McGrath’s a Winner, but It’s Not by Much

OK, now it’s a rivalry.

For the first time in years, there might be a legitimate challenger to the reign of supercross champion Jeremy McGrath.

The sport’s all-time winningest rider won again Saturday at Edison Field--his eighth victory in the last 10 races there.

But the performance by Ricky Carmichael, passing McGrath with three laps left and finishing second by only nine-thousandths of a second, signaled that the rivalry is on.

“That was a tight race--Ricky kept me honest,” said McGrath, who has won seven of the last eight supercross titles and whose victory was the 72nd of his career. “I have to admire him this year for the way he’s racing this year. That was good fun racing and that’s what it’s all about. It’s going to be a long 16 races. It’s finally going to be a good battle the whole season. That was a sign of what’s coming the rest of the year.”

Saturday’s drama played out in front of 44,811, and McGrath’s victory moved him into first place in the EA Supercross Series. Carmichael, tied with McGrath coming into the race with first- and third-place finishes in the first two races, is second in the standings. McGrath has 70 points, Carmichael 67.

McGrath took the hole shot, but Kawasaki factory rider Carmichael had the lead coming out of the Turn 2 hairpin and McGrath dropped to third--but not for long. The two were clearly the dominant riders in the race and finished the first lap running 1-2.

They pulled away from the pack and McGrath took the lead on Lap 5, the same lap third-place rider Ezra Lusk--the only rider to beat McGrath in the last 10 races in Anaheim--crashed. Lusk, fourth going into the race, finished 11th.

Carmichael consistently pulled close to McGrath into the corners, but McGrath’s Yamaha had too much acceleration out of the turns.

The two riders made contact on the last turn of Lap 17 and Carmichael crossed the finish line first, but McGrath took back the lead before hitting Turn 2.

“There were some opportunities I could have gotten him with some dirty work, but I want to beat him fair and square,” said Carmichael, 21, of Havana, Fla.

The race was the first in the Vans Triple Crown of Supercross. If McGrath, the Team Mazda Yamaha owner-rider, wins races in Irving, Texas, and Las Vegas, he will win $500,000. He won an additional $25,000 for winning the first round of the triple crown.

Kevin Windham took third for Suzuki and Mike LaRocco on a Honda took fourth.

Travis Pastrana, 17, the defending 125cc AMA motocross and X-Games champion who thrilled fans with his fifth-place performance in his debut in Anaheim, finished last for the second consecutive race.

Ernesto Fonseca of Costa Rica needed the Last Chance qualifier to get into the 125cc main event, but it was worth the extra effort. Fonseca won for the second time this season.