provided by American Honda
June 21, 2004

History was made on Father's Day weekend at the AMA Nationals at Budds Creek, Maryland. American Honda's Ricky Carmichael claimed his 100th AMA professional win, taking both motos against the backdrop of vivid blue skies. Carmichael rode uncontested into the records books as the only rider in AMA racing history to hit this amazing milestone. His teammate, Ernesto Fonseca, took sixth overall for the weekend while Amsoil/Chaparral Honda's Kevin Windham was able to salvage fourth overall from a rough day. In the 125 class, Amsoil/Chaparral rookie Josh Grant took fourth overall while his teammate Chris Gosselaar lead a couple of laps in moto one and finished the day in fifth.

Having strung together a perfect season so far, Carmichael was ready to keep the streak alive at Budds Creek. After getting off the line in second in the first moto, it would only take RC a couple of laps to find clear track and start gapping the field. But his lead was not without incident; on lap eight he stalled his CRF450R and had a hard time getting it started. "Of course at home when you stall it you crank it up first kick," joked Carmichael. "It took me about ten kicks this time, but I could hear the fans and that just got me going." Meanwhile, Australian Chad Reed would take the lead again, but not for long, as Carmichael immediately resumed his crushing pace and passed Reed en route to his seventh moto win of the season.

In moto two, Carmichael took the holeshot and made it look easy, powering away from the field on his big four-stroke to take his second win of the day and achieve his amazing milestone 100th career win. "I never dreamed that one day I would win 100 races. It's almost too hard to believe. A lot of people helped me along the way," said a smiling Carmichael.

Windham, who struggled with his start in the first moto but worked his way up to forth at the flag, once again had a tough start in the second moto, getting off the line in 28th position. "We tried some things today and made some improvements to the suspension and my riding. But it didn't go the way I wanted it to go," said Windham. He was able to carve his way through traffic to take a solid fifth in the moto. Fonseca, on board his two-stroke CR250R, rode consistently all weekend, finishing sixth in the first moto and seventh in the second moto. "It was an okay weekend," said Fonseca, "You keep working and come back the next weekend and try to do better."

In the 125 class, Gosselaar took the lead early in moto one, and led until James Stewart passed on the third lap. Gosselaar would maintain second for a few more laps before slipping to fourth, his best finish of the season. In the second moto, he didn't get a great start and ended up thirteenth, for fifth overall. Josh Grant piloted his CRF250R to fourth overall with 8/5 moto finishes, and Ryan Mills would finish the day in eleventh overall. Nate Ramsey had a grueling weekend; in the first moto, he started in the middle of pack and finishing 16th. In the second moto, he was caught up in a turn-one incident and finished 21st.

The Red Riders have this weekend off before heading to Red Bud, Michigan for round five of the AMA Nationals. Will Ricky Carmichael extend his perfect season? Tune in the Fourth of July weekend and watch your favorite riders reach for the stars.

AMA 250 Results
1. Ricky Carmichael-Honda (1,1)
2. Chad Reed-Yamaha (2,2)
3. David Vuillemin-Yamaha (3,3)
4. Kevin Windham-Honda (4,5)
5. Michael Byrne-Kawasaki (7,6)
6. Ernesto Fonseca-Honda (6,7)
9. James Povolny-Honda (9,11)
11. Craig Anderson-Honda (16,8)
13. Clark Stiles-Honda (8,7)
16.Jason Thomas-Honda (17, 15)
18.Kyle Lewis-Honda (21, 12)

AMA 250 Points
1. Ricky Carmichael-Honda-200
2. Chad Reed-Yamaha-168
3. Kevin Windham-Honda-158
4. David Vuillemin-Yamaha-131
5. Michael Byrne-Kawasaki-106
6. Ernesto Fonseca-Honda-78
12. Craig Anderson-Honda-57
13. Kyle Lewis-Honda-55
14. Clark Stiles-Honda-52
15. Jason Thomas-Honda-52
16. Damon Huffman-Honda-48
18.James Povolny-Honda-38

AMA 125 Results
1. James Stewart-Kawasaki (1,1)
2. Broc Hepler-Suzuki (3,3)
3. Michael Brown-Yamaha (2,12)
4. Josh Grant-Honda (8,5)
5. Chris Gosselaar-Honda (4,13)
11.Ryan Mills-Honda (14,10)
16.Greg Schnell-Honda (34,7)
22. Nathan Ramsey-Honda (16,21)

AMA 125 Points
1. James Stewart-Kawasaki-200
2. Michael Brown-Yamaha-147
3. Broc Hepler-Suzuki-133
4. Nathan Ramsey-Honda-100
5. Ivan Tedesco-Kawasaki-90
10.Josh Grant-Honda-67
13. Ryan Mills-Honda-51
14.Chris Gosselaar-Honda-50
19. Greg Schnell-Honda-37
20. Steve Lamson-Honda-36