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AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championship Series Round S: Unadilla Valley Sports Center This time, the champ wins by only to and t 2 seconds. By JERRY ATHEY PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN NEW BERUN, NY, J(JL 21 oming into Unadilla, Team Universal Studios/Honda's Ricky Carmichael was concerned. As he had stated in interviews leading up to the race, the Unadilla track was not exactly his favorite on the circuit and, in Carmichael's best estimation, if he were to have any problems at all in this year's outdoor series, he figured they would probably come at Unadilla. Well, Carmichael need not worry anymore, as the defending series champion piloted his Chad Wattsprepped factory CR250R to a flawless, 1-1 overall victory at the famed upstate New York facility in front of 26,868 fans. In each of the 30-minuteplus-two-lap motos, Carmichael rocketed to the holeshot and never looked back, despite a spirited first-moto performance by Team Yamaha's Tim Ferry. Carmichael's commanding dou- C 6 JULY 31, 2002' cue • • ble-moto win, his eighth of the season, places him in a tie with the legendary Bob Hannah for the most consecutive overall wins to open a 250cc National outdoor series. He has also now eclipsed Mark Barnett's 1981 record of 14-straight moto wins to start a series. "Well, this track is not my favorite - that's for sure," Carmichael said. "It was a good day, though. Timmy and Mike rode good. Those guys on the four-strokes definitely had the upper hand today, but my bike was awesome. It's been running good all season. I'm just going to try to keep it going. The race wins are cool, the overalls are cool, but, as I've said time and time again, I just want to win the title. I'm looking forward to going to Washougal. The rest of the tracks are really fun for me and a lot tighter than this one, which works to my advantage." Finishing second overall to Carmichael was the aforementioned n _ wv • Ferry. Ferry started moto one on the heels of Carmichael, but could never quite make up the gap to the fleeing Honda rider - a gap that started at about four seconds early on and grew to over 10 seconds by the end of the race. "That was a good moto for me," Ferry said. "That was the best start I've had all year in the Nationals. I kept Ricky honest there for a few laps, but he just kind of got away from me." Ferry suffered a poor start in moto two, rounding the first turn in about 12th. By the completion of the opening lap, however, the hard-charging Yamaha rider had moved into fifth. Quick passes on Moto XXX/DGY / Yoshimura's Kyle Lewis and Mach l/Pro Circuit/Hinson's Heath Voss put Ferry up to third, and a lap later, he leapt past Team Chevy Trucks/ Kawasaki's Ezra Lusk for the runnerup spot. Ferry, once again, finished out the moto in second, this time, Ricky Carmichael (4) admits that Unadilla is one of his most challenging tracks, but you would not have guessed It, as he led every lap In both 250cc motos to win his eighth straight NatIonal and 16th straight moto this season. He actually hasn't lost a NatIonal overall since Washougal last year. some 12 seconds in back of moto winner Carmichael. "I had to pass [Sebastien] Tortelli, [Mike] LaRocco, Ezra - all the good guys," Ferry said. "That makes me feel good. I didn't get Ricky, but he's on a roll right now - he's riding good and his speed and endurance are perfect." Unadilla marks Ferry's fifth podium finish of the series and the second time he has been the runner-up to Carmichael. Making his second podium appearance of the season was Amsoil/Dr. Martens/Journeys/Honda's Mike LaRocco. laRocco got a great start in the first moto, rounding the first turn