CARMICHAEL ON ANAHEIM PODIUM
 Reigning
Champion Ricky Carmichael raced to second place at Saturday
night’s opening round of the Amp’d Mobile AMA
Supercross Championship at Angel Stadium, Anaheim in California
despite crashing on the 12th lap.
The Team Makita Suzuki rider was racing at his final Anaheim
event after announcing plans to combine NASCAR racing with
select Supercross and motocross events.
Said Carmichael: “I was in there tonight, but a little
on the edge and that’s why I crashed. James was better
than me tonight and I couldn’t quite put it together.
I’ve got some great memories from Anaheim and I’m
really happy to have been part of this great sport.
“This has been a fun weekend and it’s been very
emotional for me,” he added. “The whole night
I felt like I was chasing my tail in the 90-degree turns.
James was riding good. At one point he made a mistake, I got
the lead, and then he passed me right back. I was right on
the edge.”
Carmichael and Tedesco started the night together in the
first Supercross heat race earlier in the cool Southern California
evening. Tedesco got the holeshot and led the first four laps
before finishing in fourth place and advancing to the Main
Event. Carmichael got a bad start, but in true championship-winning
fashion, worked his way up into first place to take the win.
“I had to work for it tonight,” said Carmichael
of the eight-lap heat race. “I just put my head down
and tried to get back up there. We’ve had some great
battles here and it’ll be an exciting Main, for sure.”
The 20-lap race saw Carmichael get a good start .The 15-time
AMA Supercross/ Motocross Champion rode a smooth race and
battled for the lead for the entire evening before finishing
in second position.
“I knew it was going to be tough,” said Carmichael
after the race. “I’ve been doing this a long time
and I know when I’m struggling. I’d hoped that
I could be there at the end but I just wasn’t. I didn’t
like the track tonight and I hope they’ll change some
things for Phoenix next week and make it better.”
Carmichael’s team mate Ivan Tedesco was doing his best
to ride with an injured left hand after breaking three bones
when another rider collided with him at the Toronto Supercross
in December.
“I was happy with my heat race and that started the
night out right,” said Tedesco. “But riding like
that in the heat made my hand sore and I could feel it on
the parade lap for the Main. I knew it was going to bother
me: On the first lap, I went down when another rider ran into
me but I got up and started chipping some laps off, just trying
to get as many points as I could,” he added.
Team Makita Suzuki Racing will return next Saturday, January
13th, for round three of the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross
Series at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.
Main Event: 1 James Stewart (Kawasaki),
2 Ricky Carmichael (Suzuki), 3 Chad Reed (Yamaha), 4 Travis
Preston (Honda), 5 Tim Ferry (Kawasaki), 6 David Vuillemin
(Honda), 7 Nick Wey (Honda), 8 Heath Voss (Honda), 9 Kevin
Windham (Honda), 10 Michael Byrne (Suzuki).
AMA Supercross Points (after 1 round): 1
Stewart 25, 2 Carmichael 22, 3 Reed 20, 4 Preston 18, 5 Ferry
16, 6 Vuillemin 15, 7 Wey 14, 8 Voss 13, 9 Windham 12, 10
Byrne 11.
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