40 Day Countdown To AMA Motocross Opener: 2004
Saturday, May 14, 2011 | 7:20 PM
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PrintOne week from today, we’ll be gathered at Hangtown for the opening round of the 40th-season of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Don’t forget to watch FUEL TV’s season preview show. Air times are:
SAT 5/14
@ 2p EST / 11a PST
THUR 5/19
@ 10p EST / 7p PST
@ 1a EST (5/20) / 10p PST (5/19)
@ 4a EST (5/20) / 1a PST (5/20)
SAT 5/21
@ 3p EST / 12P PST
Also, lock in facebook/com/AmericanMotocross and www.allisports.com as your social media and web homes for the championship. And now, 2004!
Carmichael showed he could come back from injury and ride a 450 by winning every moto outdoors.
Photo: Simon Cudby
At the season opener for the 2004 AMA Motocross Championship, a feeling that had never been felt before had swept across the pits. There was actually some doubt over Ricky Carmichael!
The 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 250 Class Champion (and 1997, 1998 and 1999 125 Champ) had missed the entire 2004 AMA Supercross campaign with a torn ACL. Turns out RC’s incredible ’03 des Nations ride was not only logged on an underpowered 250 two-stroke, but he was also riding with a bum knee. So Ricky skipped supercross for surgery and rehab, while Chad Reed and Kevin Windham battled for the supercross championship, with Reed coming out with the title. Carmichael had also decided to switch to the CRF450R four-stroke. RC had never missed races before with an injury, and had never raced a thumper. How would he respond?
By winning, like usual. Carmichael even rode without a transponder in practice so no one knew where he stood in the lap times until the racing began. Then he promptly dominated both motos. Did the same the next weekend. And the next. Before long, the competition had a serious problem on their hands. Ricky was going to go for a perfect season again!
No doubt the hyper-competitive Carmichael was stung when Kevin Windham got two victories on him in 2003 on the 450. He wanted to show that, on even equipment, no one could beat him. Through Unadilla and Washougal, two tracks where Windham shines, Carmichael dominated, and by the writing was on the wall. We were about to see another perfect season.
Although he didn't win a race Chad Reed was fast throughout the '04 outdoor season.
Photo: Simon Cudby
Reed rode well on his Yamaha YZ450F, definitely better than he did on a two-stroke the previous year, but not quite enough to get a moto win, although he battled Carmichael at times. Windham, meanwhile, didn’t seem nearly as fired up as he did the year before. If you wanted to find the next challenger to Carmichael, you were going to have to hit the 125 class to find it.
James Stewart was dominating races at the same clip as Carmichael. Through round five, neither had lost a moto. Stewart’s streak was made even more impressive since he was riding a KX125 against a field of mainly 250 four-strokes. For whatever reason, Stewart elected not to ride Kawasaki’s new KX250F, and when Pro Circuit’s Stephane Roncada challenged Stewart to some great battles at Hangtown on one, it looked like Stewart had made the wrong decision. He quickly bounced back and dominated, while Roncada began a downward spiral.
Stewart’s only slip came at Red Bud, when he crashed in the first turn of the second moto and did some damage to his bike coming through traffic. He pulled out of the moto, and Mike Brown won the overall for Yamaha of Troy. After that, Stewart won every other race. Basically, 2004 was just one giant set up for 2005, when Carmichael and Stewart would finally get to meet head to head.
James Stewart won 23 out of 24 motos in '04. Everyone wondered how he would fare against Carmichael the next season.
Photo: Simon Cudby
As for the 2004 Motocross des Nations, the U.S. elected not to send a team. In the decade since their record 13-year win streak had passed, interest in the event had waned quite a bit, so the Yanks stayed home.
When Stewart faltered at RedBud veteran Mike Brown picked up win.
