Only one race decides who is the fastest 125 supercross rider in the U.S. and this year that honor goes to the rookie James 'Bubba? Stewart. Stewart was unmatched at the combined best of the east and west regions in the Dave Coombs Senior 125 East/West Shootout at the EA Sports Supercross finals in Las Vegas.

After taking a couple of laps to get around Amsoil/Factory Connection's Chris Gosselaar, Stewart left the rest of the pack far behind, setting lap times on par with the fastest riders in the premier 250 class. East regional champ Chad Reed was second after a mid pack start, but he wasn't through the traffic in time to try and stay with Stewart up front.

The Las Vegas event, held at UNLV's Sam Boyd Stadium, was hard packed and sometimes a little dusty, which suited Stewart since most of his bad weekends so far were on softer tracks in the east. "I am doing pretty good on the hard pack,? said Stewart, "I have been in California riding for a while and getting used to it. I like the loamy stuff too when it gets rutted out. Tonight the track got rutted out and the berms got blown out.?

Gosselaar led a couple of laps but Stewart got by him with a daring line in a rhythm section and jumped past him. After that Reed was the only other rider to catch him. "Everything went good tonight,? he said, "I got a good start. James was riding great.? Gosselaar's teammate and newly-crowned west regional champion had to charge from behind and just made it to 6th.

Reed accepted second for this race and said the hype leading up to it didn't add up to a lot of pressure. "It is a normal race I guess,? said Reed, "All the way up until the main is was the same as any race this year. I was real excited actually. I was really looking forward to racing with these guys. We now get to race in the outdoors so I am looking forward to it. It's a bummer. I was too cautious at the beginning of the race and Bubba left me so that's what you get for sleeping.?

"I came into this race hoping to win,? said Stewart, "There wasn't any added pressure. It was just like another race. It's a great to set the fastest lap time with all these guys here. They are all champions in my book. I just have the outdoor season to look forward to. I think I can win that if I stay up and have fun at it. I wanted to come out of here with the bragging rights and I think I got that. I had to ride smart because I still have the outdoor season to look forward to.?

With the supercross series over, the next race will be the AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championships at Glen Helen raceway in San Bernadino, California next weekend.

1. James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Kawasaki
2. Chad Reed, Australia, Yamaha
3. Chris Gosselaar, Juniper Hills, Calif., Honda
4. Ivan Tedesco, Albuquerque, N.M., Yamaha
5. Danny Smith, Middleton, Idaho, Suzuki
6. Travis Preston, Hesperia, Calif., Honda
7. Michael Byrne, Australia, Honda
8. Brock Sellards, Sherrodsville, Ohio, KTM
9. Brandon Jesseman, Fombell, Pa., Suzuki
10. Joshua Woods, Flint, Mich., Suzuki

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