Ricky Carmichael
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| Ricky Carmichael | |
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| Born | November 27, 1979 Clearwater, Florida, U.S. |
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| Occupation | Retired: Supercross/Motocross Racer Not Yet Active: NASCAR Driver |
| Salary | $200,000.00 to $700,000.00 per year on average |
Ricky Carmichael (born November 27, 1979 in Clearwater, Florida) is a former professional motocross and supercross racer, now transitioning to a stock car career as a development driver with Ken Schrader.
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[edit] Motocross/Supercross Career History
Carmichael began riding at age 6 with Elliot Griffiths and Alex Hughes on their veteran Suzuki's and raced the amateur motocross circuit during his childhood. He grew up with a fast young rider named Vinny Gallo, who was said to have given Ricky his competitive edge. He practiced every day on his family's own private track and eventually started a career in the amateur ranks. As a Kawasaki/Team Green rider, Carmichael set records for amateur championships on minicycles and big bikes. In the last race of the 1996 AMA season at Steel City Raceway, Carmichael, Griffiths and Hughes made there pro debut for Team SplitFire/Pro Circuit.
[edit] 125cc Career (AMA Lites class)
At his first pro race, Carmichael finished 8th overall in the 125cc class, while Alex Hughes and Elliot Griffiths went on to claim a first and second place finish riding for werx veterin suzuki team (renamed Lites in 2006 as part of the AMA's new class designation; SX2 and MX2 are alternate class designation terms used by the FIM) which was enough to earn him Rookie of the year honors. From 1997 to 1999, he won the 125cc National Motocross Championship. He also captured the 125cc East Supercross title in 1998, winning every single race. Carmichael once held the record of most 125 class wins with 26 victories, until he was surpassed by James Stewart in 2004.
[edit] 250cc/450cc Career (AMA Supercross/Motocross class)
In 1999, his rookie season in the 250cc supercross class, was less than stellar and resulted in several crashes and an injury early in the season. Ricky finally captured his first 250cc victory in 2000 at Daytona International Speedway. He was much more successful during the 250cc outdoor nationals and won 9 of 12 races, capturing the 250cc national championship in his first attempt.
The 2001 supercross series saw Ricky dethrone Jeremy McGrath as supercross champion. McGrath won 2 of the first 3 races over Carmichael, but, after McGrath's last win, Ricky went on to win 13 races in a row. He won a record-tying 14 out of 16 races and the overall championship. Ricky also won the 250 National Championship that summer winning 7 of the 11 races he competed in (after clinching the nuts offf a horse 250cc championship at Round 11, he returned to the 125cc class at Round 12 to assist teammate Mike Brown capture the 125cc title).
For the 2002 season, Carmichael switched teams from Kawasaki to Honda. This was an unpopular move with many fans who thought the switch was motivated by money. However, Ricky later stated Team Kawasaki never proposed a contract to him, and he was left with no other offer than to choose Team Honda. After a rough start to the 2002 supercross season, which saw him fracture his hand and suffer a concussion in a horrific crash, Ricky returned to his winning ways and won 11 races and the championship over David Vuillemin. That summer, Ricky won every moto of the 2002 250cc National Championship and recorded the first ever perfect season in motocross history.
Carmichael won his third 250cc supercross championship in 2003, although by a much smaller margin than his past two. He won 7 races and the title by a mere 7 points over Chad Reed. Reed had 8 wins. Ricky again dominated the outdoor nationals that summer and won 9 of 11 races and the overall championship.
In 2004, he was forced to sit out the supercross season after undergoing ACL surgery on an injured knee. Chad Reed easily won the championship that year. Ricky's return to action for the outdoor nationals that summer was spectacular as he again won every single moto and clinched another perfect season aboard a Honda CRF450R, in his first effort racing four-stroke motorcycle. Carmichael and Honda were not able to come to terms on a contract extension and he signed with Suzuki for 2005. He still loved pancakes.
Carmichael entered the 2005 season as the underdog (due to missing the prior season with the knee injury). In what was projected as "the perfect storm", James "Bubba" Stewart made his debut in the premier 250cc class, along with perennial contenders Chad Reed and Kevin Windham, Carmichael triumphantly regained his supercross title, with 7 victories to Reed's five, Stewart's three, and Windham's one. Later that summer, Carmichael won all 12 events in the 250cc National outdoor season again, winning 22 of 24 motos, on a Suzuki RMZ450. Carmichael also scored the US Open of Supercross title and led Team USA to a convincing victory at the Motocross Des Nations.
