Carmichael’s crash immediately opened the door to a new champion, and there was a rumor that young James Stewart might jump up a year sooner to exploit the vacancy at the top. But then the Chevy Trucks Kawasaki team decided to leave #259 in the 125 East Region until 2005.

But the obvious title favorite was the man who had made the last six weeks of Carmichael’s 2003 title run much more difficult than he had planned. Team Yamaha’s Chad Reed, the Australian imported from Europe after a single year of Grand Prix racing, had already shown he had Carmichael’s tenacity, as well as the now-retired Jeremy McGrath’s superb technique. Reed was immediately everyone’s favorite to win the SX title.

But before anyone lined up at Anaheim for the opener, there were those untimely “World Supercross” rounds in Seville, Spain and Arnhem, Holland. The riders who did not go to the Europe rounds were not included in what was called “THQ World Supercross GP” and there would be a separate “world champion” crowned at the end of the series based on the points of Seville and Arnhem, plus all of the rest of the AMA Supercross races, except Daytona…. Confused?

I was in Europe for both races, hosting the TV coverage with Cameron Steele, and to this day I tell people that the race in Spain was the absolute muddiest race I have even seen. Four straight days of solid rain and an open-air stadium made for a massive bowl of mud soup for everyone. You have to see the shortened main event here—not one rider even bothered to take the parade lap—and try to imagine just how brutal it was to even stay up. The muddy conditions of lack of major stars made for the most unlikely podium in SX history: 1.) Daryl Hurley of New Zealand; 2.) Grant Langston of South Africa; 3.) Tyler Evans of Fresno.

One week later, the “world” portion mercifully moved indoors to the Arnhem race in Holland, once the scene of a brutal battle at the end of World War II. This time the winner was Team Honda’s Ernesto Fonseca, who was boosted to team leader after the loss of his good friend Carmichael to injury. Sadly, this would be the only premier-class win in Fonseca’s SX career, and it did not count in the AMA record books.

After two years of trying to get the teams across the Altantic Ocean, with diminishing returns, the promoters pulled the plug on the European rounds to start the season—the distance and timing (Europe in early December) just didn’t mesh with the rest of the championship, and by the next year the international element would move to Toronto and Vancouver, and in turn attract pretty much all of the top stars.

When the series started for real—Anaheim—it was Yamaha’s best night in years. The brand went 1-2-3 with Chad Reed, David Vuillemin, and Tim Ferry leading the way. And here’s a cool little fact: Three of the twenty riders in the 250 main event were from Albuquerque, New Mexico: Keith Johnson, Isaiah Johnson, and Ryan Clark. And the winner of the 125 class? Yet another Albuquerque rider, Ivan Tedesco!

In doing so, Ivan became the first Kawasaki rider to win a main event on a four-stroke motorcycle, as Mitch Payton made the switch for his whole team from Kawasaki KX125s to KX250Fs.

Round two provided some major fireworks. After a poor opening night (ninth), Amsoil/Factory Connection Honda’s Kevin Windham, who was back after missing two years of supercross, was out for bear in the Phoenix main, but he ended up getting a Cobra instead. Windham blasted Vuillemin off the track. Go to the 4:00 mark in this video and watch an uncharacteristic takeout by K-Dub.

“If he didn’t hear me coming, he needs to have his ears checked,” Windham said of Vuillemin to Cycle News’ Steve Cox, arguing that Vuillemin should not have stayed on the gas. The AMA’s Steve Whitelock would penalize Windham 10 points for the takeout, but it would later be overturned by an appeals board. Reed would finish second to Windham, with the old warhorse Mike LaRocco third. Tedesco would again win the 125 class on his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki.

Reed, Windham, and Vuillemin would go 1-2-3 at the second Anaheim, a race that would feature eight foreign riders in the 250 main event: Reed, Vuillemin, Fonseca (Costa Rica), Michael Byrne (Australia), Grant Langston (South Africa), Erick Vallejo (Mexico), Daryl Hurley (New Zealand), and Craig Anderson (Australia). Tedesco stayed perfect in the 125 class. Here’s the 250 main.

San Diego was next, and once again it was Reed, Windham, and Vuillemin. It was becoming apparent that Reed was positioning himself to become the first AMA Supercross Champion that was not an American since Jean-Michel Bayle in 1991 and only the third in history. Here are the highlights of what turned out to be a great 250 two-stroke (Reed) versus a 450 four-stroke (Windham) battle as the whole sport was in the throes of a transition to the thumpers.

At the third and final Anaheim of 2004, Windham was able to prevent Reed from getting an Anaheim sweep, but neither Nathan Ramsey nor Stephane Roncada could keep Tedesco from a sweep in the 125 class. By this point it was a foregone conclusion that Tedesco was going to be the champion. But one week later Nathan Ramsey would finally top Tedesco on his own Honda CRF250, which gave Ramsey another special place in history: Not only was he Honda’s first winner on a CRF450 in 2002 at Pontiac, he got Honda its first four-stroke win. Here’s the 125 race.

Reed won both San Francisco and Houston, giving him a lead of one full race on Windham, who finished second ahead of Mike LaRocco. The Houston race also marked the beginning of the East Region, and this time James Stewart rolled to the line for the first time in 2004. He was on a KX125 as well and two seconds a lap faster than everyone else in practice. James ended up beating Suzuki’s rookie Broc Hepler and Chevy Trucks/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Eric Sorby. Here’s the 125 race.

