Bench Racing Ammo: U.S. Open Winners

October 10, 2006, 10:39am

The ninth annual Rockstar Energy Drink U.S. Open is right around the corner, so for this week’s Motosport Outlet Bench Racing Ammo, we’re going to take a look back at the past winner’s of the event, and how they fared the following year in the MGM. Will Ricky Carmichael be able to win his fourth U.S. Open this weekend?

Year	Winner	Result the following year
1998	Damon Huffman	5th (1999)
1999	Jeff Emig	DNR
2000	Ricky Carmichael	1st (2001)
2001	Ricky Carmichael	2nd (2002)
2002	Mike LaRocco	4th (2003)
2003	Chad Reed	1st (2004)
2004	Chad Reed	DNR (2005)
2005	Ricky Carmichael	?

As you can see from the graph above, only Ricky Carmichael and Chad Reed were able to win the event two years in a row. Two years is the longest streak, and Carmichael can again win two in a row if he takes the win this weekend.

Can RC repeat in 2006?

photo: Steve Bruhn

Also, Emig’s win in 1999 marked the last best day of his tumultuous career. Fro had been let get from Kawasaki after his run-in with the law at Lake Havasu in August of that year. He got himself a Yamaha, had FMF do some work on it, then teamed up with friends Tim Dixon and Tony Strangio and went to the U.S. Open on their own dime. He then shocked the supercross world when he won the $100,000 U.S. Open.

That got Fro and his legion of fans amped up on a run at the 2000 AMA Supercross title, but on New Year’s Eve, he broke both wrists while testing at Stephane Roncada’s house in Southern California. Then, after sitting out five months, he started getting ready for the outdoor nationals, only to crash at Glen Helen and break his back and his leg, causing him to retire from professional motocross.

Coincidentally, the U.S. Open was NOT his last professional race. Instead, the last race in the record books was the November 1999 World Supercross race at the Rose Bowl at Pasadena, where he finished off the podium.