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 2000 U.S. Open Champion - Ricky Carmichael
By Denny Hartwig
The 2000 U.S. Open ended up as a prequel for Ricky Carmichael’s supercross dominance. Sweeping every heat race and main event during the two-night affair, the 2000 season marked the year that he won his first indoor 250cc supercross race. Not only did he exclaim a point to his competitors that he can ride the ‘big’ bike, he unwound the doubts he had on his abilities in the premier class.
“I was kind of in disbelief,” said Carmichael on his performance in the 250cc ranks. “I was hitting the ground so many times, not even finishing (the race). The ’99 season was terrible. I must have crashed almost every race. It definitely got to me. I’d never been there before. It was terrible.”
In the wake of supercross legend Jeremy McGrath, Carmichael failed to beat him once during his début 250cc season back in ’99. In 2001, Carmichael beat McGrath at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, a place place that just one year prior he sunk to arguably one of the lowest points of his career. Before 62,144 fans Carmichael crashed in the main event, cracking his pelvis and auguring his foot peg through his thigh. This resulted in a stint on the sidelines.
Four weeks later, he returned to action only to crash again in his heat, semi and main event at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, resulting in a forgettable 14th-place finish. This domino effect didn’t stop. The Dallas, Minneapolis, New Orleans and Las Vegas stops all resulted in soil samples for the struggling kid from Havana, Florida. He even missed the main event in Houston due to a practice crash.
This was a new challenge for Carmichael after dominating the amateur ranks and winning three 125cc AMA Motocross National Championships and the 125cc Eastern Regional AMA Supercross Series.
After the dismal ’99 season, Carmichael only sampled a win in ’00, which marked the first of many supercross victories to come. He entered the 2000 AMA Motocross Championship and dominated the series, winning nine overall main events.
While the rest of the industry soaked up the one-of-a-kind nightlife in Sin City, Ricky Carmichael relished in one of the biggest wins in his career. Perhaps the biggest sigh of relief was almost complete heading into the 2001 supercross season. Only one question needed to be answered as Anaheim 1 was just a few months away.
“I had ridden against most of the guys at the U.S. Open, but I had not ridden against McGrath,” said Carmichael. “He was the only question I had going into Anaheim because I had not seen him ride
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