Champions, Inc.

First things first: congratulations to our new National Motocross Champions, Rick Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto. It appears that the redheads will take over the (motocross) world.

I finally attended an outdoor National this year, and it was Glen Helen. And I must say, the track was more exciting than I’ve ever seen it. The new section utilizing the REM course was Airtime Central. If anyone has complained about the lack of jumps at Glen Helen in the past, they had no ground for complaints now. That triple step up was plain sick… I made my way to it in time for the first lap of the 450 class moto, and when James hit it just in front of Carmichael, the entire crowd gasped! What a skyshot! It looked just like that old picture of Stewart airing it out over Larocco’s Leap on his 125: front end high, head out over the front fender. Good stuff.

And then it all came to an abrupt end with the unthinkable happening: Carmichael not only down, but OUT. What the…? When has that EVER happened at an outdoor race? And WHY did it have to happen at his LAST outdoor race, just two weeks before the MXdN? Talk about bad timing.

So after scouring the internet for news all week, it appears that the verdict is in, and Rick just may be out. Carmichael himself weighed in during this interview with Racer X’s Davey Coombs, and he says he’s going overseas no matter what; but whether he’ll ride or not is still up in the air. If RC can’t ride, it’ll come down to Ivan Tedesco to pick up the ball and run it into the endzone. I personally think Tabasco can do the job, I just hope his health is up to it.

Any way you slice it, though, American Motocross is looking pretty good. For the MXdN we’ll be sending the World Supercross Champion, the National 250F Motocross Champion and the former National 250F Motocross and Supercross Champion. Even if Rick has to watch from the sidelines, we’re talking about one serious kick-ass team here. Villopoto was CRAZY fast at Glen Helen last Sunday. Everyone talked about how he beat Mike Alessi, but don’t forget he also flat out SMOKED Ben Townley, the guy who almost ran with RC at last year’s des Nations. If we don’t bring home the trophy this year, it will only be due to bad luck, because our boys are definitely bringing the goods.