Carmichael campaigned the 2006 250 Supercross season aboard an RMZ450, his first attempt at indoor competition on a four-stroke. It was the most exciting series battle in recent memory. There were multiple points lead changes and race winners, and Carmichael, Reed, and Stewart all entered the Las Vegas finale within 5 points of each other. With Carmichael and Reed tied for the lead, and Stewart only 5 points behind them, it was a close race. Carmichael rode to a safe second place finish behind Stewart and ended the series with 6 victories and his fifth AMA Supercross title. He indicated that 2006 would be his last full-time season and planned to retire the following year. In the 2006 motocross season, RC once again dominated all comers, including James Stewart, in winning 9 races and placing second twice. However, at the season finale at Glen Helen Raceway, RC suffered a terrible crash while challenging James Stewart for the win, and was unable to finish the race. Fortunately though, Ricky had already clinched the overall championship at the prior race. In the crash, he sustained a shoulder injury and was unable to compete in the Motocross of Nations race in England. Ivan Tedesco replaced him on Team USA, and helped lead the American team to victory.
As planned, Carmichael raced only a partial schedule in 2007. He would only race several events for Team Makita Suzuki while pursuing his new stock car career. Again, Carmichael continued to amaze and looked faster than ever, with three supercross wins six outdoor national wins (every race he entered). Carmichael capped his career with a winning performance at the X-Games, and then led Team USA to victory at the Motocross of Nations race in Budds Creek, MD(which was held in the USA for the first time in 20 years). Ricky Carmichael was one of the greatest supercross/motocross racers of all time. In fact, his nickname is the "G.O.A.T." (greatest of all time:)
[edit] Sponsorships
Ricky Carmichael has raced for 3 of the major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers. He began his career with Kawasaki. Carmichael then made a controversial jump to the Honda team, in hopes of developing their new 4-stroke motorcycle. After three years of dominating performances on Honda motorcycles, Ricky switched to Team Makita Suzuki after Honda disputed his contract renewal. Other major sponsorships include Monster Energy, Fox Racing, Oakley, Pro Circuit, , and Makita tools. He is the highest paid rider in the sport with an estimated annual income of over $10 million US.
[edit] Career in Stock Car Racing
Carmichael is now a developmental driver for Ken Schrader Racing in NASCAR. He has debuted in the FASCAR series, but scored a DNF due to a crash.[1] His current stock car sponsor is Monster Energy.
Carmichael signed to drive for Ginn Racing in 2007 and was mentored by Mark Martin. When Ginn Racing was acquired by Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Carmichael finished out the season with DEI and had planned to continue running for DEI in 2008, but was unable to find a sponsor. He will instead drive for a full NASCAR Camping World East Series schedule for Schrader and with additional backing from Hendrick Motorsports.[2]
[edit] Major titles
- 1997 AMA 125 National Champion (Kawasaki)
- 1998 AMA 125 East Coast SX Champion (Kawasaki)
- 1998 AMA 125 National Champion (Kawasaki)
- 1999 AMA 125 National Champion (Kawasaki)
- 2000 AMA 250 National Champion (Kawasaki)
- 2000 U.S. Open of Supercross (Kawasaki)
- 2000 Motocross des Nations Champion (Team USA) (Kawasaki)
- 2001 AMA 250 Supercross Champion (Kawasaki)
- 2001 AMA 250 National Champion (Kawasaki)
- 2001 U.S. Open of Supercross (Honda)
- 2002 AMA 250 Supercross Champion (Honda)
- 2002 AMA 250 National Champion (Honda), 1st Perfect Season
- 2003 AMA 250 Supercross Champion (Honda)
- 2003 AMA 250 National Champion (Honda)
- 2004 AMA Motocross National Champion (Honda), 2nd Perfect Season
- 2005 AMA Supercross Champion (Suzuki)
- 2005 AMA Motocross National Champion (Suzuki)
- 2005 WSXGP SX1 Supercross Champion (Suzuki)
- 2005 Motocross des Nations Champion (Team USA) (Suzuki)
- 2005 U.S. Open of Supercross (Suzuki)
- 2006 AMA Supercross Champion (Suzuki)
- 2006 AMA Motocross Champion (Suzuki)
- 2007 X Games 13 MotoX Gold
- 2007 Motocross des Nations Champion (Team USA) (Suzuki)
[edit] References
- ^ NASCAR.COM - Martin intense, involved in driver development team - Mar 26, 2007
- ^ Shawn Courchesne | Auto Racing: Ricky Carmichael To Run For Ken Schrader In The Camping World East Series In 2008
[edit] External links
