Millville, MN - August 15, 2004
By Steve Cox

It seems no one can stop Ricky Carmichael. With nine rounds down and only three to go, RC sits 88 points ahead in the AMA/Chevrolet 250cc National Championship. More significantly, Carmichael is still completely unbeaten on the season, having won 21-straight AMA National motos dating back to last year's Binghamton National. If he completes his unprecedented second perfect AMA National season, he will also tie his own record of 27-straight moto victories without a defeat.

It didn't look much more difficult for him at Millville. After Chad Reed grabbed the holeshot in the first moto, and RC was mired in the pack, Reed stretched out to an immediate, sizable lead. When Carmichael made his way into second by the end of the first lap, Reed had more than five seconds in hand over the champ. Two laps later, Carmichael was all over Reed, and a lap after that, Carmichael had taken over the lead.

“ I think I'm improving,” Carmichael said. “Chad has done the same stuff pretty much all year. He puts in some good laps, and then I'm able to kind of inch away. I think I'm setting the bar pretty high, and that's my goal, to try to get him out of his comfort zone. He's definitely stepping up. I thought he would do better than Kevin this year outdoor, just because he has the momentum from Supercross, and he's a smart rider and he learns a lot. I think the first moto everybody made a big deal about us battling it out, but I also came from a long ways back to catch him.”

Reed held on for second over teammate David Vuillemin, former World Champion Sebastien Tortelli and Kevin Windham, who came through from way behind for a hard-fought fifth.

Reed grabbed yet another holeshot in moto two, but this time Carmichael was on his rear wheel much quicker, and although it took a well-planned pass, RC made his way around before the end of the first lap.

“ It was good, you know? I was able to catch him really quick,” Carmichael said. “I was surprised how fast I caught him. I just felt like I was riding really well, and I was able to get by him, and he came back inside of me, and I got by him, then he came back inside of me again, and I just kind of let him do his thing, and I just said I'll just wait and pass him where he can't come back inside me or something. Then he hung in there for a couple laps, and I stretched on out after that. I felt good. All weekend, physically, I felt pretty good, but I was struggling with the bike setup. I'm only rode three times since Washougal, so I'll take this performance, and we're slowly inching up on that title. But you see things happen like what happened in the second moto with Chad, and that's why you can never take anything for granted.”

The incident that Carmichael referred to was that Reed crashed out of second place early in the race on the backside of a blind crest on a hill. The flagger wasn't close enough to the front of the crest for many of the approaching riders to see the yellow, and unfortunately Sean Hamblin barreled into Reed at full speed as Reed sat sideways in the track attempting to restart his YZ450F. Both got up very slowly and dropped out of the race immediately.

Windham inherited second when Reed went down and actually managed to keep within a reasonable distance of Carmichael for much of the race.

"This track is rougher than I remember it for a while,” Windham said. “It was a nice, cool day, and that's good, and really we haven't had very many hot Nationals this year. I was in California for the X-Games and testing out there, and it was like 106 – just brutal. It's a pleasant surprise to come to Millville and have it like it was. The first moto, I got a midpack start, and I struggled to make passes, but it was one of those times where you work really hard in moto one and get fifth, and in moto two it's easy and you just ride around for second. I was able to keep everybody at bay besides Ricky. After my performance in moto one, I was kind of worried about getting on the podium, and I definitely wanted to put my best foot forward here.”

His runner-up finish in the second moto, along with Reed's DNF, moved Windham into second overall on the day. Third went to Tortelli – still the only man to put a 250cc two-stroke on the podium this year. Now he has done it twice (in four attempts).

“ The day was great,” Tortelli said. “The first moto I got a bad start and came through the pack, and the second moto I got a good start and I was up there, but I lost my front end in one corner. I was pretty happy with what I did, because I've been sick for 10 days, and I was not expecting to be up there that strong.” AMA/Chevrolet Millville 250cc National Overall

Results:
1. Ricky Carmichael, 1-1
2. Kevin Windham, 5-2
3. Sebastien Tortelli, 4-3
4. David Vuillemin, 3-4
5. Ernesto Fonseca, 7-5
6. Nick Wey, 6-8
7. Joaquim Rodrigues, 10-6
8. Michael Byrne, 9-7
9. Heath Voss, 8-9
10. Chad Reed, 2-35

AMA/Chevrolet 250cc National Points Standings (After 9 of 12 rounds):
1. Ricky Carmichael (450/9 wins)
2. Chad Reed (362)
3. Kevin Windham (355)
4. David Vuillemin (294)
5. Michael Byrne (237)
6. Ernesto Fonseca (211)
7. Nick Wey (210)
8. Heath Voss (182)
9. Sebastien Tortelli (164)
10. Timmy Ferry (142)