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/128636
THGl U.S . Open M GM G r and Gard en Arena S10 0 ,000 first prize (plus 13 gra nd in THQ bonus e s) . "I'd love to win a bunch of Supercrosses ," Carmic hae l said . "Th a t' s m y goa l; I'm tired of being known as a n outdoor rider . I've won qu ite a few 125 Su percrosses , so I need to bring it over to the 250." While it' s tr ue th at Carmichae l's win came in the absence of Supercross czar Jeremy McGrath (who is s ponsored by another computergame maker ). it's also true that Carmich a el has never look ed this polished in a stadium . The Chevy Tr ucks/Kawasaki rider - whose o ut d o or tale nt is unquestioned - has bee n wo rki ng h ard at hon ing h is indoor skills, and t he polish ed e ffic ien cy with which he dispatched the field was reminescent of a cert a in Yamaha rider. Though mid -October is a bit earl y to make pred ict ions for B y C HRIS J ON NUM P HOT OS BY STEVE BRUH N LAS VEGAS, NV, OCT. 14-15 he rapidly incr e a sin g number of m oto c ro s s - in s p ire d co mp uter games a re con c e ive d of a nd crea te d by techno ne rds of sing ular brillian ce , but none cou ld h ave dr e am ed up or p ro du ced as perfect a pac k a g e as Ricky Carm ic h a el ' s perfo rm an c e a t the th ird run n in g of the T HQ U.S . O p en . T h e F lo ridian, wh o ' s s pon sored b y t he event's game -mak ing title s po ns or, was playing at a higher level than the competitio n, who had to be wo nderi ng if the kid is the prod uct of c om puter technology . With TH Q VIPs and co m p u te rgame jo urna lists looking on, Ca rmichael was litera lly perfect over the weekend, leading both of his heat races a nd both ma in events from start to finish, easily ta k ing home the T 6 OCTOB ER 25, 2000' cue I e nevus J an ua ry 6 , it ' s im poss ib le to den y th at U.S. Open proc eedi ngs bode well for a McG ra th /C armichael showdown in th e approa ching AMA SX Series (wh ich is sponso red b y yet anothe r comp ute r-game com pa ny) . Or to pu t it in game -speak , Loo k fo r' T HQ to battle Acclai m Sports fo r t h e EA Sports title. SATURDAY Ca rmichael appeared to be slightly del a yed as he e xited the gate in the 25 -lap main , b u t nonethe less , his numb er-four Kawasaki was the first bike to exit turn on e . The S uzuki of ' 9 8 O pe n champ Da m on Huffm a n was in second , but before the first lap was complete d , another Suzuki - tha t of new signee Kevin Wind ha m - had assumed the runne r-up spot. By th e seventh go -a ro und on the tiny circuit, Carmich a el had over four Ricky Cannlchae l w as so on his game in Vegas that he even utilized the opportunity to show off his f reestyle skills. Cannlchael won every race he started. s e c on ds o n Wind ham, who s lo we d sl ightly a s th e rac e wo re on . " In a t igh t a re n a , it 's h a rd to b rea the in h e re , " Win dha m s ai d . "Whe n yo u 're ho ldin g yo ur b re a t h , yo u 're just goi ng to end up p umping up; that' s what I did ." Never one to let o p portun ity pass h im by, a poor-sta rting Mike La Roc co m oved to Windha m's re a r tire , moving by in a tricky dou b le -ju mp tu rn with eight laps remaini ng. It was too late by that po int , however , a nd after la p pi ng up to s eve nt h p lace , Carm ichae l pulled a no -footed ca n can over the finish-line jump. "A n y b o d y can top somebod y , " said C a r m ic h a e l in an attempt at