This Week in Yamaha History: 72 at A2
Thursday, February 2, 2012 | 5:00 PM
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The 2001 AMA Supercross Series started out with the usual plot—lots of hype about lots of contenders, and then Jeremy McGrath goes out, hammers them at round one and ends the talk.
When McGrath took his Mazda Yamaha to the Anaheim 1 win, it sure looked like he was set for an eighth career championship. His 2000 title drive started the same exact way. But ’01 would prove to be different. Ricky Carmichael struck back for a win the next weekend in San Diego after a great duel, setting up another showdown for round three, held once again in Anaheim.
The showdown delivered, as McGrath and Carmichael hooked up in a 20-lap battle that had the Angel Stadium fans screaming the whole way. McGrath grabbed the holeshot but Carmichael jumped into the lead before turn two. A few laps later, McGrath closed back up on Carmichael and took the lead. From there, RC kept the heat on MC, staying glued to his back tire all the way around the track. With a few laps to go, Carmichael switched lines to the inside in a bowl turn, and McGrath’s line intersected, leading to a collision. Carmichael took the lead momentarily, but decided he did not want to do it in that manner. Carmichael stated that if he won, he wanted to do it clean, so in the next turn he basically pulled over to let McGrath have the lead back!
The year 2001 would mark the final time McGrath would stand atop an SX podium.
Photo: Chris Deutschen
For the final two laps, Carmichael looked for an opening to try to make a clean pass, but McGrath held him at bay, winning by just a few tenths of a second. “If we have to fight for it, than that’s what we’ll do,” said McGrath after the race.
It was another Anaheim and another win for McGrath. He still held the series’ lead, too. But this night would be far different than any other—this night would end up hosting McGrath’s last-ever supercross win. The following weekend in Phoenix, Carmichael took off from the start and won, and then at Anaheim 3, he rocked the foundation by coming from way behind to catch and pass McGrath for the victory. Carmichael ended the year on a 13-race win streak.
Back then, McGrath surely wasn’t happy about seeing his long reign come to an end. But looking back now, Anaheim 2 marked his 72nd career supercross win, and it’s that mark that still makes him the unquestioned all-time King of Supercross.
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This was one of the roughest years in SX for me as a fan! I was a MC mega fan, still am! I remember this night vegly!
Carmichael pulling over and letting MC take the lead back after the dirty pass is the tail tail sign of a great Champion!
So Stewart is at 43 wins and Reed is at 41? Carmichael's 48 is in reach of them, but 72 is going to be a tough number for anyone to match. I think RV is at 16 and Dungey is only at 8.
It's not quite as unlikely as anyone catching RC's outdoor win total, but I think McGrath will hold the record for a long time.
the sport has changed so much since then. all the bikes today are great and about as good as they can get. all the athletes are in peak physical shape and the top guy all take it seriously. with every supercross ride in the field from pick ups to peterbilts riding and training on supercross tracks weekly the sport has opened more doors. when i use to watch the races in the 90s' there was no way in hell that 12-.... (however many should up to try and qualify) in both class had riden an sx track since the prier round of the series and during the off season they would do the majority of their testing/traing on a shovel built track their crazy buddies built in their back yard. then when the series started they had to drive themselves to the races. now a day these guys fly in out every weekend sleep in their own beds all week train then fly back to the next round even the last place guys now have good deals make some money at what they grew up doing for fun. so the dominances of one rider taking all is over and these guys today wont win as many races as those guys because there are just more guys capable of winning each weekend now.
"The King of Supercross" His record will never be broken, or its gonna be a long time from now! There are way too many guys that can win these days.
Long Live the King!
The record will never be broken. Stewarts ratio is 1:4 and there are only 13 races left meaning if that ratio continues hes only due to win 3-4 more races this season... unless his competition all dies in a firey auto crash next week i think his eyes are bigger than his dreams.
