Ricky Carmichael made history in Budds Creek, Maryland, on June 20, 2004, when he scored his 100th AMA professional win. (Larry Lawrence photo)
History was made on Father’s Day weekend in 2004 at the AMA Nationals at Budds Creek, Maryland, when Honda’s Ricky Carmichael claimed his 100th AMA professional win.
Carmichael’s run to history was not without incident. On lap eight of the first moto he stalled his CRF450R and had a hard time getting it started.
“Of course at home when you stall it you crank it up first kick,” joked Carmichael. “It took me about ten kicks this time, but I could hear the fans and that just got me going.”
In the meantime Australian Chad Reed took the lead, but not for long. After getting his bike started Carmichael immediately resumed his crushing pace and passed Reed en route to his seventh moto win of the season.
In moto two, Carmichael took the holeshot and made it look easy, powering away from the field to take his second win of the day and achieve his amazing milestone 100th career win.
“I never dreamed that one day I would win 100 races. It’s almost too hard to believe. A lot of people helped me along the way,” said a smiling Carmichael.