Monster Energy’s Ricky Carmichael Win St. Louis

March 5, 2007, 11:35am

Carmichael returns to a favorite track, receives HUGE ovation from St. Louis fans; Monster teammate Tedesco suffers spectacular crash

CARLSBAD, Calif., (March 5, 2007) – Monster Energy-backed Ricky Carmichael (Makita/Suzuki) did it again! The semi-retired rider took advantage of a accident between fellow front runners James Stewart (Monster Energy/Kawasaki) and Chad Reed and overtook the pack after a poor start to win the St. Louis round of the 2007 Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series.

“Those two guys (Stewart and Reed) went down, so I dunno,” said Carmichael. “I was riding good, but it definitely helped. I’m so pumped to get this win – you have no idea.”

Carmichael, who pulled the holeshot in an epic sideways flat track move in his heat race (No. 1), absolutely dominated the rest of the field in the wire-to-wire win to make the main event. His lap times were consistent in his heat and practice with that of series point leader Stewart, foreshadowing was what to be another great match up between the champion Carmichael and the heir-apparent to his throne – Monster Energy’s Stewart.

In the main Carmichael actually got a poor start and was quickly working to make his way up front when the two leaders – Reed and Stewart – went down in a corner. Carmichael blitzed by and made short work of the rest of the guys ahead of him – including former AMA Supercross Lites champions Davi Milsaps (’06) and Nathan Ramsey (’99) - digging hard for open track in an effort to extend his lead.

Carmichael would then settle in and ride his typical flawless race, waving to the fans in the air over the last several jumps and winning by a comfortable margin despite a feverous charge from Stewart.

“My streak’s coming to an end and I’d like to get one more win out of my final two races,” said Carmichael on the podium regarding the two home state Florida rounds (Daytona and Orlando) that he’ll contest.

For Tedesco the night started out awesome with a heat race (No. 2) that had him challenging Stewart early in the race and finishing 2nd overall to transfer with confidence in the main. But a spectacular early race crash would take him – along with fellow Monster Energy racer Tim Ferry – out of contention for a top spot. Tedesco would wind up 19th overall.