Photo by: Andrea Barnett

The offseason leading up to the 2017 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, was dominated by speculation about whether or not the unemployed James Stewart would get signed by a team, race with his own privateer effort or simply ride off into the sunset with his Hall of Fame stats. Here we are, seven rounds into the 2017 Supercross season and we still cannot give you a definitive answer to that question.

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The last time we heard from the ultra secretive JS7 was six weeks ago from his @TheRealJS7 Instagram account, and it’s been crickets since then. “It’s been 16 years since a Saturday night in Jan came and i wasn’t in a stadium doing what I love,” James said. “But all I can say is it won’t last for long!!! Truly can’t tell ya how much I’m looking forward to returning doing it my way.”

We still don’t know exactly what James’ way for 2017 is, but we have heard that James picked up a couple production 2017 Honda 450’s. The rumor is James will pit out of the Ride365 semi with his brother Malcolm Stewart beginning as soon as Daytona. There has been no confirmation from the Stewart camp on Daytona—or anything for that matter—but in Minneapolis, the Daytona rumor seemed to gain some traction. Despite the rumor gaining traction, we still have not seen a single video of the #7 riding of training.

James Stewart only scored ten points during the 2016 season with his best finish being a 13th in Atlanta. Photo by: Andrea Barnett
James Stewart only scored ten points during the 2016 season with his best finish being a 13th in Atlanta. Photo by: Andrea Barnett

How will James do if he does return? We have no idea how James’ fitness and speed is at the moment so any attempt at an answer would be anyone’s best guess. James has 50 450SX main event wins on his career résumé, but he only finished one main event in 2016. The last time he won a main event was at the 2014 St. Louis Supercross, his fifth main event win in 2014 before being suspended from racing.

Bottom line, James Stewart is a living legend, and we would love to have him back at the races—if not to challenge for wins or championships, at least to give himself a proper send off before retiring from racing. James is not just a champion and the second winningest 450SX rider in history, the #7 changed the entire sport for the better and deserves a proper sendoff.

Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.