Carmichael Finishes Them Off

Kit Palmer | May 5, 2002

Team Honda’s Ricky Carmichael finished off the 2002 AMA/EA Sports Supercross Series with a dominating performance at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. Despite clinching his second title the previous week in Salt Lake City, Carmichael didn’t let up one bit at Las Vegas but instead put an exclamation point on the series with a start-to-finish victory in front of a sellout crowd of over 39,000. Kyle Lewis actually grabbed the holeshot at the start of the 20-lap main event, but Carmichael took over down the next straight and that was all she wrote.

Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki’s Ezra Lusk moved into second by the second lap and ran anywhere from four to six seconds behind Carmichael for most of the race but was never really able to get close enough to be a serious threat to the Honda rider. Lusk officially finished 3.650 seconds behind Carmichael (who slowed on the last lap) to take second, while Team Yamaha’s David Vuillemin caught up to third after a sixth-place start.

Fourth place went to Carmichael’s teammate Nathan Ramsey, while Bud Light Yamaha’s Jeremy McGrath took fifth, which was good enough to beat out Lusk for third in the final overall standings.

Carmichael finished out the 2002 AMA/EA Sports Supercross Series with 356 points and 11 wins, while Vuillemin took second with 321 points and three wins. McGrath earned 250 points with no wins, while Lusk ended up fourth with 245 points and no wins.

Results:

1. Ricky Carmichael (Hon)

2. Ezra Lusk (Kaw)

3. David Vuillemin (Yam)

4. Nathan Ramsey (Hon)

5. Jeremy McGrath (Yam)

6. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon)

7. Stephane Roncada (Kaw)

8. Nick Wey (Yam)

9. Kyle Lewis (Hon)

10. Keith R. Johnson (Yam)

11. Ryan Clark (Yam)

12. Damon Huffman (Suz)

13. Darcy Lange (Kaw)

14. James Povolny Jr. (Hon)

15. Jean-Sebastien Roy (Hon)

16. Zeb Armstrong (Yam)

17. Michael Young (Yam)

18. Isaiah Johnson (Suz)

19. Tyler Evans (Hus)

20. Sebastien Tortelli (Hon)