Supercross

But it was youth over experience as the Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki rider, up-and-coming 21-year-old Ricky Carmichael, proved he was the one to challenge McGrath for the series title this year. It was the kid and the champ going 20 thrilling laps in front of 61,368 fans, at Qualcomm Stadium on January 13, as they witnessed one of the greatest races of all times.
Carmichael, of Florida, and McGrath, who now calls Encinitas home, put on the race of the year as they went wheel-to-wheel for 13 laps before Carmichael pulled away and dominated the remainder of the field for the final seven laps.
When the gate dropped, McGrath and Carmichael shared the hole shot with Carmichael getting maybe a spoke's lead going into turn one. But McGrath pressed on and took the lead by turn two and turned on the familiar McGrath power. McGrath and Carmichael put on quite a show as they diced for eight laps. McGrath was his usual consistent self, getting into the groove and riding smoothly. Carmichael never let up though and pressured McGrath at every turn.
McGrath hiccupped on lap 5 and Carmichael was there in side-by-side action. McGrath and Carmichael went back and forth a few times exchanging the lead over the next few laps. One bobble is all it would take for Carmichael to grab the lead. And that is exactly what happened.
On lap 8, McGrath and Carmichael were battling side by side and one bobble by McGrath on a turn after the start/finish jump had Carmichael taking the lead. McGrath powered up one more time to reclaim the lead, but couldn't hold on as Carmichael passed him from the outside on a wide turn to take the lead for good. Carmichael found his groove through the whoops and continued to put time on McGrath.
Behind the two leaders, the pack was beginning to thin out and Mike LaRocco, now aboard a Honda and riding for AMSOIL/DrMartins/Competition Accessories/Honda/ONeal/Factory Connection/Scott, was beginning to make his move. As Carmichael and McGrath put time on the field, they didn't leave LaRocco behind. LaRocco rode hard and steady and began to catch up on the leaders. With two laps to go, LaRocco passed McGrath and began to close in on Carmichael. He ran out of time and laps and took second place. McGrath was third.
"That was really fun," said Carmichael in an after race interview. "The crowd was really loud and into this race. It makes it all that more sweet to win in front of a crowd like this. The track was grooved awesome. This is the first win under my belt this year. I am working on being consistent this year and keeping my composure out there. I started to make up a lot of time on McGrath and just rode smart."
"I had a good time out there," said McGrath. "It started to get tight with RC out there. But I will be back next week. Luckily, when I spun out Carmichael saw me and moved over. I want to thank him for a great race. I got a little shaky in the section where Mike (LaRocco) got me. I leaned over too far but kept it pinned. He just got me. The track was cut well. With the amount of rain we had here, it could have been disastrous."
In the 125cc Main event, former New Mexico state Pee Wee Champion, Yamaha of Troy's Justin Buckelew, of Albuquerque, took the hole shot and went wire-to-wire for his first supercross win, going virtually unchallenged the entire race.
Ernesto Fonseca gave Buckelew a good battle early in the race. But two laps in the race, Fonseca's bike stalled putting him back in the pack. Buckelew was smooth, focused and consistent.
"I was focused on winning this event and just wanted to ride a good race," said Buckelew. "I heard Ernesto (Fonseca) right behind me, and when he went for the inside like, he stalled his bike. This isn't good for the team, but right now I'm really excited."
In the 250cc series, McGrath came back to win at Anaheim on January 20, with Carmichael second Carmichael took the win in Phoenix with McGrath second and on February 4, Carmichael again took the win with McGrath hot on his heals. February 10 was a repeat with Carmichael first and McGrath second. Tally that up and it's four wins for Carmichael and two for McGrath. Carmichael leads McGrath in the series by six points as of the Indianapolis race.

28 February 2001