Carmichael, Stewart Top Glen Helen.

Kit Palmer | May 12, 2002

Ricky Carmichael and James “Bubba” Stewart opened the 2002 AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. MX Championship with wins in their respective classes at Glen Helen Raceway, in San Bernardino, California, today. Carmichael won both 250cc motos, while Stewart went 1-2 to claim the 125cc-class win.

On a hot and windy day, Carmichael put his Chad Watts-tuned factory Honda into the early lead in both 250cc motos and rode off with the wins, relatively easily. Both times he finished well ahead of teammate Sebastien Tortelli, who did give Carmichael something to think about for a while in the second moto before falling near the halfway point while trailing RC by just four seconds. Tortelli had plenty of insurance to keep second in the moto, thus taking second overall with a 2-2 tally.

Third overall went to last year’s winner Tim Ferry. Ferry, on the factory-backed Yamaha YZ426F, was also consistent, going 3-3 on the day. Rounding out the top five overall was Yamaha’s David Vuillemin (6-4) and Chevy Trucks/Kawasaki’s Stephane Roncada.

After passing KTM’s Grant Langston for the lead about the fifth lap, Stewart, on his Jeremy Albrecht-tuned KX, went on to win the first 125cc moto, but couldn’t do much about defending champ Mike Brown in the second moto. Brown, who crashed in the first moto, flat-out beat Stewart to the finish line in the second moto, but that wasn’t enough to top Stewart in the overall column. Stewart’s 1-2 tally was more than enough to give him his first National overall win in his first try.

Second overall went to Red Bull KTM’s Langston, who ultimately went 3-3 on the day, while Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing’s Chad Reed took third overall with a 2-6. Reed fell on the first lap of the second moto and spent the whole race making up what he could.

Brown, on the Pro Circuit/Kawasaki, was credited with fourth overall with a 10-1, while Blimpie Suzuki’s Danny Smith rounded out the top five overall with a 5-5.

Results:

250 O/A: 1. Ricky Carmichael (Hon); 2. Sebastien Tortelli (Hon); 3. Tim Ferry (Yam); 4. David Vuillemin (Yam); 5. Stephane Roncada (Kaw); 6. Ezra Lusk (Kaw); 7. Kyle Lewis (Hon); 8. John Dowd (KTM); 9. Paul Carpenter (Hon); 10. Keith S. Johnson (KTM); 11. Jean-Sebastien Roy (Hon); 12. Darcy Lange (Kaw); 13. Ryan Clark (Yam); 14. Craig Decker (Yam); 15. Lance Smail (KTM); 16. Sean Hamblin (Suz); 17. Robbie Reynard (Hon); 18. Heath Voss (Hon); 19. Guy Cooper (KTM); 20. Ted Campbell (Suz).

125 O/A: 1. James Stewart (Kaw); 2. Grant Langston (KTM); 3. Chad Reed (Yam); 4. Mike Brown (Kaw); 5. Danny Smith (Suz); 6. Matt Walker (Kaw); 7. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon); 8. Damon Huffman (Suz); 9. Bobby Bonds (Kaw); 10. Brock Sellards (KTM); 11. Travis Preston (Hon); 12. David Pingree (KTM); 13. Michael Byrne (Hon); 14. Scott Sheak (Hon); 15. Eric Sorby (Kaw); 16. Josh Demuth (Yam); 17. Ivan Tedesco (Yam); 18. Chris Gosselaar (Hon); 19. Travis Elliott (Hon); 20. Casey Lytle (Yam); 21. Larry Ward (Yam); 22. Branden Jesseman (Suz); 23. Greg Schnell (Yam); 24. Steve Boniface (KTM); 25. Michael Brandes (Suz).

Kit Palmer | Off-Road Editor

Kit Palmer started his career at Cycle News in 1984 and he’s been testing dirt and streetbikes every since – plus covering any event that uses some form of a knobby tire. He’s also our resident motorcycle mileage man with a commute of 120 miles a day.