SX: Finally! Stewart Back On Top

Supercross legend James Stewart turned around his nightmarish '13 season with a wire-to-wire win in Atlanta.

SPEED Staff | Posted February 23, 2013 Atlanta, GA

Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing's James Stewart (Photo: Suzuki Racing)

For the first time in 2013, James Stewart managed to put together a complete program and the result Saturday night in Atlanta was rather predictable for Monster Energy Supercross fans who have followed his illustrious career.

While his aura of invincibility may have been shattered by injury, mistakes, and plain old bad luck, JS7 demonstrated once again that he has the speed to leave the world's best Supercross riders in his wake when he's able to ride his own race.

The Yoshimura Factory Suzuki ace won his heat race with ease and then ripped away with the holestart in the Main Event to led a Supercross final for the first time in nearly a full year. Reigning double champ Ryan Villopoto blasted into second from the start and the pair of two-time series kings quickly broke free from their pursuers at the front.

WATCH: Stewart Wins Heat 2

Despite entering the weekend with a tally of three '13 wins compared to Stewart's zero podiums, Kawasaki ace Villopoto had nothing for Stewart on this night, slowly losing ground over the 20-lap main event.

Stewart remained flawless en route to claiming his 45th career victory, third most in Supercross history.

After claiming the desperately-needed win, Stewart remarked, "I struggled with the track all day to be honest, but I've felt the last three weeks that if I could get a good start, I could win this. I got a great start… I don't know when the last time was I've led a race. So I was a little nervous out there, but I calmed down. It's a great way to rebound after last week."

WATCH: Stewart Wins In Atlanta

Villopoto moved into second in the points chase with his runner-up effort. "When James gets out front like that, he's tough. I tried to put the pressure on him and pressuring him into a mistake but he rode good. He's not really our main focus -- Davi (Millsaps) is. I need to concentrate on him."

While he didn't have the speed to battle for the win in the manner that his big home crowd might have liked, Rockstar Energy Racing's Millsaps registered yet another steady performance and big-time points haul. Away in sixth out of the gates, Millsaps immediately sliced his way up to third, however by the time he arrived in that position on lap 3 of 20, he found himself already well removed from the showdown for first.

From that point on, Millsaps merely did what he's done all year -- maximized his opportunity and walked away with third after fending off a determined challenge from Team Honda Muscle Milk rookie Justin Barcia.

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