NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series
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TRUCKS: Carmichael Makes The Big Jump
Ricky Carmichael hopes to go from motocross legend to NASCAR superstar...
Kenny Bruce  | http://www.scenedaily.com  |  Posted December 28, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Ricky Carmichael has extensive experience racing on dirt from his days in motocross. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
It wasn’t the result Ricky Carmichael had hoped for.

Making just his third start on a superspeedway, Carmichael made contact with former teammate Ron Hornaday in the season-opening Truck Series race at Daytona, and the ensuing crash took both drivers out of contention.

Looking back on the incident, Carmichael admits he was worried about his reputation. The last thing he wanted was to be thought of as a wild driver.

“Just because of my position and my background, I feel like I’m under the gun. ‘He’s out of control’ or this and that,” Carmichael says. “I pride myself on not being that guy.

“There are drivers out there that don’t have the best reputation and I don’t want to be that guy. So that was very frustrating for me. But what was most frustrating was who I ran into. We all know how close we are as friends, what Kevin Harvick Inc. has done for me. I hate for that to happen to anybody, but it made it 10 times worse that it happened to them.”

Almost apologetically, he adds, “I still hate even talking about it.”

Carmichael, who drives for Turner Motorsports, is still relatively unknown in NASCAR – he made 17 starts for KHI in 2009 – but he is a living, breathing legend in the world of professional motocross racing.

That was obvious as Carmichael made the rounds at a March AMA Supercross event. Autograph seekers and fans wanting to take his picture constantly surrounded him. Kids rushed toward him just to stand by his side.

Three years after his last competitive motocross event, Carmichael doesn’t seek attention, yet it’s something he can’t shake.

“I like him because he’s clean-cut; he doesn’t wear his hair long,” 13-year-old Drew Schaper of Birmingham, Ala., says of Carmichael. “And he doesn’t have tattoos.”
Ricky Carmichael will compete in his second Prelude to the Dream event this year. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Schaper was attending the event with his father Rob and older brother Zack.

“I know he’s got a lot of fans here,” Rob Schaper says, “and I think there will be a big pick-up in the number of fans that follow him in his Truck career.”

Carmichael won a record 150 AMA events before retiring after the 2007 season. He’s a three-time champion in 125cc competition. He also won five Supercross titles and seven national motocross crowns.


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Kenny Bruce

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