You guys are talking about how much the sport has changed, last year I put in an old VHS tape, and it came up with an ESPN broadcast of MC and RC going at it in 2002! The tracks were so tight and technical, compared to todays tracks that are highspeed! Pretty awesome watching the old school footie!
stewies eyes are as always on a dream that he wont realize. A good rider he is. The best of his race (which I personally am tired of hearing) not likely. Malcolm will eclipse his brothers accomplishments, and he will do it through superior mental attitude.
@kw255, I do not think that Malcolm will come close to eclipsing his brothers accomplishments, he will have his own level of success, but I dont think he will ever have a perfect outdoor season, or close!
malcolm has traits that i have waited a long time to see in james and james just dont have them. The main problem with James is the lack of discipline that I hoped he was gaining last year. james will not break 72 sx win record nor will he break rickys 150 overall wins and remember rc had 2 perfect seasons But Malcolm will be the winningest black rider of all time. Maybe then the records will be combined and we can just list their win records as win records instead of saying the first african to qualify or the first african to jump a double. On that note wasnt Grant Langston the first African to win a championship?
In Mcgraths podcast with Matthes, He said he never rode, and signed a deal for money. He always went with the best deal for equipment, because he said he knew if he was on the best equipment, the money would come. I will say it forever, The reason Mcgrath is the King, is because of that very idea. Thats why he has the records, and Stew will never be a leader in the record books in the big class. Stew signs for money, hence as to why he is on that turd Yamaha again. I get the fact that the window for these guys to make money is very small, and that they need to make decisions to make the best money they can, but I think they have to stop and ask themselves, Do they want to get rich by racing, or do they want to become a legend by racing? I really believe James is just going to fade into the record books and just be know as the guy that was blazing fast, but made some bad decisions that led him to never accomplishing the records he was trully destined for. Thing I don't get is why make this deal now? Why take the money and not go for the best equipment? You cannot convince me the man is not already "set" for life. If he had taken the deal for best equipment, The legacy he would have made on the better equipment would have made more money than he already has, and furthermore would have even made him, and his stock worth way more than this whole JGR deal is worth right now. JGR is a top level team! But Reed recently stated in his podcast with Matthes, is you could only polish a turd so much, and I am afraid JGR is wasting alot of their own money, doing R&D for a motorcycle corp. that's going to take all their information for the price of pennies on the dollar, and in the end, JGR will burn threw the money they do get from yamaha, by developing that p o s so Stew can win a little bit with it. Mr Reed said it best, You can only polish a turd so much...
I thought the article was about Mac not Havoc7 @josh ...did'nt that turd just win??? How did 22 feel about turd roost. do you think a company like Yamaha won't improve that bike? JGR can mod that thing anyway they want(within the rules) and they will till its as good as anything out there. That turd looked just fine and even though it stated out horrible it gets better by the week. it would even look better with Dunlops..lol. I think JS7 is STILL racing so his legacy is far from over and It would not be the first time Yamaha brought out a new bike and then improved it till it smoked.Maybe next year?.In this world i've found anyone thats says its not about the money is almost ALWAYS about the money. Go RV.
@joshuamccollum802
yeah i really believe most people will forget about the guy who will most likely(maybe) end up 2nd in SX wins to the King...
that's funny...
KW255, your the first one that I have heard of segregating the winning records! How do you watch malcolm, how do you know that he is showing anything, other then in some random video's that they post (dream rides (which is completely bad asss), etc...) They never show him much in broadcast, because he is barely in the top 10! He has yet to win a race in his first full season of mx/sx, let alone PODIUM! Like I said before, he will have some success, and yes, possibly more then his brother, but will come no where...NO WHERE close to MC or RC!
@tonewall, your right, JGR can mod that thing as much as they want (within regulation) but you cannot fix bad flaw designs! The new motor set-up that they have is garbage, and Cannondale proved that with their MX400 back in the early 2000's! I personally have never rode the new Yamaha's, but I definitely do not see a whole lot of them at my local tracks! They need to go back to the tried and true motor config, get rid of their cheesy ass looking plastics, and give us a solid bike!
