Carmichael 100 Grand Richer

| October 15, 2000

Ricky Carmichael became the third winner of the THQ U.S. Open in its three-year history today, turning in a main-event win to cap of his perfect weekend. Carmichael won both of his heat races and both of his mains over the two-day competition, and was visibly head-and-shoulders above the rest of the competitors.

Carmichael grabbed the lead out of turn one today, and quickly pulled out a comfortable advantage, eventually lapping some of the competitors twice on the short track! Kevin Windham started third on his new Suzuki, and put a pass on Chevy Trucks/Kawasaki rider Larry Ward. Carmichael was already gone by several seconds by that point, so Windham settled for second – in the race and overall.

For the second day in a row, Dr. Martens/Journeys/Factory Connection/Amsoil rider Mike LaRocco got a bad start, and the highest he could advance was third place by night’s end. That matched his finish on the weekend.

Ward held on to finish fourth today, with privateer Heath Voss coming all the way up from a row-two start to complete the top five.

Fans received a scare today when Honda’s Ryan Hughes collided with Suzuki’s Damon Huffman in the whoops on lap 10 and took a hard fall. Hughes lay motionless on the track for 10 laps while medical technicians attended to him, but eventually got to his feet and walked off the track with some help.

Results: 1. Ricky Carmichael (Kaw); 2. Kevin Windham (Suz); 3. Mike LaRocco (Hon); 4. Larry Ward (Kaw); 5. Heath Voss (Hon); 6. Steve Lamson (Hus); 7. Greg Schnell (Yam); 8. Tyler Evans (Hon); 9. Michael Byrne (Hon); 10. Buddy Antunez (Suz); 11. Isaiah Johnson (Yam); 12. Ryan Hughes (Hon); 13. Damon Huffman (Suz).

By Freelance