Photo: Simon Cudby
2004 NATIONAL MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
2004 250cc National Motocross
Date Location Winner Machine
May 16 Sacramento, CA Ricky Carmichael, Havana, FL Honda
May 30 Mt. Morris, PA Ricky Carmichael, Havana, FL Honda
June 13 Southwick, MA Ricky Carmichael, Havana, FL Honda
June 20 Budds Creek, MD Ricky Carmichael, Havana, FL Honda
July 4 Buchanan, MI Ricky Carmichael, Havana, FL Honda
July 18 New Berlin, NY Ricky Carmichael, Havana, FL Honda
July 25 Troy, OH Ricky Carmichael, Havana, FL Honda
August 1 Washougal, WA Ricky Carmichael, Havana, FL Honda
August 15 Millville, MN Ricky Carmichael, Havana, FL Honda
August 22 Binghamton, NY Ricky Carmichael, Havana, FL Honda
September 5 Delmont, PA Ricky Carmichael, Havana, FL Honda
September 12 San Bernardino, CA Ricky Carmichael, Havana, FL Honda
Tortelli ended the year strong and was the top 250 two-stroke during the second half of the year.
Photo: Simon Cudby
2004 250cc National Point Standings
Pos. Name, hometown Machine Pts.
1 Ricky Carmichael, Havana, FL Honda 600
2 Chad Reed, Menifee, CA Yamaha 476
3 Kevin Windham, Centreville, MS Honda 444
4 David Vuillemin, Murrieta, CA Yamaha 351
5 Ernesto Fonseca, Murrieta, CA Honda 300
6 Michael Byrne, Temecula, CA Kawasaki 294
7 Nicholas Wey, Dewitt, MI Suzuki 287
8 Sebastien Tortelli, Lake Elsinore, CA Suzuki 273
9 Heath Voss, Mico, TX Yamaha 257
10 Sean Hamblin, Murrieta, CA Suzuki 202
Believe the hype?
Photo: Simon Cudby
2004 125cc National Motocross
Date Location Winner Machine
May 16 Sacramento, CA James Stewart, Haines City, FL Kawasaki
May 30 Mt. Morris, PA James Stewart, Haines City, FL Kawasaki
June 13 Southwick, MA James Stewart, Haines City, FL Kawasaki
June 20 Budds Creek, MD James Stewart, Haines City, FL Kawasaki
July 4 Buchanan, MI Michael Brown, Johnson City, TN Yamaha
July 18 New Berlin, NY James Stewart, Haines City, FL Kawasaki
July 25 Troy, OH James Stewart, Haines City, FL Kawasaki
August 1 Washougal, WA James Stewart, Haines City, FL Kawasaki
August 15 Millville, MN James Stewart, Haines City, FL Kawasaki
August 22 Binghamton, NY James Stewart, Haines City, FL Kawasaki
September 5 Delmont, PA James Stewart, Haines City, FL Kawasaki
September 12 San Bernardino, CA James Stewart, Haines City, FL Kawasaki
2004 125cc National Point Standings
Pos. Name, hometown Machine Pts.
1 James Stewart, Haines City, FL Kawasaki 575
2 Broc Hepler, Kittanning, PA Suzuki 396
3 Michael Brown, Johnson City, TN Yamaha 368
4 Matt Walker, McDonough, GA Kawasaki 279
5 Nathan Ramsey, Menifee, CA Honda 278
6 Ivan Tedesco, Murrieta, CA Kawasaki 260
7 Danny Smith, Middleton, ID Yamaha 235
8 David Millsaps, Cairo, CA Suzuki 232
9 Christopher Gosselar, Victorville, CA Honda 220
10 Joshua Grant, Yucaipa, CA Honda 212
In his last race with Honda Carmichael actually rode with the number one as a tribute to his team.
Photo: Simon Cudby
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HOLESHOT.............
This is balls!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uICX65Eq94Y
i remember this season quite well, if you ask me this was the golden age of motocross.
"Believe the hype" haha! Lol! Major fail! I remember seeing all those alloy t shirts around..
Geraldo - AWESOME clip. I forgot about that race. If the only thing Roncada can say about it careeer is that he battled J$7 for an entire moto, he doesn't need to say anything else.
