2005 U.S. Open Champion - Ricky Carmichael

The 2005 U.S. Open marked a dream season for Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael. The Tallahassee, Florida native turned in the quintessential grand slam, winning titles in Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP, the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series and the AMA Motocross before dominating both nights of racing at the U.S. Open. Completing his efforts was the gold medal for Team USA at the Motocross des Nations.

This year’s U.S. Open was to be Kawasaki superstar James Stewart’s début race in the premier class, but the evening before the race he got sick and withdrew from the event. The emerging Stewart, who captured three wins during the supercross season despite a broken arm suffered in Phoenix just two races into the season, was a heavy favorite for the U.S. Open title.

Former two-time U.S. Open winner Chad Reed also sat on the sidelines due to an injured foot. Carmichael’s biggest challenge would be the Suzuki RMZ 450 four-stroke motorcycle, which he, or any of the other top riders, had never raced indoors.

This was Carmichael’s second year competing in the U.S. Open on a Suzuki. The year before, he mounted their RM 250 two-stroke motorcycle, marking the first race of his career on a Suzuki. After finishing second place on the opening night, Carmichael holeshot and led the second night and Reed was vigorously working his way through the pack after an early race crash. Suddenly, Carmichael went down and suffered a DNF that allowed Reed to ride off to victory. Not a great start to his new venture with Suzuki, but, in due time, Carmichael, along with his hard-working crew, more than made up for it

“It has been an unbelievable year for me,” said Carmichael following the second night of racing. “I am really excited for Suzuki, and this is a big night for them. They gave me an opportunity, and we all worked together on this great season. It was unfortunate that Chad (Reed) and James (Stewart) could not race tonight. I sacrificed a lot to have such a great season, and it was well worth it.”

In both nights of racing, he made a statement by winning the holeshot.

“Getting a start is such an important role in this race, and that is exactly what I did on both nights,” said Carmichael.

The only three-time winner of the U.S. Open, Carmichael etched another line in the record books and changed the style of motorcycle that top supercross racers would rider forever. Adding to the illustrious flair of Carmichael’s dream season was the fact that he missed the entire 2004 supercross season with a knee injury, not to mention the hue that Reed cast over his 2003 supercross title where he defeated Carmichael in the last six races of the season.

That was supposed to be Carmichael’s last shot at a U.S. Open victory. At the pre-race press conference the following season he announced his retirement from racing to began a career in stock-care racing. In August this year, he announced that he would make one final run at another U.S. Open championship. Either way, he’s the all-time winningest rider in AMA pro Racing.