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/128154
AMAlEA Sports Supercross Series Final Round: Sam Boyd Stadium CARMICHAEL CONFIRMS TITLE NUMBER TWO. By KIT PALMER PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN lAS VEGAS, NV, MAY 4,2002 (j) icky Carmichael put the finishing ~ touches on the 2002 AMAlEA Sports Supercross series with yet another solid, winning performance at the Las Vegas Supercross. A sellout crowd of more than 39,000 people at the Sam Boyd Stadium witnessed Carmichael dot his i's and cross his t's on his second-consecutive titlewinning series, with what was, for all intents and purposes, a commanding start-to-finish win on his Chad Wattstuned Honda CR250R. Even after wrapping up the '02 title the previous week at Salt Lake City, Carmichael showed no mercy on his competitors 8 MAY 15, 2002' c u e I e and rode as if the title was still on the line. The win was his 11th victory of the supercross season. The only person who prevented Carmichael from having a perfect evening was Moto XXX's Kyle Lewis, who took the holeshot in the 250cc main event, but before the pack had reached the third turn, Carmichael had already taken over, and that was that. Once out in front, Carmichael pulled away and led the 20-rider field around the dry, slick, hard-packed track for all 20 laps, never really feeling too much pressure from anyone, which resulted in a fairly uneventful race. "I felt good all night," Carmichael said. "I don't know why. I didn't ride much this week, but I just felt pretty good, and the bike was working really n e _ s good tonight, too. My whole main objective tonight was to get a good start and just ride." If there was one rider who perhaps kept Carmichael honest throughout the race it was Chevy Truck Kawasaki's Ezra Lusk, who rode well at Las Vegas and finished second. By the third lap, Lusk had moved into second and trailed Carmichael by about four seconds, but he couldn't get any closer than that. He did, however, maintain a steady distance that fluctuated between five and six seconds for much of the race. A little past the halfway mark, though, the gap between Carmichael and Lusk opened up to around seven seconds, then it eventually expanded to eight seconds a few laps from the finish. On the last lap, Carmichael slowed down considerably to savor the moment and to perform some aerial tricks for the appreciative fans, officially taking the checkered flag 3.650 seconds ahead of Lusk. In spite of finishing second at Vegas, it wasn't enough for Lusk to catch Jeremy McGrath in their battle for third in the series final standings. McGrath, who finished fifth in Vegas, closed out the series in third, just five points ahead of Lusk. Yamaha's David Vuillemin, who had already clinched second in the Ricky Carmichael, Ezra Lusk and David Vuillemin celebrate their topthree finishes with the Las Vegas showgirls.