Obviously, there has been a lot of talk during the past week about San Manuel Yamaha's James Stewart, and it hasn't much involved his racing. He was arrested last week for "impersonating a police officer" because he used some police-like lights in his pickup truck reportedly to ask someone to slow down on the freeway in Florida. We talked to him mostly about his racing, and how this incident affected his racing this week in Dallas, where he finished fourth, because until this legal issue is finished, one way or the other, he's unable to comment on the incident itself.

Motocross.com: All right, James, to say you've had a rough few weeks is putting it pretty mildly for you. What's this like from your perspective?
James Stewart: Well, you know, one thing I've got going is I'm riding fast. There have just been some unfortunate incidents here and there, just with the racing; Jacksonville, Daytona, Atlanta... You know, it's definitely been tough, for sure, but like I said, I think the positive is that I've been riding good, and we'll just keep fighting. You know, we'll keep fighting 'til the end. But it definitely hasn't gone the way I predicted it was going, especially leaving California. But I honestly think I've been riding better; just things haven't been clicking. So, we'll get it...

It didn't look like you intentionally ran into Chad Reed tonight, and those whoops were definitely gnarly, but do you have a plan to start to stem these sort of incidents? Because they seem to be happening a lot...
Well, I mean, my thing wasn't a blatant take-out, so I can't really fix that, you know? If I did try to go and take him out, you know, it'd be different. But even if I did, I don't think he really has a lot of room to talk on the whole situation... I wasn't trying to do that, and it's kind of hard to fix things like that because it's kind of out of my control. I swapped through the whoops and thank God he was there because I would probably have been eating popcorn in the stands. And then they [Feld] would have torn down the berms again [as the berms over the past few years have been relatively flat due to an incident with Matt Goerke in Indy years ago] and then I would have been to blame for it. And the Jacksonville deal was just unfortunate. It's hard to deal with things like that because I can't pinpoint one thing that I'm trying to do different, you know?
Although James Stewart's head was chopped off in the photo, this shows how he got out of control in the whoops, then careened into Chad Reed, causing them both to go down. Reed got the worst of it, ending up out on the concrete on the backside of the berm. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

When we talked on Press Day in Jacksonville, you said you'd never go on the Asterisk Mule unless you couldn't walk, and then two days later you had to take the ride back on the Asterisk Mule...
Yeah...

How bad were you hurt?
I was banged up pretty good, to the point where I felt like I broke my back. You know, I felt like I got stabbed in the back. And then I got to a point where I felt like I was okay and then was telling them, "Let me off [of the Asterisk Mule]." I was like, "Get me out of this thing. I will limp back to my truck." But they were doing everything they possibly could and they wouldn't let me out. It was kind of ironic how I just said that, then ended up on the Mule, so let me say this: Next week, I want to dominate and be gone 20, 30 seconds out front just riding by myself. Maybe since I said that, it will come true! [Laughs]

I know this is a touchy thing right now, but with you ending up in the news and all of that this week, how do you concentrate on racing after a week like this one?
Well, racing's the thing I love doing, and for me, I've always had to deal with tough situations on the track, like Jacksonville, Daytona... I got beat up and I'm just not going to quit. So I'm here trying my best at doing it.

To have all of this negative press, but then to come out in opening ceremonies and have the fans cheer for you with almost no boos at all, what does that tell you?
I think it's cool to have the fans. My fans love me and I think they really appreciate how hard I ride and things like that. It's definitely special how they treated me.
A little while before the collision, Reed (22) caught and passed Stewart (7) in the main event. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

Did you have any anxiety or expectations about how the fans were going to treat you?
No, like I said, I think they see how much effort I put into racing and, like I said, with everything that happened, I was still here this weekend trying my best. And again, things didn't go right in the race, but I'll be there next week and keep it going. I mean, it is what it is. I just have to be the person that I know I am and then hopefully the people see the person that I am, too.