Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128103
AMAlEA S p o rts Superc r o s s Series R o und 1 5 : R ic e - E c c le s Stad iu m B y K IT P A LM ER P HOT OS BY S T EVE B RU HN SALT LAKE C ITY, QT, APR. 28 h e n Ric k y Ca r m icha e l position ed his bike on th e start line for the 250cc ma in eve nt at th e Ric e Eccle s Stadium in Salt La ke City , the Ch e vy T ru c ks Kawasa k i te am rider wa s wo rried. Carm ic ha e l knew tha t his 11 -rac e win streak was in serious jeopa rdy . His hea d wa s ach ing after wh a c k in g it on the gro und in a fall during pr a ctice earlier in th e day , a nd whenev er he turned his he ad quickly , it wou ld ta ke h im a few s e c on ds to recove r fro m a sudd en ca s e of t h e s p ins . Plus , th e th in a ir that c om es with the stadium 's 5000 -foot e levation did not help him a ny either. To make matters ev en wor se, Carm ich ae l knew th a t he wa sn 't going into the m a in eve nt with th e fas test lap tim es , which ins te a d belon ged to Te am Yama ha 's Tim Fe rry a nd T e am Hon d a ' s Ezr a Lus k. At le a st Ca rm ich ael didn 't have to worry a bo u t ra c ing for th e t itle , becaus e he had alr eady wrapped that up the week befor e in Dalla s , but he did want to keep the win streak going . When th e gate finall y dropped for the 20 -lap race, things didn 't get mu ch better for Carmichae l, as h e sudden ly fo und h imsel f right in the middle of an epic multi-rid e r battle for the lead that a ctually saw h im get passed by th ree riders . all at once • after he made a small mistake. Yes, W 14 MAY 9 , 2001 • cue • e th e racing was th a t close , which had the 4 2, 13 5 spe ct ator s on their feet for a ll 20 la ps. Among those ba tt ling up fro nt with Carmichael were J e re my McGrath , who too k th e h o les h o t , Fe rry a nd Kevi n Wind h am , a nd not fa r be h ind the m were Stephane Ronc ada , Da vid Vuille m in a nd Mike la Rocco . It wa s ne xt to im pos s ible to count all of th e passes that were being made in the n e _ s lead g roup . In almost every tu rn, over every jump and throu gh the who ops , it s eemed as though so mebody was passing somebody, a nd th is went on for n e a r ly ha lf th e rac e , until C armi c h a e l p assed Windham and Ferry fo r th e lead o nce a nd for all on the n in th la p and ro de off with t h e win. But eve n t ho se la st 11 la p s , Carm ichael had to be c a re f u l, be caus e Ferry was never th at far behind . In fact, with a few la ps to go, Carmicha e l bo b b le d in the whoo ps a n d n ea rly we n t dow n , w h ich le t F e rry cl ose b a ck in a nd m a k e it a race to th e c h e c k e re d flag . Bu t Ca rmicha el held o n to ta ke the win , le s s t h a n a second ahead o f Ferry , who was , a s yo u m ight s a y, "on fire" all night lo ng ; another tw o laps and the res ults could ve ry we ll have been different.