Same Old Story!
By TMX Archives on 17th Jul 06
In his final full year of racing Ricky Carmichael's out front and pulling away - just like he has for the last 10 seasons..
Everything's going right - again - for Ricky Carmichael. In his last full season of racing motocross he's right where he's been over the last 10 seasons - with a comfortable lead in the championship before the halfway point of the series. Some things never change it seems.
Heading into Southwick Carmichael has raced the event nine times and won eight of them. Of course, he's never had to race James Stewart there. Stewart grabs the opening moto lead early on and Carmichael jumps in right behind him. Stewart seems to pull away for a few laps but then Carmichael quickly reels him in around the halfway point making a pass stick for the lead shortly after. From there it seems as if Carmichael's gone. Yet, only a few laps later, Stewart comes around in the lead with no sign of Carmichael.
"I actually fell down on the old finish line from back in the day when we used to park on the other side," says Carmichael. "What happened was I just got a good drive and my shock kind of blew through and it kicked me back and I highsided. My bike was laying on the wrong side so I had to pick it up a hill and turn around and get it started. I lost all my steam at that point so there was no point in rushing it. It was just a stupid move."
Carmichael gets up just in front of third-placed Chad Reed and holds on for second while Stewart takes the win.
Moto two also sees Stewart jump into the early lead but this time Carmichael isn't going to wait patiently to make the pass. He makes his move at his first opportunity. "I wanted to be a little bit more aggressive. When I say aggressive, I'm not trying to take anybody out but I needed to make a pass a bit earlier than I did. I was right there with him on the start and I drove it in on him a little bit in that second turn there and then I tried to drive it in on him in the next one because I feel like I'm getting caught up in his pace. I was just kind of looking for a place to pass and I was hanging back a little bit because I didn't feel like eating dirt like I did the first moto. When I got past him he wasn't cutting me no slack - he was diving in on me. I knew he would do that, I've just got to be careful and watch out a little bit.
"On this big sandy berm I had an awesome line there that second moto and then I just got a good drive off that thing. I didn't feel comfortable that second moto with my shock and dude I looked like Johnny O' at Daytona in like '86 or something [jumping nose-high]. It was embarrassing. I felt like an idiot. I don't even want to see pictures of me this weekend. It was ugly. But I just had to get by him. I could see he was starting to labour a little bit and Davi was right on my tail."
From there Carmichael pulls away from Stewart in second, Millsaps in third and Reed in fourth. Reed eventually finds his way around Millsaps then on the last lap Stewart's bike suffers a mechanical failure sending him down on the ground in a heap. Stewart doesn't finish the moto although he is still credited with 11th as Carmichael laps up to 12th.
"I really enjoy riding in the sand and I really wanted to get up there this weekend and battle with those guys - you know, latch onto them," Reed says. "I really struggled to get good rhythm at the beginning of the motos this weekend and Davi...I was lucky I was a little stronger than him to get him at the end there. But I just had to ride into my rhythm and then just go at it after that. It was kind of a tough weekend. I had good starts and I was there both motos but I didn't get going at the beginning."
Millsaps inherits third. "Bubba's the reason why I'm getting up here," says Davi. "It's not good to say but every time he goes down I get on the podium - at least the last two times. I'm going to take this third and try and do everything I can. I'm happy with the way I'm riding and I'm going to go home and work to get past what I'm struggling with right now - which is arm-pump and other things like that. I'm just going to go home and work on something and figure out what's wrong with me."
So Stewart sits out Budds Creek which has been renamed by some 'Bubba's Creek' and Carmichael lays the wood to the field there with his only competition being Reed. "This year the competition has been tough and Chad stepped it up this weekend," claims Carmichael. "He always rides this track really good - even last year and the year before. I knew it was going to be tough and we just tried to put ourself in a great position. It turned out to be a great weekend and I think we're all looking forward to the weekend off."
At Red Bud, though, Stewart returns to action and promises to give him a run for his money. In moto one Stewart nearly gets the holeshot but Carmichael goes to the first turn on his inside and takes the lead. From there Stewart gives a valiant chase but can't hold onto Carmichael so Ricky wins comfortably, followed by Stewart and Chad Reed.
"I've just been trying to find some speed and right from the beginning of the race they hauled butt," says Chad. "I had a good pace at Budds Creek and this weekend I felt pretty decent, did what I had to do to get into third, then got a rock stuck in my rear-brake lever for three or four laps. Then I was just a lonely third. They were hauling butt. I had no chance of catching them after that."
Again in moto two Stewart nearly has the holeshot only for Carmichael to dive inside and take it away. "If he wasn't on the inside of me I would've gotten the holeshot," Stewart says. "It was good because we came out the same and I looked over and he had the line all the way. Instead of trying to banzai it and get 500 bucks [the holeshot award] I was just trying to chill out."
It pays off for Stewart as Carmichael crashes on lap two handing Stewart the lead. "I made a mistake," says RC. "I had some killer lines and I found some sweet lines on the parade lap and I was just leaning over too much and my front wheel went over the berm and I fell and he went around me."
However, it only takes Carmichael two laps to catch and pass Stewart back and from there he seems to pull away easily. "I just made a few mistakes that lap and I was a little bummed on myself," says Bubba. "No big deal. We all make mistakes and I'll just go back home and try to make them better.
"I've been doing a lot of rehab and I'm just trying to get the motion back in my knee. After Southwick I was pretty sore. It was good to be able to take a couple weeks off and I needed it. During this break I'll be able to ride and train and get back up to my normal self. We're going to test a little bit and get my bike better. I think I'm like the only person who likes Unadilla next week!"
It's Carmichael's fourth win in a row and he extends his points lead to 30 points over Reed. "I've been at this for 10 years now and I've had a great career. I'm happy with what I've accomplished and I want to race the races I want to race [next year]," Carmichael says of his plans to race Red Bud in 2007. "I have the option to race full time if I want but I don't know if I'm going to do that."
Reed finishes third in the moto after passing Kevin Windham at the midway point. "He's really good at turning on the inside and it took me the whole race of working at it to get it," Reed says. "Finally I did and then I just had to stay with him that lap and make a pass. It was fun battling with Kevin. The first race I was just alone the whole race in third so it made the race go by fast. He's been a little off the pace this year and it's good to see him back up there."
Series standings
450F class
1 Ricky Carmichael 242 points (4 wins)
2 Chad Reed 212
3 Kevin Windham 153
4 Davi Millsaps 152
5 Nick Wey 150
6 Travis Preston 139
7 David Vuillemin 129
8 James Stewart 126 (1 win)
9 Josh Summey 90
10 Timmy Ferry 86