Monday, October 15

A Perfect Weekend for Carmichael

By B.J. Smith

LAS VEGAS - If both nights of racing at the US Open of Supercross are any indication to how the 2002 Supercross season is going to shape up, we can expect Ricky Carmichael to be at the front of the pack - a lot. But that's not to say Jeremy McGrath won't be at the front with him. Carmichael, who won his heat race and the second main event tonight, earned his second US Open title and another $100,000. McGrath struggled with starts again and crashed in the first corner to come from dead last to second place.

With a clean sweep, Ricky Carmichael won his second consecutive US Open title and his first race on his new Honda CR250.

Main Event:

Carmichael pulled the holeshot but Tim Ferry, Mike LaRocco and McGrath, second, third and fourth in main event number one last night, all went down in the first corner. McGrath, who got his bike caught on a Tuff Blok, was the last to get out of the corner. Just like the previous night, McGrath found himself playing catch-up.

"I wish I could have gotten on the inside gate tonight to race with Ricky," McGrath said. He was forced to take an outside gate because of his low qualifying place from the heat race, where he was slammed hard by LaRocco and lost several positions. "I was playing catch-up all weekend. I was here to gauge myself for next year. It would have been nice to win this but we still have a lot of work to do for the next season."

While McGrath quickly worked his way toward the front, Carmichael was putting distance on second place Kevin Windham and third place Travis Pastrana. Pastrana was able to make a move on his teammate but it didn't stick. The only passing being done on the track was by McGrath. With only a few laps to go, McGrath was sitting in fourth looking for a way around Pastrana. A hard get-off in the whoops ended Pastrana's hopes for a podium finish and McGrath set his sights on Windham, whom he easily overtook with two laps to go.

Even though McGrath was turning lap times one second faster than Carmichael's, RC had plenty of space to cruise to the win, while McGrath settled for second. Windham picked up the final podium spot and earned enough points to finish second overall for the weekend.

"I got a good start and like McGrath said, It's all about the start," Carmichael said. "I'm going to donate some of this money to the Red Cross and I've already donated $5,000. I've got to thank Honda, they've been great through all this. I've only been on this bike 8 days. It's going to be a long Supercross series but I'm going to be ready for it."

Main Event:

1. Ricky Carmichael
2. Jeremy McGrath
3. Kevin Windham
4. Kelly Smith
5. Mike LaRocco
6. Nick Wey
7. Mike Brown
8. Tim Ferry
9. Travis Pastrana
10. Darcy Lange
11. Brock Sellards
12. Ryan Clark

Overall:

1. Carmichael - 1-1
2. McGrath - 4-2
3. Windham - 5-3
4. LaRocco - 3-5
5. Ferry - 2-8