GO RV!!!!
I agree with Josh but you gotta remember RV is blazing fast on a bike that Stewart developed. The JGR bike along with any Yamaha 450 still needs developing but it takes time that is why JS is on a 3 yr contract. He beleives they can make it work
I remember that night at A2 in 2001..., like it was last weekend. My future wife had never been to a Supercross race. All the way down the "5" Freeway from L.A. to Anaheim, I got her up to speed about 'Showtime' McGrath now on the Blue #1 Yamaha... how he was about to start a run for his next title.
How the 'Nac-Nac' king was going to rebound from the 'fluke win' (yeah, right) by this Carmichael kid the week before - when McGrath slid out and #4 on the Green Kawi got by - and tonight, show the red-headed punk from Florida who's boss.
The A2 'Main' was incredible! And the Fans... the Fans were like the ocean in 'The Perfect Storm', just heaving, back and forth... the WHOA's ! and the YEAH's! Thunderous, non-stop noise throughout the stadium. AND THE SOUND OF 2-STROKES...! Oh my God, it was A-mazing and yes, EPIC!
At the time, no one could believe it when RC gave the lead back to MC after they tangled! It was just plain unthinkable! That was the classiest thing I had ever seen by anyone on a supercross/motocross track!
It didn't hit me immediately, but pretty quickly I realized everyone in the Stadium was probably thinking the same thing. Who the hell is this..., this Carmichael kid?
The confidence, poise, respect and talent RC demonstrated in that split-second, momentary decision..., knowing deep down that he had the 'stones' to beat this guy straight up... to become the CHAMP! It was unbelievable! The people all around us were just screaming on their feet for 20 laps!
To this day, it's still THE BEST Supercross race I've ever seen! It should have been the tip off that we were witnessing the birth of the GOAT. Like everybody else, I never imagined that battle would be McGrath's 72nd and final win.
You boys sure gave us our money's worth that night. Never forget it.
@username ...if you actually rode the Yamaha and rode a Cannondale BELIEVE me they are very different. The yamaha 09 was fantastic and when they tried something new ,probably there roadracing department or someone high influenced the design. When I heard they tilted the cylinder ,I thought it was gonna be forward.I think the 'central mass' position jury is still out.. I think Crank position is more important than cylinder position. It has problems (its to chubby for my taste for one and the motors a beast ,like a 03 on steroids) but for 95 percent of the riders on this planet it is better than they are. Its a Yamaha ,its FAR from garbage ,they build good bikes and they WILL get it working. Right now the Kaw looks like a nice bike to me and i'm an RMZ fan. Not to take anything away from Mac but its a good thing Larocco couldn't get starts,he got ALOT of seconds coming from WAY back.... I was glad when the GOAT showed up...i was tired of Mac running around by himself.lol... (that yamaha seemed to work better and better also).
The first African-born rider to win a US title was Greg Albertyn (sp?), also from South Africa. I believe that Grant Langston has moved to US permanently, so would that make him an African-American?
Back to the article, McGrath's reign corresponded to when there was a SX race in Minneapolis (the collapse-a-dome). I think he won almost every race held there, except the one-off in 2008. Even the year on the Suzuki, I think he won.
I like Malcolm Stewart, he seems like a nice enough kid, but I haven't seen him do anything yet that would make me think he will even win 1 pro race.
@ GreenMeansGo Good story but,why were you and everyone else in the stadium thinking "who the hell is this Carmichael kid?" ? He already had 2 125SX titles, 3 125 MX titles, and 1 250MX title at that point. Hope that doesn't sound argumentative, just wondering about that statement. Anyone ever tell you that you look like Patrick Dempsey?
