Stewart Scores Tampa Victory After Late Fall from Sexton

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer

It was Chase Sexton’s race in the bag that he could taste it, until it wasn’t.

One man’s misfortunate became another man’s gain, a hometown favorite to boot.

For the first time in his 450SX career, Malcolm Stewart, the younger brother of two-time Supercross 450 champion James Stewart Jr., became an AMA Monster Energy Supercross Championship 450 class winner after taking the checkered flag at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on Saturday.

The victory symbolized a long-time effort of trying to get back into confident form after being sidelined with a knee injury in 2023.

“It’s kind of an emotional roller coaster. After I did my knee in 2023, I was trying to rebuild myself like this. Then last year, I was so upset with myself,” said Stewart. “People don’t understand when you have an injury like that and you think you know where you should be, but you can’t figure it out. For a split second, I was really upset with myself, the team, everybody. It was a big snowball effect.”

This upset feeling that lingered Stewart led to him having a sit down conversation with his father James Stewart Sr. where he received an ultimatum of either quit racing or have fun in the sport which reminded him to not forget the purpose of riding motorbikes.

“I’ve done this my whole life. I’ve lived for this dream and this moment. Fast forward to now, I’m like ‘I had a really good off-season. The time is there.’ If I’m going to ever to win a race, it’s going to happen. I’m just so thankful for this opportunity to get this done in my home race.”

Behind Stewart was Cooper Webb, who scored his third podium of the season, but still looking for his first non-Triple Crown race win of 2025. Webb wasn’t all pleased with his overall performance as he felt a bit off the pace with the leaders all night. But gladly takes another podium result that keeps him close in the 450 championship battle.

“I ended up spinning out of the gate and that was all she wrote. I made a good charge through the pack. I’m a little bummed on myself,” said Webb. “I was right there with Malcolm coming through the pack and he got around guys and I wasn’t able to (as quickly). And as you saw with me and Kenny (Roczen), the lappers were really bad.

“With that being said, Malcolm was crushing the whoops, he deserved that win, and I got a little bit of a gift with Chase going down. But just gotta be better.”

Rounding out the podium was Jason Anderson, who moved up from sixth to third in the championship standings. With trouble happening in front of Anderson, he was able to capitalize on other riders’ misfortune which he noted in his post-race comments.

“To be honest, tonight I was more likely to be a fifth place guy, but I hung in there,” said Anderson. “It was a bummer for what happened to Ken, it was out of his control, and I was able to pass Chase at the end, so that was nice. This class is tough, and you never know what can happen. Congrats to Malcolm, it’s pretty cool to watch him win his first one after so many tries. It’s cool.”

Stewart began the race running in eighth, but slowly worked his way up the running order. With less than 12 minutes remaining, Stewart barely held control of his No. 27 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna bike to pass Ken Roczen for second place.

As Stewart began pulling away from third on back, chaos began to kick into high gear three minutes later.

Roczen now had to battle Webb to hold onto the final spot of the podium. Webb would take third until hitting the whoops where a slight bobble didn’t affect his spot and began pulling away from Roczen.

Suddenly, the lapped bike of Jeremy Hand pinched Roczen and collided, causing him to land on the ground and collect Tristan Lane. Hand was the only one of the involved trio to continue his night as Roczen unsuccessfully got his bike back under power because the chain was broken.

Consequently, Roczen had to join Lane in the retirement category, finishing 21st and a massive detriment to his championship hopes after five rounds. Roczen dropped from second to fourth in points, 18 markers behind Sexton.

Back up front, Sexton was lights out over the competition since taking the holeshot advantage. As the clock was winding down, Sexton was in control of the 450 main as he led Stewart by over two seconds.

Despite the lead, pressure began creeping up on Sexton as Stewart was pushing hard to gain ground on the leader as the lead was now 1.2 seconds.

It was evident on the lap times as Stewart was over a second quicker than Sexton after the 18th lap. Stewart wouldn’t have to put pressure on Sexton much longer as a grave mistake shook the running order a lap later.

With less than three minutes remaining, the leader hit the bumps improperly causing the No. 4 Red Bull KTM to snap and Sexton fell. It allowed Stewart the opportunity he’s long worked for his life to come into fruition as he was now leading the Tampa 450SX main.

“When Chase went down in the sand turn, I couldn’t hear my motorcycle anymore. The crowd was so loud,” said Stewart.

The incident resulted in Sexton plummeting down to fourth as not only a race win was gone, so was a podium spot.

As Stewart went on to win at his home track, a late pass from Justin Cooper relegated Sexton to an agonizing fifth place.

Malcolm got to enjoy the victory with his family, including James Jr. who was in the broadcast booth, after scoring his first 450 victory in 109 career starts. After the race, he dedicated the victory to his older brother, who has pushed him to excel in the sport’s premiere class.

“Big bro, you know. You’ve done this a long time, racing Daytona and Jacksonville, and you know there’s something about that hometown crowd, buddy,” Malcolm told James Jr. during the post-race broadcast.

“I don’t know if they were twisting the throttle for me, because, for a split second, I was like, ‘Alright I need to get this done.’ I was feeling really good, and you know what, Stewart is back in the whoops, Y’all!”

Despite letting a victory in Tampa slip, Sexton gained ground in the championship standings as his points lead is now five points over Webb heading into Detroit next Saturday (3 p.m. ET on Peacock and Telemundo).

2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship at Tampa 450SX Main Event Results: