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2002 AMA EA Sports U.S. Supercross Championship
Round 4 of 16: Jan. 26 - Bank One Ballpark, Phoenix, AZ

You knew it would happen sooner or later. Ricky Carmichael gets his first AMA Supercross win Saturday night in Phoenix.  Steve Bruhn photo

PHOENIX – Fans finally got a taste of what they’ve been waiting to see all season -- Carmichael battling McGrath. Unfortunately for McGrath fans, the seven-time champ was only able to run up front for about half the race. In the end it was Carmichael taking his first AMA Supercross victory of the year Saturday night, becoming the first two-time winner at Bank One Ballpark. Travis Pastrana managed to keep his factory Suzuki off the ground and finished a solid second, holding off series leader David Vuillemin. Last week's winner Mike LaRocco finished a distant fourth on his Factory Connection Honda. In the 125 West race James Stewart continued to show that he’s a little rough around the edges, but still easily quick enough to win despite his mistakes.

At the start of the main event the crowd of 49,120 came to its feet when McGrath came swooping down from the outside line, grabbed the holeshot and led coming out of the first turn. Two-time 125 AMA Supercross champ Ernesto Fonseca seemed recovered from an earlier arm injury and came out of the fray second on lap one followed by Carmichael, Vuillemin and Pastrana.

Jeremy McGrath was finally on the pace. He pulled to an early lead, then got passed by RC on lap 7. Steve Bruhn photo

McGrath was being pressured, but looked strong and actually built a solid lead on lap four. The gap was short lived. Carmichael was the rider on the move. He and Vuillemin got past Fonseca on lap five, as did Pastrana. RC then moved up to battle McGrath bringing the fans to a fever pitch. It was the battle everyone had been waiting for all season. RC took over the lead on lap seven. McGrath hung with him for a lap, but then began to fall back. In the next few laps he would fade back to seventh.

Once in the lead Carmichael opened a gap on second-place Pastrana. Pastrana in turn opened a slight edge on Vuillemin, most of which was lost on a last-lap bobble by Pastrana. He still managed to hold off the Frenchman by a second at the finish. Up front Carmichael took the checkered flag 2.6-seconds ahead of Pastrana. LaRocco made another one of his patented charges through the pack to take fourth -- keeping him solidly in the championship hunt. Ramsey held off McGrath for fifth.

"It was a good race for me, I got a good start and it gives me a little more confidence now," said Carmichael, who moved from seventh to fourth in the standings with the win. "The first couple of laps everyone was going everywhere. I was trying to stay on two wheels everyone was riding so aggressive. And then things started panning out for me. I was able to get by Ernie and Jeremy. The guys were giving some heat from behind, definitely."

James Stewart's huge 12-second lead was enough to make up for another fall down. He got his second win Sat. night. Steve Bruhn photo

Yamaha’s Vuillemin takes a seven-point lead over LaRocco going into next weekend’s third race in Anaheim, Calif.

Stewart was on fire in the 125 final. He blasted into the early lead on his factory Kawasaki and sprinted away to an amazing 3.8-second lead over Travis Preston on the first lap! That lead had blossomed to 12 seconds at halfway before Stewart slid out his bike in turn eight. He got back underway and still had a four-second lead on Preston. As the race wound down Stewart again built on his lead over Preston to 5.7-seconds. Rodrig Thain and Chris Gosselaar both ran alone in third and fourth respectively. The biggest battle was for fifth between Brock Sellards and Ivan Tedesco, with Sellards holding on to the position.

"I’m just trying to go out there and have fun," said Stewart, who extended his lead to a full 25 points over Tedesco in the regional championship. "I pulled out front and looked back to see where second place was and I started making a couple of mistakes and I fell down over there. I got up and recovered and had fun. This one’s for dad."

Race Notes

Reed to sit out until Indy
Yamaha of Troy’s Chad Reed was injured in a training crash a few days before Phoenix and decided to sit out of the race. While no bones were broken in the accident, Reed said his shoulders and chest were pretty beat up. The Aussie, who was fourth in the AMA 250 Supercross standings coming into the race, said he would likely wait for the 125 East opener in Indianapolis on Feb. 9, to make his return.

Pingree suffers a tough break at Phoenix
Just a week after his emotional 125 West victory at Anaheim II, David Pingree was forced to miss the 125 race at Bank One Ballpark after his bike broke while leading his heat race. Pingree came up short on a big quad jump and actually broke the frame on his KTM.

Lytle and McGrath win holeshot awards
Powerade Power Shot award money went to Casey Lytle, of the Racer’s Edge Yamaha in the 125 race and to Bud Light Yamaha’s Jeremy McGrath in the 250 main. Lytle fell back to finish 21st in his race, while McGrath took sixth.

Thain’s AMA Supercross season is over
Rodrig Thain announced on the podium after finishing third in the 125 West race, that it would be his final Supercross race of the season. Thain is slated to receive shoulder surgery in hopes that he can be 100 percent healthy for the U.S. Motocross Championship.

RC ties JMB
Saturday night’s win in Phoenix marked the 16th-career AMA Supercross victory for Ricky Carmichael. That moved him into a tie for eighth on the all-time Supercross wins list with 1991 champ Jean-Michel Bayle.

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Photos by Steve Bruhn

Copyright AMA Pro Racing, 2005.