Ricky Carmichael went 1-1 to claim the overall victory and further extend his lead in the championship title chase at a very hot and humid fourth round of the 2006 Toyota AMA Motocross Championship held at Budds Creek MX Park, near Budds Creek, Maryland.
Over 17,000 spectators looked on as Carmichael put his Makita Suzuki into the lead early in each moto and pulled away to easy wins ahead of Team Yamaha’s Chad Reed, who had a 2-2 day for second overall.
Reed led briefly at the start of the second moto, before Carmichael forced his way by in a tight corner and pulled away to the win.
Davi Millsaps looked to have a lock on third overall after finishing third in the first moto. The Team Honda rider also ran uncontested in the position for half of the second moto, however an endo on the back side of the track put him in the pits for the remainder of the day, opening the door for Kevin Winham to claim the final podium position.
Windham came by his third overall the hard way, however, coming from dead last in the first moto, after a first-turn crash, to finish fifth. Then a solid third in the second moto gave the Sobe/Samsung/Mobile/Honda rider his best finish of the year.
MDK/Motosport/Honda’s Nick Wey went 4-4 for fourth overall, while Subway Honda’s Jason Thomas strung together 8-6 finishes for fifth overall.
In the Lites division, Ryan Villopoto came from behind in each moto to claim the overall win with a pair of moto victories. Makita Suzuki’s Broc Hepler returned to racing after spending six months recovering from a broken foot to finish second overall with 2-6 moto finishes. Sobe/Samsung/Mobile/Honda’s Josh Grant was equally inconsistent and finished third overall with a 7-3 day.
Motocross Class Overall:
1. Ricky Carmichael (Suz) 1-1
2. Chad Reed (Yam) 2-2
3. Kevin Windham (Hon) 5-3
4. Nick Wey (Hon) 4-4
5. Jason Thomas (Hon) 8-6
6. Timmy Ferry (Hon) 7-7
7. Travis Preston (Hon) 6-8
8. Josh Summey (Hon) 9-9
9. Davi Millsaps (Hon) 3-30
10. Ryan Clark (Hon) 13-10
Lites Class Overall:
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw) 1-1
2. Broc Hepler (Suz) 2-6
3. Josh Grant (Hon) 7-3
4. Brett Metcalfe (Yam) 5-5
5. Andrew Short (Hon) 13-2
6. Andrew McFarlane (Yam) 8-7
7. Nathan Ramsey (KTM) 3-16
8. Mike Alessi (KTM) 16-4
9. Sean Collier (Yam) 9-11
10. Steve Boniface (Hon) 6-14
