Carmichael’s Anaheim Win Heats Up Amp’d Mobile Supercross
Epic battle with Stewart has fans, media buzzing as series heads to San Francisco
AURORA, Ill. (January 23, 2006) – Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael made a
statement last Saturday (Jan. 21) at Amp’d Mobile World Supercross
GP/Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series in Anaheim, beating upstart James
Stewart in an epic battle that reminded fans and media alike that the
sport’s all-time win leader is not done fighting.
Kawasaki’s Stewart, of Haines City, Fla., opened the Amp’d Mobile World
Supercross GP season with two decisive victories in Canada before
returning to the States for a runaway win at Anaheim as the Amp’d
Mobile AMA Supercross Series got underway. Stewart’s early season wins
forced Carmichael and Yamaha’s Chad Reed, of Dade City, Fla., to go
back to the drawing board to find more speed.
“I definitely didn’t want to believe (that the series was over),”
explained Carmichael, who now totals 42 Supercross wins and 129
combined in supercross/motocross. “I felt like I had a chance and I had
my reasons for why I didn’t do good, but he’s brought it to a new
level. Me and Chad had to step it up and we all knew that. It’s
definitely not over. It gets harder with time.”
More so than in any other form of racing, Amp’d Mobile Supercross seems
to be about momentum and, in recent history, the rider that has it is
usually at an advantage. Four times since 2000, the first rider to win
two events in a season went on to the championship, three of those
being Carmichael. So with Carmichael now on the winning track, what
does this do to Stewart and his confidence?
“My confidence is the same as it was in Vancouver and Toronto, even
Anaheim,” said Stewart. ”I felt like I’ve been giving these things
away. A fall in the first corner last week didn’t help … and a fall
again (in Anaheim) when I’m front. It’s a long season and I realize
that. There’s no need to hit the panic button, its not like
(Carmichael) got around me and beat me by 10 seconds. I felt like I was
up there and we had a great race.”
Add Reed, who is a perennial slow starter but has two consecutive
second place finishes, to the mix and there are literally three riders
with a shot to win on any given weekend.
As the series’ head North for this Saturday’s (Jan. 28) race at SBC
Park in San Francisco, Stewart holds a one-point lead on Carmichael in
the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP standings, while Carmichael leads
Reed by four points in the domestic Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series.
This year’s race marks the fourth time supercross has visited the
stadium normally occupied by MLB’s Giants. Carmichael has two wins in
2003 & 2005, with Reed picking up with victory in 2004 while
Carmichael sat out the season with a knee injury. Stewart, who missed
last year’s race with a broken arm, won in his only visit in 2003 in
the AMA Lites division, then known as the 125cc class.
For more information about the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP/Amp’d
Mobile AMA Supercross Series, please log on to
www.supercross.cc.com.