Monster Energy Kawasaki announced today that James Stewart
will ride the U.S. Open in Las Vegas this weekend, his first race
since recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery.
After a couple of weeks off the bike for rehabilitation, Stewart
made a quick recovery and has been putting time in at the team’s
test track in Corona, Calif. Stewart and his team decided to
utilize the U.S. Open as a warm-up for the 2008 racing season.
“Since James hasn’t raced since the end of July, we wanted to
use this race as a warm-up for next year,” said Team Manager
Mike Fisher. “Three months is a long time to not race, so we
want him to go out there and get a 20-lap race under his belt. If
we didn’t ride here, it would be a very long time between races.”
The U.S. Open will be Stewart’s first race since July 29 in
Washougal, Wash.
“My knee feels good,” said Stewart. “It’s probably feeling
stronger than it has in a long time. I know it will be good to get a
race in before January. I haven’t raced supercross since Las
Vegas in May but knew I should get out there, especially for my
team. I’m excited to see how it goes.”
Stewart will be joined by teammate Timmy Ferry at the U.S.
Open, which starts Friday, October 12 at the MGM Grand in Las
Vegas. racerxill.com - pic from tedescophoto.com