@Geraldo, thanks for sharing bud!!!! I was there that day and couldn't believe the battle those two had!
In the Lites class everyone except KTM had a 250 four stroke this year. The Kawasaki and Suzuki teams had enormous problems making the bikes survive that year. They would overheat and could not last through all the practices and two 35 minute motos. A lot of grenades went off and ruined what would have been some good overalls by Pro Circuit and Suzuki riders.
RC won 24 motos and JS won 23, that is what you call domination.... Have you noticed, all the haters have nothing to say...........
Hangtown 04 .. Awesome video....love the sound of that 2 stroke Kawasaki above the thumpers...James was incredible on a 125!
@Pao,
And just who did lil'Stew dominate that year? Broc Hepler, Michael Brown, Matt Walker, etc.
Just proves that lil"Stew can ride without crashing if is competing against second and third tier riders. When first tier riders are on the track, lil'Stew tries to ride at their level, over his head, resulting in crashes and takeouts.
If stating this fact makes one a "hater" then so be it.
The reason lil'Stew was a successful 125 riders:
1) Competition was rather weak.
2) 125 suited his no think riding style.
3) 125 is much more forgiving when it comes to recovering from screw-ups.
Put lil'Stew on a big bike with top tier riders and you have a recipe for disaster. Word-up.
^ Stewart is 3rd on the All-Time wins list.
STFU, noob.
i went to a dunlop test day at hangtown a few days before the event. it was hot and dry typical hangtown in may. the track is alot harder to ride than it looks. rutty,rocky and choppy,dry and slippery in places.i have raced there for years.any way, riders were coming in and going out. all taking a few laps, coming in resting and going back out.all except one guy ,a # 4 on a 450 honda. the guy went out a pushed full speed for about 45-50 minutes,on that dry shitty track. it was something to watch, what a stud! while everone watched ricky rip off the laps they sat and stayed cool. under their popups. it was funny! .... then everone wonders how can he win 24 motos. when he rode by me he looked me in the face,he looked beat, hot, and tired ,his eyes were bloodshot, but he never slowed down the whole time.he raised the bar on fitness.nobody was as fit as carmicael.this guy took the best hannah.omara,johnson,stanton,bailey ,ward, kied. larrocco.and many more and raised the bar. all those guys were elite and super fit they tried very hard..........any of you pussies listening.......start training!!!!!!!!!!!! if you want to race at that level
Whoever that chinese person is, go back to china you have no idea what you are talking about. Once JS moved to 250,/450 he would constantly trade moto wins with RC, go back and do some research before you make ignorant comments
sorry i get carried away. i just dont uderstand how a professional racer fades after15 minutes. its their fulltime job. they are paid to win. their not paid to get tired. they are so lucky to have those jobs.they dont know how good they have it,until its gone, then its to late. the window is small. i know ,i lived it.my window closed,and it was to late...shoulda,coulda,woulda....you cant go back!!!
Also, JS is the only rider besides RC to have a perfect season
Pao i agree ,stewart is he fastest ever. he just rides. so far on the edge. ricky did and hannah did but they managed to stay on, if stewart backed off just a touch he would stay on and win more.but it is fun to watch, he does pull off some ausom tricks like daytona.this year.over that center jump..........full speed bunnyhop over it. he is something to watch....also another superfit rider!
Also if you don't know, Mike Brown is a former 125 national champion, Roncada lost the championship to pastrana by a point or so, JS destroyed Reed outdoors and Hepler is also a top rider.
damn i love the flat black helmet stew has on in the berm shot.
I think it's funny how in that first picture only one guy is watching RC! There must have been a good battle between K-Dub and Reed going on or something. Or they were closely watching "The Hype" hahaha. That one girl looks completly board out of her mind!
