ESPN Action Sports

Tomas Zuccareno/ESPN ImagesReigning X Games RallyCross champ Brian Deegan returns for the 2012 Global RallyCross season.

The 2012 Global RallyCross season begins May 26 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C. This year's schedule is being increased from four to six races, including the marquee event at the X Games in Los Angeles.

Jake Klingensmith"It feels normal," Stewart says of his Suzuki. Stewart had told his former team manager, "I feel like I can't win [on the current model Yamaha]."

"I feel like I can't win." That's what James Stewart told Coy Gibbs, owner of the Joe Gibbs Racing -- Motocross team. Stewart won two races in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series, finished seventh overall and spent a lot of time on the ground and sidelines. Now, a contract that was supposed to last for three years and eventually lead into car racing, didn't even last the duration of the Supercross season.

Stewart is nearly a week into testing for his new employer, Yoshimura Suzuki, where his racing contract doesn't technically start until 2013. Stewart is not unfamiliar with Suzuki. He bought a stock RM-Z450 last autumn and built a relationship with the factory's team manager, Mike Webb.

As Stewart says in the frank interview below, it's the brand he wanted to be on all along. His two-year deal has a third and fourth year option and Stewart said he wants finish his career on yellow. But before all that he has decided to race the 2012 Lucas Oil Motocross Championship for Suzuki. For free.

ESPN.com: Is it true that you told Coy Gibbs, "I feel like I can't win?"
Stewart: Correct. I told Coy that I felt like, in the current situation, on the bike that I was on, that I couldn't win. In my contract I didn't have a performance thing so I could -- I would never do it -- but I could literally go to the races and finish 20th place every weekend and nothing can happen. Obviously it wasn't what we both wanted to hear but this was a conversation that we had before the season even started. He kind of knew my dislike for the Yamaha, and that current [model], knew how much we struggled, so we tried our best to try to fix it but I came to him and told him straight up I cannot win because of these reasons.

Oliver Franke / NOTJ.deRémi Bizouard lets it all hang out on his way to winning the 2012 UEM Freestyle MX European Championship.

The future of freestyle motocross just might have a distinctly French flair if the 2012 UEM Freestyle MX European championships are any indication: French riders Rémi Bizouard, David Rinaldo, and Brice Izzo took all three podium stops at the conclusion of the Union Européenne de Motocyclisme-sanctioned series on Saturday night in Mannheim, Germany, with Bizouard taking the overall championship title ahead of Izzo and Chilean rider Javier Villegas.

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Todd Potter won his first Red Bull X-Fighters event on Saturday, right in his own backyard at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, Calif., on what was billed as the largest and most technically challenging course in X-Fighters history. "This is a dream come true," Potter said in an interview after the competition. "This is the first freestyle contest I've ever won."

Potter beat out French rider Thomas Pagés in finals to top the podium after advancing past Javier Villegas in semi-finals and is now the overall X-Fighters tour leader, ahead of Levi Sherwood and Villegas, after the second of six stops. Potter's Metal Mulisha teammate Wes Agee rounded out the podium in third place after losing out to Pagés in semi-finals on Saturday, and also took Best Move honors for the night.

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DARLINGTON, S.C. -- It was the "most scared I've been in a vehicle, in anything with a roll cage for sure," Travis Pastrana said after his Nationwide Series practice on Friday.

On Friday night, Pastrana competed in his second career Nationwide Series event, where he placed 17th. He made his debut at Richmond last month and finished 22nd.

Joey Logano wrecked leader Elliott Sadler five laps from the end, then broke free during a green-white-checkered finish at Darlington Raceway for his second straight Nationwide Series victory.

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Editor's note: Tes Sewell is the sport director for Red Bull X-Fighters.

"FMX returns to its roots." That's the bold statement on the many posters and cards now blanketing California's Inland Empire, advertising the Red Bull X-Fighters' return to U.S. soil on Saturday. The second event in the 2012 X-Fighters season is heading to Glen Helen Raceway, east of Los Angeles, where Kiwi ripper Levi Sherwood hopes to hold off the charge and retain his points lead.

