2001 AMA SuperCross - Round 15 preview
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Ricky Carmichael, at just 21-years-old, has racked up some major racing accomplishments. On his resume you find the following accolades such as, multi-time AMA Amateur Motocross Champion, 1996 AMA Motocross/Supercross Rookie of the Year, three-time AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross 125 Champion, 1998 AMA EA Sports 125 East Region Supercross Champion; 2000 AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross 250 Champion, member of Chevy Trucks Team USA that won the 2000 Motocross des Nations and most recently, 2001 AMA EA Sports Supercross Champion. What more could the Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki rider hope to accomplish? Try rewriting the AMA Supercross record books.
That goal is exactly what Carmichael will be pursuing Saturday, April 28 in the inaugural AMA EA Sports Supercross Series event in Salt Lake City’s Rice-Eccles Stadium. A victory in Salt Lake City would put Carmichael within one win of matching two of the greatest records in AMA Supercross history. In 1996 Jeremy McGrath had a dream season, winning a record 14 Supercross races, including a record 13 in a row. At the time most believed that those records would never come close to being broken. Remarkably, only five years after what was thought to be a once-in-a-lifetime season for McGrath or any racer, Carmichael is within reach of matching both records. Even though he still needs to win in Salt Lake City this weekend and at the series finale in Las Vegas on May 5, the fact that Carmichael is so close to equaling McGrath’s record is nothing short of amazing. After wrapping up the championship on Saturday April 21 in Texas Stadium, Carmichael openly admitted that he was now on a quest to equal McGrath’s record of 13-straight AMA Supercross wins and 14 wins in a single season. If he wins out this year, he would have a chance to break the winning-streak record in the opening round of the 2002 series. In addition to Carmichael’s record pursuit, fans in Salt Lake City will also have the opportunity to watch the final round of the AMA EA Sports 125 West Region Supercross Championship. Again history could be in the making. Costa Rican, Ernesto Fonseca, is on the verge of becoming the first rider in Supercross history to win both the East and West Region 125 Supercross crowns. He won the 125 East title in 1999 en route to becoming the AMA Motocross/Supercross Rookie of the Year. Fonseca, 19, who rides a four-stroke Yamaha YZ250F for Yamaha of Troy, needs to place 16th or better in order to secure the 125 West title. This weekend’s race marks the debut of EA Sports Supercross in Salt Lake City. The 46,000-seat Rice-Eccles Stadium is the home of the University of Utah football team, as well as the site of the 2002 Winter Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies. It is located on the scenic University of Utah campus in the scenic foothills of the Wasatch Mountains. Racing in the stadium will create a challenge to the tuners of the Supercross bikes since the elevation, the highest of any stadium in this year’s series, is over 4,600 feet |