U.S. Open Wraps Up With Carmichael And Metcalfe Cashing In – Feature Review – Dirt Rider Magazine

The excitement of this year’s U.S. Open definitely happened during Saturday night’s events. Although the same winners from night one were awarded the overall victories, there was plenty of action, drama and great racing. Carmichael once again dominated the main event, emerging the big winner—and $100K richer. Brett Metcalfe rode to a strong second place finish behind Honda’s Andrew Short, but with Short’s DNF on Friday night, the overall win went to Metcalfe.In the second heat of the Lites, Short got out to an early lead while Kiniry, Hansen and Brown battled for the runner-up position. The close, aggressive riding resulted in a lot of bar banging, which turned into some pushing and words exchanged between Mike Brown and Josh Hansen. Although Hansen finished the heat in a qualifying place, he was docked two positions due to the altercation. He was sent to the LCQ to qualify for the main, and was noticeably unhappy about the situation.”There were a lot of people banging around, but I got docked two positions for it,” an unhappy Hansen commented, “If there’s an altercation, Josh Hansen’s involved in it.”In heat one of the Supercross class, Ernesto Fonseca got off to an early lead. Honda’s Kevin Windham crashed in the first turn, leaving him and Justin Buckelew to start the heat dead last. Fonseca proceeded to check out, and had such a big lead that at times, he was the only one in the arena. Meanwhile, Windham was charging like a bat out of hell, and coming through the pack quickly. He had worked his way up to the top five by the halfway point, and even more incredibly, had moved into second (and was closing on Fonseca) by the end of the heat.The second heat was another exciting battle between Michael Byrne and Carmichael. Byrne grabbed the holeshot again and led Carmichael through the first lap. The crowd cheered him on, knowing it wouldn’t last long since Carmichael was glued to his rear wheel. But Byrner unbelievably led for four and a half laps before Ricky made a pass that stuck. Despite the tight track and nearly five laps of racing mere inches from eachother, there wasn’t a lot of contact; Carmichael and Byrne were both gentlemenly about it. “We both had opportunities to put eachother in the cheap seats,” said Carmichael at the post-race press conference, “but Michael was riding really good, so I had to kind of be nice.”The Lite main event once again saw Short out to a commanding lead. He rode an incredible race; his CRF250R cured from the mysterious ailment that caused the mechanical failure the night before. Brett Metcalfe, with the overall victory in reach, remained solid in second place, clinching the event win, and the title.”I haven’t won a race in America for three years,” said Metcalfe,”It feels unbelievable to win a race and an event. I’m on an emotional high right now.”In the Supercross Main event, Carmichael got out to an early lead, followed by Kevin Windham, Michael Byrne and Ernesto Fonseca. The field began to space out before long, and fans settled in for what seemed to be a done deal. Carmichael maintained a strong lead, but had a close call in a corner with a lapper. Tiger Lacy hit neutral coming out of the whoop section, and as Carmichael went to pass him on the inside, Lacy fell on him. RC gassed it and slipped out from under him before being taken down, and over the following finish line jump, gave the crowd a fist pump, signaling he was okay.Ernesto Fonseca was looking very smooth and collected throughout the weekend, but during the main, crashed in a corner. As he attempted to remount his bike, a handful of whiskey throttle sent his number 10 Honda ghost-riding out of his hands. The airborne CR250 landed square on top of Nick Wey, knocking him to the ground (one of the most freakish crashes I’ve ever seen). Luckily Wey was okay; he remounted and went on to finish the race in sixth. But Fonseca seemed quite bewildered by the incident; he slowly remounted his bike and rolled almost another entire lap before pulling off.Carmichael took the checkered flag followed by Kevin Windham, Michael Byrne finished third for the night to take second overall. Mike LaRocco and Jason Thomas rounded out the top five.Carmichael continues to break records; he ended his season with an unbelievable “Grand Slam” taking the AMA Supercross, AMA Motocross, MXdN and U.S. Open titles. He is also now the winningest U.S. Open rider ever.”It’s been an unbelievable year for me,” said Ricky, “I’m happier for Suzuki than I am for myself. They gave me an opportunity, and we all worked together on this great season.” When asked what he was going to do with his $100 Grand, Ricky smiled and replied, “We’re going to have some fun tonight!”AMA Supercross Class Results – Night Two
1. Ricky Carmichael, Havana, Fla., Suzuki
2. Kevin Windham, Centerville, Miss., Honda
3. Michael Byrne, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki
4. Mike LaRocco, Buchanan, Mich., Honda
5. Jason Thomas, Melrose, Fla., Honda
6. Nick Wey, Dewitt, Mich., Honda
7. Rodrig Thain, Temecula, Calif., Honda
8. Kyle Lewis, Henderson, Nev., Honda
9. Jeff Gibson, Westerville, Ohio, Honda
10. Tom Hofmaster, Arlington, Texas, HondaAMA Supercross Lites Class Results – Night Two
1. Andrew Short, Colorado Springs, Colo., Honda
2. Brett Metcalfe, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha
3. Jake Weimer, Pupert, Idaho, Honda
4. Robert Kiniry, Skaneateles, N.Y., Honda
5. Billy Laninovich, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Honda
6. Josh Hansen, Elbert, Colo., KTM
7. Mike Brown, Johnson City, Tenn., Suzuki
8. Dylan Lord, Apple Valley, Calif., Honda
9. Kyle Mace, Hesperia, Calif., Honda
10. Logan Darien, Murrieta, Calif., HondaThe overall results are currently being revised; an update announcing official overall positions will be issued shortly…