Carmichael Wraps Up SX Title

Kit Palmer | May 3, 2003

Ricky Carmichael wrapped up his third 250cc supercross crown after finishing second to Chad Reed at the series finale at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas.

Many were predicting a knock-down, bar-banging duel between Reed and Carmichael, and perhaps Reed’s Yamaha teammate Tim Ferry, but none of that materialized. Instead, Reed jumped out to an early lead, while Carmichael moved into second on the second lap. Ferry got off to an eighth-place start, so none of the riders everyone was talking about before the race got close to one another.

Both Reed and Carmichael were called into the AMA office following the morning’s riders’ meeting and were warned that any questionable rough riding would not be tolerated.

Reed led every lap. When Carmichael got into second, Reed enjoyed a cautious four-second lead that he pretty much maintained throughout the race. Carmichael, on his Mike Gosselaar-tuned Honda CR250R, seemed content where he was knowing that a second place would be more than enough to wrap up the title.

Third on the podium was, once again, Carmichael’s teammate Ernesto Fonseca, while Ferry and Mach 1 Yamaha’s Nick Wey rounded out the top five overall.

Carmichael finished out the year with 367 points to Reed’s 360, making it the closest series finish in quite some time. Reed, who won the last six races, ended up with eight total wins to Carmichael’s seven. Fonseca finished out the year in third with 225 points, followed by Wey with 203 and Ferry with 195. Keith R. Johnson was the top privateer of the series, finishing 10th overall.

But perhaps the biggest story coming out of Las Vegas was the injury to Chevy Trucks/Kawasaki’s James “Bubba” Stewart. Stewart was leading the 125cc Dave Coombs East/West Shootout early when he took a small crash that dropped him to fourth. Later that same lap while trying to catch back up, Stewart suffered a high-speed get-off that left him with a concussion and a suspected broken collarbone. Stewart was jumping out of a triple/double section when the back of the bike suddenly kicked up and sent him flying over the handlebars in what was a very ugly and scary crash. He hit the ground hard and was stretchered off the track and taken to a local hospital.

MotoworldRacing.com/Suzuki’s Andrew Short went on to take his very first Supercross victory. Short ended up finishing well ahead of Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing’s Ivan Tedesco and Amsoil/Chaparral Honda’s Michael Byrne, Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing’s Josh Hansen and Amsoil/Chaparral/Honda’s Chris Gosselaar.

Results:

250: 1. Chad Reed (Yam); 2. Ricky Carmichael (Hon); 3. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon); 4. Tim Ferry (Yam); 5. Nick Wey (Yam); 6. Josh Demuth (Yam); 7. Larry Ward (Hon); 8. Heath Voss (Yam); 9. Keith R. Johnson (Yam); 10. Clark Stiles (Hon); 11. Jason Thomas (Hon); 12. Greg Schnell (Yam); 13. Casey Lytle (Yam); 14. James Povolny (Hon); 15. Joseph Oehlhof (Hon); 16. Brian Mason (Yam); 17. Kyle Lewis (Hon); 18. Thomas Hofmaster (Yam); 19. Isaiah Johnson (Kaw); 20. Sean Hamblin (Suz).

125: 1. Andrew Short (Suz); 2. Ivan Tedesco (Yam); 3. Michael Byrne (Hon); 4. Josh Hansen (Yam); 5. Chris Gosselaar (Hon); 6. Mike Brown (Kaw); 7. Steve Mertens (Yam); 8. Brock Sellards (Yam); 9. Billy Laninovich (KTM); 10. Kevin W. Johnson (Yam); 11. Troy Adams (Yam); 12. Shane Bess (Suz); 13. Kelly Smith (Yam); 14. Erick Vallejo (Yam); 15. Matthieu Lalloz (Suz); 16. Ryan Mills (Hon); 17. Joshua Summey (Yam); 18. Hans Neel (KTM); 19. Eric Sorby (Kaw); 20. Tiger Lacey (Yam); 21. James Stewart (Kaw); 22. Steve Boniface (Hon).

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.