1998: Damon Huffman
1999: Jeff Emig
2000: Ricky Carmichael
2001: Ricky Carmichael
2002: Mike LaRocco
2003: Chad Reed
2004 Chad Reed• In three of the seven years of the US Open, the winner of the race has gone on to win the 250cc AMA Supercross Series championship Carmichael: (`00&’01); (Reed: ’03)
• When inaugural US Open winner Damon Huffman won the ’98 title, his best finish was in New Orleans where he finished on the podium. He ended the 250cc AMA Supercross Series in 11th place.
• Jeff Emig had not won a 250cc supercross race since ’97 when he earned the ’99 U.S. Open championship.
• Ricky Carmichael became the first two-time winner of the U.S. Open. Chad Reed repeated this feat in `03&’04.
• When Ricky Carmichael won his ’00 U.S. Open championship, earned his first 250cc AMA Supercross Series race that season. He finished the season in fifth place.
• When Ricky Carmichael won his ’01 U.S. Open championship, he earned a record-tying 14 250cc AMA Supercross Series wins.
• In ’02 U.S. Open winner Mike LaRocco earned only one 250cc AMA Supercross Series race. It was LaRocco’s first 250cc AMA Supercross Series race in seven years.
• In ’03, rookie Chad Reed won eight 250cc AMA Supercross Series races en route to winning his first U.S. open championship.
• En route to winning his first 250cc AMA Supercross Series championship in ’04, Chad Reed won 10 races and earned his second U.S. Open title.
• Kawasaki’s James Stewart won the ’99 Mini Class at the U.S. open and has not raced inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena since. This year he made his 250cc AMA Supercross Series dbut where he led 66 laps and won three main events. He raced a limited schedule due to an arm injury sustained at Phoenix. This year marks his professional dbut at the U.S. Open.
• Ricky Carmichael could win the grand slam of motocross with a win this weekend. To date, he has won the THQ World Supercross GP, AMA Supercross Series, 250cc AMA Motocross and Motocross des Nations championships. He will become the first rider in history to do so.
• This year’s race will air on NBC for the second consecutive season October 23 from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. EST.
• Returning champion Chad Reed will miss this year’s U.S. Open due to a wrist injury sustained over the summer.Payday
Think a hundred grand is a lot of money? So do these guys. Check out what the following U.S. Open competitors will do with the money if they win the big check.Travis Preston “I would save it, because you can’t race forever.”Kyle Lewis “I would have a hell of a party?just kidding! I would have some fun with it and put the rest in the bank.”Jeff Gibson “Buy a house and some land.”Sean Hamblin “I would invest in Monster and put some away for retirement.”Keith Johnson “Actually, my wife just started a real-estate company. So I would take that $100,000 and turn it into another $100,000.”Ryan Clark “I would buy more land and build more tracks so I could hopefully win $100,000 again next year.”Willy Browning “I would buy a house and build the baddest 50 track anyone has ever seen.”Jiri Dostal “I would put it all on black.”Nick Wey “I would buy a couple of CDs and a bigger wallet.”Jason Thomas “Give myself a raise.”Playing the Numbers
Vegas is all about numbers, right? Well, here are some interesting digits, some which may even surprise you.1931- First Vegas casino is licensed1,700 – Approximate number of licensed gambling places in Las Vegas197,144 – Number of slot machines in the city$100,000 – The payday for the overall winner of the 250 class at the U.S. Open.$9 billion – Annual state gaming revenue$559 – Average gambling budget per trip, in dollars2005 US Open Confirmed Riders250cc
Tommy Hofmaster
Ricky Carmichael
James Stewart
Mike LaRocco
Ernesto Fonseca
Tyler Evans
Jason Thomas
Michael Byrne
Nick Wey
Ryan Clark
Kyle Lewis
Jeff Gibson
Keith Johnson
Justin Buckelew
Jeff Willoh
Cole Siebler
Doug Dehaan
Ted Campbell
Daniel Blair
Rodrig Thain
Jiri Dostal
Juss Laansoo
James Povolny125cc
Chad Ward
Sean Hamblin
Andrew Short
Greg Schnell
Billy Laninovich
Brett Metcalfe
Ryan Sipes
Broc Hepler
Tommy Hahn
Tom Hofmaster
Stephane Roncada
Jake Weimer
Brad Ripple
Dennis Ewing
Bobby Kiniry
Turbo Reif
Logan Darien
Nick Evennou
Ty Morrow
Josh Hansen
Kyle Mace
Charles Castloo
Kyle Phoenix
Tiger Lacey
Alejandro Rojas85cc
Justin Barcia
Terren O’Dell
Blake Wharton
Landon Currier
Shawn Rife
Jake Canada
Eli Tomac
Tyler Sjoberg
Kyle Regal
Blake Baggett
Drew Yenerich
Dean Wilson
Michael Sottile
Zeb SmithKJSC
Steve Anderson
Tron Cathcart
Jake Willis
Drake Dunlap
Brandon Jones
Jeremi Williamson
Jose Flores
Bailey Stefka
Garrett Kinsler
Donny Brown
Darian Sanayei
Joshua Lambert
Chase McCullers
Dillon Cloyed
Nicholas Uzick
Cade Moore
Brandon Leith
