The phrase, “a long time coming,” demands perspective, but no one would contest that it is an apt description of Malcolm Stewart’s first career 450 victory at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
“To do this in front of my home crowd, this is a dream come true,” Stewart said following that victory. “I’ve been waiting a long time. In my 15th season doing this, for a split second, I wasn’t sure if I could do it. This 32-year-old boy got it done in Tampa.”
Fifteen years in the making is only half of the story. The other half is that Stewart has survived on a 450, with all the politics involved in maintaining a top seat -- despite challenges from a myriad of 250 riders looking to graduate to the premier class, for nine seasons.
Stewart ascended to the 450 ranks in 2017 on a Suzuki, moved to a Honda in 2018, Yamaha in 2021, and settled onto a Husqvarna one season later in 2022. A solid Monster Energy Supercross season that year landed him third in the points standings. He would not return to the top five until last year.
A knee injury in 2023 sidelined him partway through Supercross season, and he was unable to mount up for the outdoor Pro Motocross Championship that year. The 2024 season was a rebuilding season, and Stewart finished 10th in Supercross and sixth in Motocross.
The pressure was on in 2025. Stewart came out of the gate strong in the season-opener at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. He finished 10th in Round 1, seventh in Round 2 in San Diego, ninth in the second Anaheim race, and 10th in Glendale, Arizona.
But a perfect streak of top-10s in the first four rounds did nothing to predict Tampa.
A strong start in that race allowed him to pressure Chase Sexton for the duration, and Stewart capitalized on a late-race mistake by the rider who would eventually wind up second in the Supercross championship. Stewart had his first 450 victory.
Top-fives became more prevalent. He finished that well the following week in Detroit (fourth), Birmingham (second), and Philadelphia (fourth). Stewart swept the top five in the final three rounds of the season at Pittsburgh (fifth), Denver (fourth), and with a runner-up finish in the finale at Salt Lake City.
Stewart was not as strong in Motocross, but he was consistently among the top 10, missing that mark only three times in overall scoring. One of these was because of a severe crash at High Point while he was running 10th in the first moto. He failed to mount up for the second moto and did not earn any points that weekend.
In 2025, Stewart achieved 24 top-10 finishes in 28 races (85.7%). Although he faced a setback at High Point, he still entered the playoffs as the third seed. Unfortunately, Stewart’s crash in practice for Round 1 of the SMX playoffs at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina denied him the opportunity to capitalize on his momentum.
The upside to missing the playoffs is that Stewart can now carry that momentum into 2026, and with additional notes at his disposal from teammate RJ Hampshire, he should be able to pick up where he left off.
Malcolm Stewart 2025 Statistics
SuperMotocross League standings: 19th
Seeding for SMX Round 1: Third
Starts: 28
Best finish: Won (Tampa SX)
Wins: 1
Podiums: 3
Top-fives: 7
Top-10s: 24
Supercross average finish: 6.18
Motocross average finish: 12.00
SMX Playoffs average: NA
Overall average: 8.46
450 SuperMotocross Countdown
12. Dylan Ferrandis
13. Justin Hill
14. Joey Savatgy
15. Jason Anderson
250 SuperMotocross Countdown
