CARMICHAEL WINS ST LOUIS SUPERCROSS
 Team
Makita Suzuki's Ricky Carmichael raced his RM-Z450 to a runaway
victory at Saturday night's St Louis Supercross.
The part-time 2007 competitor and reigning AMA Supercross
Champion took the lead on lap four after an early crash by
James Stewart and Chad Reed and was never challenged.
"I love this place," said Carmichael of St. Louis
after the race. "That's why I chose to race here. My
Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 is working good tonight, I love the
dirt here and I'm glad to get a win for the team. My streak's
coming to an end and I'd like to get one more win in the next
two races."
Carmichael was in the first Supercross-class qualifier of
the night and got the holeshot and then won the eight-lap
heat. Supercross-class team mate Ivan Tedesco brought home
an impressive second-place finish in the second heat race.
"I've just got to say that I love St. Louis and the
dirt out there is sweet," said Carmichael after his heat
race. "I'm just looking forward to the Main Event tonight;
it should be a fun for the fans."
That turned out to be a prophetic comment from Carmichael.
The 15-time AMA Champion got a lackluster start in the 20-lap
Main and was on his way to the front when the leaders went
down early on. Carmichael quickly worked his way through the
field and into the lead, where he created a gap and brought
home the win.
"Those guys - James Stewart and Chad Reed - went down,
I don't know what happened," recalled Carmichael. "But
I don't know if I could have gotten them, spotting them four
seconds like that wasn't good. Then Reed got back up and he
had a chance to get me but I put my head down and I was cooking.
I'm so pumped to get the win, you have no idea."
Tedesco, unfortunately, was one of the several riders who
went down on Saturday night. In spite of this, the persistent
Makita Suzuki rider remounted his Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 and
put in as many laps as possible.
"I'm a little banged up because I hit the ground pretty
hard," said the former AMA Supercross and Motocross Lites
Champion. "But I finished the race and that's what's
important. You always want to get back out there and put in
as many laps as you possibly can."
In the Supercross Lites class, 17-year-old Ryan Dungey was
having a great night before succumbing to a bit of bad luck.
The Minnesota native won his six-lap heat race after getting
a good start on his Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 but in the 15-lap
Lites Main, he made a few mistakes.
"We just had some bad luck," said Dungey. "There
are no excuses to be made, I made a mistake. I was right there;
it was my race and I kind of blew it for myself. But I felt
good, my lap times were consistent and I felt smooth. I just
need to learn from my mistakes, start thinking out there a
little more and be a little smarter.
Team Makita Suzuki Racing will return next week for round
10 of the Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series at Daytona International
Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday March 9th.
Main Event: 1 Ricky Carmichael (Suzuki),
2 James Stewart (Kawasaki), 3 Chad Reed (Yamaha), 4 Kevin
Windham (Honda), 5 Nate Ramsey (Yamaha), 6 David Vuillemin
(Honda), 7 Paul Carpenter (Kawasaki), 8 Heath Voss (Honda),
9 Eric Sorby (Kawasaki), 10 Cole Siebler (Honda).
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