Carmichael nears milestone With 149th AMA Supercross/Motocross win

Kawasaki’s Villopoto picks up second AMA Motocross Lites
Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael won for the 149th time in his record-shattering
career today before a huge crowd of 29,338 at the Monster Energy/Kawasaki
RedBud National, round five of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship
Presented by FMF. Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto, of Poulsbo, Wash., picked up
his second consecutive win of the season in AMA Motocross Lites racing.

Carmichael and Kawasaki’s James Stewart staged another thrilling
performance as the two riders quickly separated themselves from the pack.
Stewart got the best of Carmichael in the first moto when Carmichael steered
off the track in the latter stages of the race to give Stewart the win.

In moto two, Carmichael struggled from a bad start but once again found himself
behind Stewart as they sprinted from the field. With Stewart out front, the roles
were reversed as Stewart tipped over during the apex of the battle. This allowed
Carmichael to ride away with the win in moto two as well as the overall victory.

“I didn’t get the best start in either moto,” said Carmichael. “And in the second
moto, I had to pass a lot of riders on the first lap, which put me in position for
the rest of the race. I put my head down and got behind James but I was
unable to do anything. Unfortunately, James had some bad luck and fell down.
That allowed me to move into the lead.”

Villopoto’s win was his second of the season and also extended his points lead to
16 points (238 to 214) over Kawasaki teammate Ben Townley who finished second
with a 2-2 moto finish. Villopoto walked away with the first moto and then needed
half of the second moto to get around Townley to earn the overall moto sweep.
Honda’s Josh Grant was third overall (4-3). “I have won the last four motos,” said
Villopoto. “We (Townley and Villopoto) are both going to be battling for the win next
weekend in Unadilla.” Townley's second was remarkable as the Kiwi was taken to the
hospital late Friday with severe stomach pain, suspected to be appendix related.