(Photo: Hoppenworld.com)

The return of Stewart following a week away to heal up from his Indy crash threatened to delay Villopoto’s celebration. All the JGRMX rider needed to do was finish on the podium in Houston in order to push Villopoto’s re-coronation back at least two weeks.

Everything seemed in place for Stewart. While his third-best time in practice was somewhat off the pace of that of Villopoto and Windham ahead of him, he looked more than capable of securing a top-three. Following an epic heat race with Windham (unfortunately echoing the dark trend of the 2012 season), Stewart was primed to challenge his championship rival for the win.

However, Stewart endure yet another a bad start in the main event, and was forced to work his way up front from outside the top 10. He began progressing forward, but on the seventh lap miscalculated a jump and was thrown violently into the ground. The impact left Stewart in pain, resting on the tuff blocks as he tried to compose himself. It was clear that his night and even his slimmest championship hopes had been extinguished. The look of disappointment on his face once he summoned up the strength to walk away under his own power said it all.

Stewart’s 2011 campaign was arguably his worst ever. Frustrated by big crashes that ultimately left him with the worst championship finish of his career (fourth), he vowed to come back stronger than ever in 2012. Signing with Joe Gibbs Racing, all the pieces looked to be in place.

Instead, the '12 season has featured continued misfortune and hard luck. Following a sixth-place finish at the first race of the season, Stewart found himself behind in the championship and was forced to play catch up all season long while faced with three other formidable talents -- something he’s never had to do before. While there are still four rounds remaining, Stewart currently owns just two wins this season, a career low.

While the championship is no longer on the table, there is still time for Stewart and JGRMX to turn things around and generate momentum heading into this summer's AMA Motocross Championship. Don’t be surprised to see James grab a couple more wins before the season is out.

The other hot topic coming out of Houston was the scary crash endured by Kevin Windham in his heat race battle with Stewart. The pair put on the best show of the night for the nearly 50,000 in attendance, but Windham made a hugely uncharacteristic mistake coming off a triple on the final lap and paid the price.