle more and more and whatever the results are, we’re just going to keep building from there.”
Stewart has finished seventh in four motos this year including both races last week at Thunder Valley in Lakewood, Colorado. Those are his best career finishes in 450 Motocross.
This Saturday, he hopes to score his first top five of what is essentially a very brief outdoor career. His injuries in the past have fallen in such a way that he only has seven Nationals, (14 motos), under his belt and the indoor and outdoor disciplines are markedly different.
No matter where he winds up when the checkered flag waves on Moto 2 on Saturday, Stewart will greet the result with irrepressible cheer.
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High Point betting odds: Lawrence, Deegan favored
5 Things to Watch for in High Point
450 Results from Thunder Valley | 250 Results
Jett Lawrence responds with Thunder Valley win
Michael Mosiman out for remainder of MX
Nate Thrasher out with collarbone injury
Chase Sexton sweeps Hangtown, snaps Lawrence’s streak
AMA explains Deegan, Vialle discrepancy
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