Throwback Thursday: Charlotte 125 East Supercross First Turn Action
Larry Lawrence | December 14, 2017
Cycle News Photo Collection/Karl Ockert
In this week’s Throwback we go back 20 years to an April evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Jim Neese (85) appears to get across the holeshot line just in front of Tim Ferry (22) and Barry Carsten (34) as the 125 East race gets underway at the 1997 Charlotte Supercross. The SX race at a NASCAR venue was patterned off the example of the Daytona Supercross.
A 17-year-old Ricky Carmichael (70) worked his way to the front on his Pro Circuit/Splitfire Kawasaki to win this race by 12 seconds over Stephane Roncada.
Team Suzuki’s Ferry finished third, but was able to wrap up the 125 East Championship. Ferry won the title that season without winning a race. He finished runner up five times that year in the seven-race series.
As you can tell by the photo, a great crowd turned out to watch the outdoor Supercross event.
In this shot you can see the aforementioned Neese, Carsten and Ferry, as well as Paul Currie (67), David Kratz (79), Ricky Carmichael (70) and others.
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