And when Stewart won, he did his “sprinkler” dance, which led an angry reader to write to Cycle News and complain “Bubba Stewart’s sprinkler dance was the single most embarrassing moment in televised motorcycle history.” Seriously.

Windham finally got back on top at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, but Reed was right there in second, with Vuillemin third. Stewart would of course win the 125 class and in the process tie Jeremy McGrath’s record of 13 career wins in the small-bore division. Here is Minneapolis.

At the ninth round in Atlanta, Reed got his sixth win, with Windham second and LaRocco third. James Stewart broke Jeremy McGrath’s 125SX Class record and then saluted the retired King of Supercross with a nac-nac. Broc Hepler and Michael Blose finished second and third. Here’s the 250 race.

Daytona was next and this time it was all Reed—at least until the fourteenth lap. That’s when the easy leader crashed by himself. He still won, with Windham second and LaRocco third. Interestingly, Travis Pastrana turned up to race, and while he was incredibly fast, he was in no shape to keep it going for twenty laps on a track as tough as Daytona. He ended up tenth in the 250 main event.

And Stewart of course won the 125 race, but this time he celebrated by grabbing a can of black spray paint and painting a #3 on the white letters of Daytona to honor the late stock car legend Dale Earnhardt, who died there in a crash in 2001. The second-place finisher was Davi Millsaps, who finally had a good race as he struggled in his rookie season.

St. Louis was next, and Yamaha’s Reed stayed on top with yet another win, leading Windham and Ramsey. Fourth place went to Mike LaRocco, the oldest rider in the field. One week later, at the Indianapolis race, LaRocco would find himself out front off the start—something that hardly ever happened during his career—while Reed found himself on the ground! LaRocco then had the last great ride of his epic career, leading all twenty laps and holding off Windham and the charging-from-last Chad Reed. It was LaRocco’s hometown race, and one of the most special SX races in the history of the series. Here’s the main event.

It was historic in that his first SX win came in LaRocco’s 202nd career SX main event, a record. He also set the standard for the most time between first AMA  Supercross wins (Las Vegas 1991) and his last (2004 Indianapolis). Two years later he would retire with 227 career starts—another record.

One other moment happened in Indianapolis worth noting: James Stewart, who had already clinched the 125 East Region with a win in Pontiac, crashed hard in practice and suffered a concussion. He could not race, and as a result lost his chance to match Ricky Carmichael’s perfect 125 SX season of 1998. With Stewart out, Yamaha of Troy’s Josh Hansen held off Chevy Trucks/Kawasaki’s Paul Carpenter in a very close battle for the main event win.

In Pontiac, Stewart was back, and he won again. Reed got back on top too, with LaRocco a solid second in his “other” home race.  It was Reed’s ninth win, and he was closing in fast on the title. Reed won in Dallas too, with Ivan Tedesco back on top in the 125 West Region. But something else happened away from Pontiac that would once again send shock waves through the industry: Suzuki announced that they had signed the sidelined Ricky Carmichael away from Honda. RC wanted more years, and Honda wasn’t sure what his knee would be like when he returned. His decision to leave would have repercussions for years: Honda has not won the AMA Supercross Championship since. But they would win one more 250 Class outdoor title: Carmichael would come back in May 2004 and smoke everyone—he won all twenty-four motos—for a perfect summer on his Honda CRF450.

Chad Reed’s tenth win of the 2004 SX series came in Dallas, and Ivan Tedesco not only won the 125 main event, but the West Region title as well. But the big news came later: Reed’s fuel would test positive for too much lead, and the AMA would strip him of the 25 points he won at Dallas, as well as his teammate David Vuillemin and Yamaha-mounted privateer Tyson Hadsell. To say Yamaha was furious is an understatement; they would be even more furious in the future. More on that later.

In Salt Lake City, Windham would win, with the frustrated Reed second, and it was just enough to keep Chad from clinching the title. One week later in Las Vegas, however, Windham would win again, but Reed clinched the title for Team Yamaha, becoming the first Australian (and so far only) to ever win a major title in SX/MX.  And if you’re keeping score, Heath Voss would claim the FIM’s THQ World Supercross GP crown—while finishing seventh in the actual AMA Championship.

The 125 East-West Shootout would see an incredible (but short) battle between James Stewart (wearing retro Fox gear in honor of the brand’s thirtieth birthday) and the KX250F-mounted Stephane Roncada. This race was also a milestone: James Stewart’s win marked the last time a 125cc two-stroke motorcycle would win an AMA Supercross main event. This is good stuff.

Great line by the excellent Todd Harris in the TV coverage: “Someone peppered Roncada’s Wheaties with courage because he was going right up into James Stewart and showing him some tire… Look at this, show him a wheel young man!”

2004 AMA Supercross Championship

1. Chad Reed Yamaha 355
2. Kevin Windham Honda 346
3. Mike LaRocco Honda 310
4. David Vuillemin Yamaha 271
5. Nick Wey Suzuki 204
6. Michael Byrne Kawasaki 201
7. Heath Voss Yamaha 194
8. Sean Hamblin Suzuki 170
9. Damon Huffman Honda 158
10. Tyler Evans Suzuki 114

125 West Region

1. Ivan Tedesco Kawasaki 197
2. Nathan Ramsey Honda 147
3. Stephane Roncada Kawasaki 138
4. Brock Sellards Yamaha 127
5. Travis Preston Honda 117

125 East Region

1. James Stewart Kawasaki 150
2. Broc Hepler Suzuki 99
3. Danny Smith Yamaha 98
4. Paul Carpenter Kawasaki 90
5. Kelly Smith Yamaha 85