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/128335
or Ricky Carmichael , it was business as usual at the Troy, Ohio, National - another Sunday, another perfect day. And the w ins just seem to come easier and easier for the defending champ . At Kenworthy 's Motocross Park, the last National to be held at the facil ity, Carmichael was just plain unstoppable , even though many thought that the track's flat and supercross-style layout, with its many manmade obstacles, might - just might even the playing fie ld a b it between Carmichael and 2004 Supercross Champion Chad Reed, one of only a few riders who have shown that they can at le ast keep t he Hon da rider in sight at an outdoo r Nat ion al. But not even the lo ng doub les and triples , the spacious tabletops, the tight turns , or the whoop section could br ing the two any closer, as Carmichael continued his thorough dom ination of the series, extending his perfect winning streak to 14 motos and seven overalls. "O h, man, it feels good to keep the streak going," Carmichael said. "I think I answered any questions ; you know, Kevin [Windham) was supposed to knock me off last F 40th Anniversary weekend, [Chad) this weekend - little stuff like that keeps me motivated . It's good for me ." It became pretty obvious that this race would boil down to just two riders - Carm ichael and Reed. The two champs posted the fastest lap times during Saturday and Sunday's practice sessions, and they always seemed to find themselves riding toge ther every time they came out on the track for those sessions. And they both loo ked very confident on the Kenworthy's track . But whe n it came time to get down to business Sunday afternoon, in unusually-nicefor-T weather conditions, Carmi chae l simply took conroy trol and rode off with his 103 rd AMA victory, in front of nearly 22,000 spectators. In the first rnoto , Carmichael's winning streak appeared to be somewhat in jeopardy, albeit very brie fly, as Reed blasted out of the gate and into the lead, while Carmichael started off in abou t fourth. But the defending cham p quickly moved into second before t he first lap was over. "I got a bad start," Carmic hael said. "I smoked my tire to o much [on the concre te pad)." Reed was putting his Supercross ex perti se to good use, enjoying a small lead over Carmi chael around the long and exce ptionally fast Kenwort hy's circuit. But Carmichae l quickly wen t to work on Reed and started to make his move to the front . On the third lap, Carmichael executed a nice outside -inside comer pass on Reed for the lead. Reed stayed with Carmichael for a while, until Carmichael found his groove and started to noticeably inch away. By the midway point, Carmichael was pulling about a second per lap on Ree d until things stabilized to about a 13-second cushion. Carmichael went on to take the win, officially 14.821 seconds ahead of Reed. "I felt good," Carmichael said. "It took me a little bit to get away from Chad, but once he lost a wheel , I started to pull away. There are many tight sections, and it's a small track, too , and he follows me and follows my lines; like I