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/128231
AM AICh e vy T ru c k s 250c c U .S . Motocross Cha m p io n s hi p Round 1 1 : Stee l C ity M X P a r k doesn' t ta k e losi ng well , and bec au se of that, he doe sn't lose much . Both m otos looked as if Ca rm ichael wouldn 't be able to pull off a vi ctory DELMONT, PA, AUG. 31 on h is poten tial Ch ampi on ship d ay . o r any bo dy wh o had any do ubts Th e first m ot a , rival Kev in Windham o r q uest io ns, Ri ck y Carmi ch ael c ha se d h im d own - q uickly - fro m pu t o n an exhi bition at Ste el City that m ore than seven seconds behind and sh o w ed ex a ct ly w hy h e ' s t h e wi ndesp ite th e spee d co u ld n ' t m a k e a nin g est, most su cc essful m ot o cro ss pass stick on th e cha m p . The secon d racer in the h ist ory of the sp ort. He n e _ s 2 8 SEPTEMBER 10, 2 0 0 3 ' e y e I e B y S T E VE Co x P HOT O S BY S T E VE BRUHN F m ota , Win dh am got away , and w it h th e speed he had shown in t he first m ot a, sure ly Carm ic hael was doomed to be de moted to second -best on the day . Th at was n't the case , th ough , as Carm ich ael' did his homewo rk betwee n m ot o s and reel ed Wi ndha m in , once ag ain ta ki ng th e che ckere d fla g. Eve n wit h every thing he was risk ing , Carmichae l wasn 't w ill ing t o sit b a ck a n d se tt le fo r seco n d j ust bec au se t here was a cha mpio ns hip o n t h e li n e. Carm ichael wa nted to wi n, a nd h e f ound a way - f or the 96 th time in hi s c aree r, excl uding hi s 125c c Supercross victories. " [T he 10 c ha mp io ns hi ps ] was so met hi ng I t ho ught I wo u ld n ev er do," Carm ich ael sai d. "It happens so fast t hat i t' s h a rd to g ras p wh at you 're d o in g . I think th e four y ear s ha ve flown by [si nce m y fi rst 250c c N ati on al C ha m pio ns hip ] . It' s awesome t o w in a ti tle. That's what we are all o ut here t o do . It happens so f as t , yo u win a ll th ese rac e s. I am su re K evin [W in dh am] ca n tell you; he' s won a lot. Ev erything goes by so fas t, and yo u' re always ra c ing when yo u don 't hav e time to rest and time to thi nk abo ut it ." It wasn 't Carmic hael o r Wind ham w ith th e hol esh ot in m ot a one , but it wa s a fac to ry Hond a: Nath an Rams ey go t th e ju m p on th e field in hi s sec - and race back from a hu rt w rist he suffered at Red Bu d, but it only lasted un til th e second off -c am be r co rner' C a r michae l m ad e h i s wa y around ri ght off and immediate ly started gap ! pi ng th e fie ld . Wi nd ham ro unded the first lap in fourth an d h ad to wo rk hi s way b~ f a st sta rt er s Ste p h ane Ron c ad a in • third and T immy Ferry in second. Not I lon g aft er Wi ndham go t by , Ron ca da pulled off. " You k now th e ju m ps on t op of the h ill? " Ron c ad a asked, spe aki ng of th re e se ts o f dou b les t hat r o u n d ~ co rne r on t op of a hill. '" landed off th e second dou ble, and fo r some rea ! son my foo t got ca ught un d er th e footpeg . I don 't k no w wh y , becaus~ th ere's no ruts up th ere or nothing. If ju st hap p en ed . I' m p i ss ed . I ca n 't even pu t m y foo t on th e gro un d. I' n\ reall y bummed bec au se I wa s do ing goo d . I w a s ga ini ng o n F e rr y [ in third]. I'm probab ly done for the yea/ I won 't be abl e to ride at T roy ." Windham sn uc k up on F e r r i in I seco nd and m ade the pass on the fourth lap , but Ferry struck back and ran into Win dham hard to ge t back b y . M ea nwhil e, Carmi chae l kept pulling . Windham fina lly m ade h ib way in to sec ond for go od lat er in the lap and sat well over sev en secon ds behind th e leader. I I I , _J