Green Means Go - Not sure if I am misunderstanding you saying "now on the blue #1 Yamaha" ......MC was on the Yamaha for 3 years prior to the 2001 last win of his career season, which was his 4th year on the Blue Yamaha....MC was the man for sure, but at no time, except for when Ezra Lusk jumped on Honda and Damon Huffman came up to the 250'a did he have any real threats to his thrown. Looked like Huffman was in line to take over but that broken femur did him in for good,,,,,then of course RC came into the picture and the rest is history....great history
@kw255 - malcolm is a cool kid, different personality than James and obviously a good rider.(for the record, i dont think James is that bad a guy considering all he deals with and who he is)...Malcolm is already waaaaaay behind James as far as accomplishments go....JS7 has more amatuer titles than anyone in the game (yes they do matter if you are a true moto-head) and James also had 2x125 SX and 2 x125 outdoor titles and working on his 1st 250 SX title when he was Malcolms age.....
Long Live the KING.
Not only does MC have the seemingly unreachable numbers of 72 premier class SX wins and SEVEN titles... The man had the whole package. Class, style, showmanship and the ability to relate to the media and the fans that set the precedent that has yet to be met by any successor. He set the bar so high in all of these areas that even when the day comes that someone beats his records, even IF they match his style, charisma... They will never be able to be able to say that they were the first. Jeremy McGraths last permanent number and the number he still puts on his plates is #2. He wore the #1 more times(In SX) than anyone else in history(and was proud to actually run the number 1 instead of some marketing scheme "permanent" number) and will remain the KING until the day someone steps up and meets or exceeds his precedents. Until then, the throne will remain empty and in waiting.
Long live the KING.
BMXerHS - Well said! JMC was definitely the "whole package". Those were indeed some special years for MX / SX racing, and I was always very appreciative of the role model that Jeremy portrayed for all of the kids who looked up to him. Most definitely one of a kind, and JMO - will always be the best.
NikolaTesla -
Well it WAS the PREMIER (250) class RC was breaking into and in the past, 125 riders didn't always 'step-up' as well as RC was about to do.
MC had Seven SX titles at that point, too. SEVEN! He was, self-admittedly, not an Outdoor 'Nationals' guy but he was the Sh!t unparalleled 'round the world' as far as Supercross Racing in 2001 was concerned.
Carmichael was obviously already very accomplished on a 125 and getting name recognition -but mostly from Die-hard Moto-heads who had a pretty good idea of the storm that was brewing out of Florida on the Green #4. He wasn't the G.O.A.T. ..., not yet at least.
Thanks. My wife pulls the 'P.Dempsey' card on me once in a while.... usually followed by "Now take out the trash" or some other job I haven't done around the house that needs doing.
@Killomoto -
Being that my (at that time) Girlfriend was completely new to MX/SX and had seen an old poster in my Garage of McGrath on a Honda, she was a little confused [She: why is that Jeremy guy riding a Blue bike?] and just figured guys rode whatever they wanted to ride..., no real understanding of how profe$$ional the sport had become).
Think I was trying to help her understand how things can change from year to year (like other 'Pro' sports where a guy may move to a new team next season, etc.) and as I was writing that late at night I didn't re-reread it to see if I made my point clear before 'sending' to it.
@ GreenMeansGo Remember that time you tried to become popular by paying the girl next door to be your girlfriend, that was classic.
I was in attendence for win #70 at the Joliet SX outside Chicago,IL. He also wrapped up the title on the same night .
James is 26. It's simply way to early to tell. He could quit this year, or ride for another 5. JM had a huge advantage racking up all those wins ... he was the only guy on the track for several seasons who could actually win. Talent was THIN. Ask him - he'll tell you himself.
@NikolaTesla - Oh Yeah..., classic..., embarrassing... and expensive.
Should have rode off -with the girl- on a MoPed... a FatCat..., or a Honda 50-
Instead of a d@mn lawnmower!? Certainly would have been way more cool.
But I don know..., I guess, in the end, it would not have been so classic.