MC rode steel city that year on the factory honda and for 1 race and 1 race only him and Carmichael were team mates. Talk about dream team. And it did feel like RC and Bubba were racing each other that year
I don't think you can say that RC and Bubba constantly traded moto wins. In 05' Stewart didn't win any motos, in 06' he won 5 motos but 2 of them were when Ricky sat out a race, and in 07' Stewart won 3 more motos. That's not constantly trading wins, that's one guy dominating the other
James Stewart says ----- “If I cant beat them I will land on them and take them out“, This is where it all started and continues to this day. There must be a list out there a mile long of riders he has landed on, taken out and injured, even ending their season. He would definitely hold the unbreakable record for this……….
You will also notice from this point on he will start crashing all the time because he now has “competition” Thats why I laugh when people say whats wrong with Stewart, is it the bike ? Is it the off track distractions ? NO YOU FOOLS, Its the competition !!!!! Just look at the history !!!!
So out of a possible 60 moto's (which is 2 and a half seasons) it read like this, RC 52 Bubba 8. lol yer thas what I call domination.NO other rider needs to be mentioned other than Ricky when it comes to The Great Outdoors. Even Everts was beat a few times in championships and RC will always have that against him IMO.
@Crash Landing amen brother. In the 2 and a half years he raced RC he never once made it through a outdoor season without busting himself.
Golden age? That was the most boring season in history. I don't understand who would want to see the same winner every race with nobody even challenging for a win. Seasons like that are only good to provide contrast when someone else actually wins. Thats why the crowds went so crazy when Kevin won in 03' they were sick of it.
@ Pao,
As others have pointed out, you are wrong about lil'Stew trading win with the GOAT. And the times the lil'Stew did beat the GOAT, it may have been because the GOAT used his head and did not take needless risks in the 1st moto and threw lil'Stew a bone by gifting him a win. And if lil'Stew was able to up pace, it is likely the GOAT would have had a answer for him.
lil'Stew 450 outdoor title came in the weakest season is terms of competition in the the sports history.
Interesting how the lil'Stew fantards tell each other the lil'Stew was the fastestever.
Does anybody know the GOAT's record against Everts versus lil'Stew's record against everts?
@ Pao,
"Whoever that chinese person is, go back to china".
BTW, I am currently in China you retard. Smoking all dat crack must have reduced your IQ even further.
You go back to africa!
52-8 RC vs JS outdoors? Ouch, knew it was very one-sided, but not by that much. RC was both consistently faster and lasted longer. JS could keep up (sometimes) but only by riding over his head. RC just ran a pace that crashed JS or tired him. Or both. Pretty predictable if you were at the race because you could see JS get more and more ragged and then either crash or fade. RC really wouldn't pass him much if he was ahead, he would just press JS till he cracked on way or the other. Plus, often RC did some obstacle the JS wouldn't or couldn't do consistently. The High Point Tunnel jump was a good example. Every year RC would do it as much as he need to to gap or catch up. A couple years JS did it once or twice and it was scary. Wasn't happening and he knew it. I remember the 1st year at High Point, JS was ahead with RC with RC putting his press on. They came through the rhythm section to the rt-hander leading uphill. JS was taking the inside berm, RC outside. JS muffed the berm and lost all speed. He made a beeline for the left side to block/take-out RC (driving WFO off the wide berm). RC never backed off, drove right through JS as they merged and never even looked back as JS went tumbling. Magazines only said they "came together" and it didn't make TV. RC & JS always raced each other pretty cleanly after that HighPoint incident. That was the 1st time they raced close and I always thought it set the tone for later.
I believe the only person to actually pass Carmichael during a race that year was Doug Henry at Southwick in the first moto. Other people may have led Carmichael off the start but actually passing him was another thing.
James' style suits the twostrokes best, he should ride a 250 like in this vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFLmZXhMkRo&NR=1
Sweeping it around like that, he is smoother and the weight is in his advantage..
There should be 20 guys on 2-strokes, and 20 on a 4-stoke. 1 team, 2 riders, 1 four stroke, 1 two stroke...
Would be great!!
Hans