BUDDS CREEK, MARYLAND, June 17: Ricky Carmichael continued his blitz on the record books by capturing the 100th AMA Motocross win of his career, today, at the Monster Energy Budds Creek National, round four of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship, presented by FMF.
Carmichael’s milestone victory didn’t come easy, however, as Kawasaki’s James Stewart topped the Suzuki-mounted Carmichael in the opening moto, setting the stage for an intense second moto.
Needing a second moto win to secure the overall victory, Carmichael found himself in second place, trailing Stewart in the early stages the race. Carmichael would trail Stewart for the opening 11 laps, missing on several attempts to overtake the lead. But on lap 12, Carmichael made a high-speed pass at the top of one of Budds Creeks’ many hills and claimed the lead. Once out front, Carmichael never looked back and ended up cruising to the win.
“I told you guys from the beginning that it was going to be hard for me to win this weekend,” said Carmichael. “He got me both starts today. I was just riding behind him trying to make a move. On this track it was hard for me to do anything on him. The section I finally passed him, James had a great line on the inside the entire race. The lap I passed him I was finally able to get by him and kept it clean from there.”
In the Lites division, Monster Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto finally got the overall win he has been looking for. After a narrow miss at Southwick, last week, Villopoto put together two solid races, en route to a two-moto sweep.
With the win, Villopoto, who is the reigning AMA Motocross Lites champion, extended his points lead to 14 points over teammate Ben Townley in the series standings.
Townley turned in 2-2 moto finishes for second overall, while Yamaha’s Jason Lawrence was third overall (3-3).
Motocross (Overall)
1. Ricky Carmichael (Suz)
2. James Stewart (Kaw)
3. Chad Reed (Yam)
4. Andrew Short (Hon)
5. Timmy Ferry (Kaw)
6. Mike Alessi (KTM)
7. Grant Langston (Yam)
8. Kevin Windham (Hon)
9. Ivan Tedesco (Suz)
10. Michael Byrne (Suz)
Motocross Lites (Overall)
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
2. Ben Townley (Kaw)
3. Jason Lawrence (Yam)
4. Ryan Dungey (Suz)
5. Josh Grant (Hon)
6. Josh Hill (Yam)
7. Jake Weimer (Hon)
8. Broc Tickle (Yam)
9. Steve Boniface (Kaw)
10. Robert Kiniry (Kaw)
