2002 Atlanta 250cc Main (Jeremy McGrath's First Podium of 2002 SX)

This is the 250cc main event from the 2002 Atlanta Supercross.

In 2002, Bud Light Yamaha's Jeremy McGrath #2 was having a surprisingly lousy start to the 2002 Supercross season. After finishing 2nd overall in the 2001 Supercross title chase, Jeremy came into 2002 ready to go, but an injury to his back forced him to take a step back in his results. Through the first 7 races, McGrath only led 3 races (Phoenix, Anaheim 3, and Minneapolis), but he couldn't lead a lap past lap 10. His best finish were 3 6th places in the 3 races he led. Team Yamaha's David Vuillemin #12 was leading the series with 3 wins while Honda's Ricky Carmichael #4 had won his 3rd race of the season at the last race of the season at Minneapolis; the only other different winner, AMSOIL Honda's Mike LaRocco #5 (who won Anaheim 2) was on the sidelines with a broken wrist in a collision at Minneapolis with Team Suzuki rookie, #199 Travis Pastrana. The Supercross world was anxiously awaiting Jeremy to win his first race of the season and Supercross career win #73.

Jeremy McGrath had not won a race since 1/20/01 -- the Anaheim 2 Supercross. He started the 2002 season in a big hole with a 13th place at Anaheim 1; he would improve to a 10th, a 9th, then 2 6th places, a 7th, and another 6th in the last race at Minneapolis after a 4th place start. Jeremy had only led about 20 laps all throughout the season, but difficulty finishing 20 laps strong at 30 years young was proving to be Jeremy's BIGGEST problem of 2002. As a result, Jeremy had yet to land on the podium in Supercross.

At Atlanta, Jeremy had another so-so start in the main. Ricky Carmichael took the holeshot over Pastrana and Vuillemin and ran away with his 4th win of the 2002 Supercross season. David Vuillemin, who was fined $2000 after a helmet-slapping conflict with Team Kawasaki's Stephane Roncada #21 in the heat race, but allowed to race, took a cool 2nd, but Vuillemin gave up his shot at $500,000 for the Vans Triple Crown. Travis Pastrana, who ran in 2nd from the first turn on, ended up pulling out of the race on lap 10 due to a deadly case of the flu. With Travis out, that moved Jeremy McGrath into 3rd, which is where he would finish. The Atlanta win for Carmichael was the 2nd of 6 consecutive (8 overall) before losing to his Honda teammate, Nathan Ramsey #25 at Pontiac. Carmichael would come back to win the final 3 races at Dallas, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas, to total 11 wins for the 2002 season -- 25 total counting his 14 wins from 2001.

Enjoy.