Glen Helen is honestly much better known for the Outdoor Nationals racing events that have taken place there over the years, and the infamous drop of Mount St. Helen is an epic part of the track that many fans have made the steep pilgrimage to over the years. What Glen Helen does feature, however, are those scrub-covered California hillsides that so many of the early freestyle pioneers rode to celluloid glory in the early "Crusty Demons" and "Terrafirma" movies.

Chris TedescoOverview of the latest RBXF course. Launch Gallery »

RBXF Glen Helen course build

An inside look at construction of the upcoming Red Bull X-Fighters course at Glen Helen Raceway. Gallery

Everyone knows that Red Bull always goes the extra mile when putting on an event. And this year's Red Bull X-Fighters Glen Helen in San Bernardino, Calif., is no different.

Course constructor Dane Herron and company have managed to pull off one of the most insane looking FMX courses I've ever seen. The course is filled with 100-foot tabletops, step-ups, ramps, wallrides, quarter pipes, bowl turns and more. Never before have I seen a course of this magnitude, and yes if you're a fan, you will be in for a treat.

On top of the hill will be a 80-foot by 60-foot big screen TV, so you don't miss one bit of the action. Red Bull X-Fighters begins early in the morning on Saturday, and it is sure to be history in the making.

Check the gallery for a preview of the course under construction and keep it tuned to ESPN Action Sports all weekend long for coverage of RBXF.

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Red BullJames Stewart Ride Day returns to Red Bull X-Fighters at Glen Helen Raceway.

James Stewart may not be an X-Fighters competitor, but the Red Bull sponsored athlete knows his way around a dirt bike, and this Saturday, Stewart is inviting 300 lucky motocross riders to join him for an early morning ride day prior to the Red Bull X-Fighters competition at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, Calif.

As they say, the early bird catches the worm. And on Saturday, you can be the first to ride with James Stewart aboard his new Suzuki (Stewart signed with Suzuki on Monday). A James Stewart Ticket to Ride buys you a pass to practice on the Motocross track with James aboard his factory Team Suzuki RMZ-450 as well entry into the Red Bull X-Fighters FMX contest that evening. Not only do you get the chance to ride with Stewart on a legendary track and watch one of the world's premiere FMX competitions, tickets also include access to a Red Bull X-Fighters rider autograph session, open to all attendees, a Geoff Aaron trials demos, access to the Red Bull HUB, with music, merchandise, food, drinks, and gaming stations, access to Vendor Row, featuring top industry brands with demos and giveaways, merchandise tents for the latest Red Bull X-Fighters gear and even access to an on-site Circle K Convenience Store.

FMF Racing, started in 1973 by Don Elmer, is one of the most well known performance exhaust manufacturers in the motocross industry and beyond. With a factory based in Rancho Dominguez, Calif., every part of their line, from two-stroke pipes to end caps, is manufactured in the U.S. And not a lot of companies can say that anymore. In the above video, FMF's Don Emler Jr. takes us on a guided tour through the FMF factory, demonstrating the various techniques used to bend exhaust tubing and form end caps, as well as an inside look at their extensive storage of jigs for exhaust systems of all types. Welcome to FMF Racing.

When we left off last month with action sports star Travis Pastrana, he finished a respectable 22nd at Richmond International Raceway in his debut race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. [He also finished 23rd a day earlier after spinning out in the NASCAR K&N Pro East Series race at Richmond.]

As Pastrana gets ready for his second Nationwide race -- and tries to remember to slow down in pit lane -- Friday at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C., ESPN takes a look at the family atmosphere in which he grew up. Enjoy the video above to give you a glimpse into Pastrana's relationship with his father, uncles and other members of his family in Annapolis, Md.

After this weekend, Pastrana has a K&N race May 19 in Iowa before doing double duty May 26 in Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Nationwide Series and the first Global RallyCross event of the year.