Carmichael completes third perfect season for Honda

Red Rider Weekend Race Report
MX-Glen Helen Raceway Park, San Bernardino, CA
Round 12 of 12
12 September, 2004

Carmichael completes third perfect season for Honda

The rolling desert hills and triple-digit heat greeted the final round of
the 2004 AMA National Championship at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino,
CA. In front of a capacity crowd of 20,000 people, team Honda's Ricky
Carmichael did what he has done all season: Dominate. In winning both motos
on his booming CRF450R by huge margins, RC scored his second career perfect
season. With 24 wins in 24 races, RC put his fifth consecutive 250 national
championship, and his eleventh AMA title, in his pocket, and repeated his
feat of being the only rider in AMA history to score a perfect season. For
Honda, the win at Glen Helen marked 72 consecutive AMA 250 moto wins.


In his last race for American Honda, RC rode with a number one plate (he
actually locked up the title the previous weekend in Steel City) as a
tribute to the Honda team who worked to put him on top. This championship
is also a tribute to Honda's mighty CRF450R and the tuning ability of Mike
Gosselaar; in 24 motos, RC's CRF450R never missed a beat.

Amsoil/Chaparral Honda's Kevin Windham, who had a shot at second in the
championship going into Glen Helen, didn't fare as well. A broken chain in
the first moto took him out of the race, and out of contention for second
in the championship, but a strong fourth in the second moto locked up third
place in the championship for K-Dub. Team Honda's Ernesto Fonseca rode
strong and finished fifth overall at Glen Helen, and fifth in the
championship. In 125 action, team Honda's Nathan Ramsey returned from
injury to take third overall, while Amsoil/Chaparral Honda's Chris
Gosselaar made his National podium debut with an impressive second overall
for the day.

The drama in the 250 class actually came in practice, when K-Dub and RC
crashed together hard enough to dent the frame on RC's CRF450R. The team,
led by Mike Gosselaar, tore the bike down to a collection of parts and then
rebuilt it around a new frame in time for RC to make the first moto.

When the gate dropped, it was Honda CRF450R-mounted Kyle Lewis who grabbed
the holeshot, leading the field of 40 riders into fast turn one, but the
lead would be short lived, as Chad Reed and Ricky Carmichael would charge
to the front. Carmichael made his move past Reed for the lead on the second
lap, and then it was clear sailing for RC. He made the rough and rutted
Glen Helen track look easy while building up a win margin of more than 45
seconds. Windham had a good start, but heading up the big hill just a few
laps into the race, a rock became wedged in his chain and snapped it,
leaving him with a DNF for the moto. Fonseca took his CR250R to a seventh
place finish in the first moto.

"I'm so happy," said Carmichael after the first moto. "It was fun to race
Chad who has really stepped up his program. This year has been real fun."

As the final pages of the Carmichael/Honda history book were turned, Kyle
Lewis once again claimed the holeshot in the second moto, but this time
Carmichael made a quick pass and the rest was history. RC once again won by
a huge margin, and his CRF450R worked flawlessly, a tribute to Mike
Gosselaar, who's record of preparing RC's bike in 2004 was as perfect as
RC's riding. K-Dub got a good start and finished fourth in the moto and
eleventh for the day. Fonseca rode strong and again finished seventh for
fifth overall.

"This is unbelievable," said Carmichael on the podium. "I really want to
dedicate this to all the crew at Honda. We had a great relationship and set
a lot of records together."

In 125 action, Ramsey, started the first moto in the middle of the field,
but worked up to an 11th place finish. But the real story was the
performance of the Amsoil/Chaparral young guns. Chris Gosselaar rode
impressively, finishing fourth in the first moto, while his 16-year-old
rookie teammate, Thomas Hahn, finished an impressive seventh. Greg Schnell
took eighth, and Josh Grant had a top-ten ride going until he got a flat
rear tire.

In the second moto, Ramsey and Gosselaar raced side by side for most of the
race. In the end, Gosselaar beat Ramsey for third, giving him second
overall for the first time at a national. "The track was really rough
today," said Gosselaar. "I had a lot of fun, and I just held on." In his
final ride for Honda, Ramsey would take the last spot on the box in third
overall. "The track was really wet on the first few laps, and a couple of
guys went down," said Ramsey. "My Honda was running great, I wanted to
finish well today, and keep the momentum going into Supercross." Grant took
ninth in the second moto.

At season's end, the final tally in the 250 class saw three Honda riders
finish in the top five, with RC the champ, Windham in third and Fonseca in
fifth.  Despite a season that saw a rash of injuries to Honda 125 riders,
three riders still managed to finish in the top ten, with Ramsey in fifth,
Gosselaar in ninth, and rookie Josh Grant finishing in tenth.

With its victory in the 250 class, American Honda now has 51 AMA national
motocross/Supercross championships. Add to that 72 consecutive moto wins,
and its easy to see why no other manufacturer even comes close to Honda's
racing record.

AMA 250 Race Results
1. Ricky Carmichael-Honda (1,1)
2. Chad Reed-Yamaha (2,2)
3. Sebastien Tortelli-Suzuki (3,3)
4. Kyle Lewis-Honda (5,5)
5. Ernesto Fonseca-Honda (7,7)
11.Kevin Windham-Honda (39,4)

AMA 250 Overall Points
1. Ricky Carmichael-Honda-600
2. Chad Reed-Yamaha-476
3. Kevin Windham-Honda-444
4. David Vuillemin-Yamaha-351
5. Ernesto Fonseca-Honda-300

AMA 125 Race Results
1. James Stewart-Kawasaki- (1,1)
2. Chris Gosselaar-Honda (4,3)
3. Nathan Ramsey-Honda (11,4)
4. Kelly Smith-Yamaha (9,5)
5. Danny Smith-Yamaha (6,8)
15.Thomas Hahn-Honda (7,36)
16.Greg Schnell-Honda (8,34)
17.Josh Grant-Honda (27,9)
22. Ryan Mills-Honda (17,27)

AMA 125 Overall Points
1. James Stewart-Kawasaki-575
2. Broc Hepler-Suzuki-396
3. Michael Brown-Yamaha-368
4. Matt Walker-Kawasaki-278
5. Nathan Ramsey-Honda-279
9.Chris Gosselaar-Honda-220
10.Josh Grant-Honda-212
12.Ryan Mills-Honda-202
14.Greg Schnell-Honda-180