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Ricky Carmichael has clinched the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross crown for the fifth time after finishing second to James Stewart at Saturday night’s Las Vegas Supercross final round at Sam Boyd Stadium.
In a race where both titles could have gone to either Carmichael, Stewart or Yamaha’s Chad Reed, the RM-Z450-mounted rider finished runner-up in the THQ World series behind Stewart after the 20-lap Main Event in front of 35,000 fans.
“I can’t believe it. I kept saying to myself, there was no way I was going to let Chad Reed beat me this weekend. The last few weeks he’s beaten me fair and square. I knew going into this weekend that I’m only racing part-time next year, and I’ve had a great career. This is just amazing; this is the sport that made me and I can’t say enough for the people in my corner and my Makita Suzuki Team. It’s great to go out on top.”
The evening started out with Carmichael and team mate Ivan Tedesco paired together in their eight-lap heat race. Carmichael got a good start and won the qualifier. Tedesco, unfortunately, crashed hard during the heat race but rebounded strong and won his six-lap semi. Both riders advanced to the Main.
The main event saw Carmichael get a good start on his Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 and move aggressively into second position on lap one. Carmichael knew that he only had to maintain second place to win the title and that’s exactly what he did for all 20 laps.
“There are so many people I want to thank,” said Carmichael about the championship. “This was a team effort. We’ve had a lot of adversity this year, but we overcame it. We pulled together and it’s been an incredible year. I knew going into this weekend that I had to get this title. The team worked too hard for me to not get this. I just talked myself into this performance tonight. I’m proud of myself and I’m proud of my Makita Suzuki team.”
Like Carmichael, Tedesco got a good start on his Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 in the Main and rode with the top five for most of the race. But towards the last few laps, he faded, feeling the effects of the heat race crash. In the end, Tedesco finished his rookie Supercross-class season with an impressive fourth-place overall.
“My shoulder was a little bit sore after I crashed in the heat race,” said Tedesco after the Main Event. But my trainer taped it up and that worked for the semi and the first half of the Main. Then it started bothering me towards the end. But overall it was a good night, it’s been a good season and I’m looking forward to the Outdoors.”
