1999 Binghamton 125cc Moto 1 (Ricky Carmichael Goes for 3 Straight 125cc MX Titles)

This is the 1st 125cc moto from the 1999 Broome-Tioga Motocross in Binghamton, NY.

In 1999, Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Ricky Carmichael was close to putting the clamps on 3 consecutive 125cc Motocross Championships. The 19-year-old Florida man was only 4 motos away from leaving the 125cc class for a full-time 250cc career for 2000 and beyond. He had already signed with Team Kawasaki for next year. After sweeping the 125cc East Supercross season in 1998, Ricky decided to try his luck in the 250cc Supercross class, and he debuted well with a 6th at Anaheim 1. At the next round at San Diego, Carmichael crashed hard with a footpeg breaking a piece of his hip bone; his season was later plagued with crashes and no better than 2 4th place finishes. Carmichael missed 4 races due to injury and ended the 1999 Supercross season a career-low 16th in the final standings.

Coming into this round, Carmichael had won 7 of 10 overalls and 13 of 20 motos, but he was on a 2-race losing streak from bad starts and crashes in Washougal and Millville. Ricky finished 2-2 at Washougal for 2nd overall after almost winning the 1st moto, but FMF Honda's Brock Sellards was able to keep him at bay. In the 2nd moto Carmichael got another bad start and managed to pass Sellards for 2nd, but Planet Honda's Jason McCormick was long gone and cruised to his first and only career moto win. Carmichael thought he won the overall with his 2-2 (44 points), but Sellards sat down for 3rd (45 points) and managed to beat Ricky by 1 point for the overall win. That was Carmichael's first loss since round 5 at Budds Creek when he took a 6th overall (22-1). One round later, Ricky's Pro Circuit teammate Nick Wey stole the show with his first and only career Motocross win to this day. Wey won the first moto while Carmichael crashed early and finished in 10th. Ricky came back to dominate the 2nd moto, but Wey won the overall with a 1-5 (41 points) over Yamaha of Troy's Stephane Roncada's 3-4 (38 points). Carmichael took 3rd overall with his 10-1 (36 points), which marked the only loss for Ricky at Millville in his 10-year career.

Coming into Binghamton, Carmichael held a massive 98-point-lead over Brock Sellards. Sellards' other FMF Honda teammate Tallon Vohland was the only other winner in 1999. He won Budds Creek with a 1-2, but disaster struck for him at Unadilla. After a bad start, Vohland crashed in a blind area and was plowed into by 3 other riders. Vohland scored no points that day, and he dropped from 19 to 69 points down from Carmichael. He sat out the next round at Kenworthy's, but he returned at Washougal. All Carmichael needed was a 19th place or better to lock down the title, but Ricky found his old groove again from that 2nd moto win at Millville. Carmichael finished his 125cc career with 5 straight moto wins, but there was one thing he would not be able to do: he was not going to be the winningest 125cc MX racer.

Currently, Carmichael had won 23 career 125cc overalls from 1997-99; the career win leader was Mark Barnett with 25. Carmichael was 2nd on that list, but the best he could do before graduating to the 250cc class was a match at 25 wins, which he did. Steve Lamson was after Carmichael with 20 victories from 1994-96. In 2001, Carmichael rode a 125cc at Steel City and won the overall with a 3-1, making him the all-time 125cc MX winner with 26, but it didn't last for very long; James Stewart won 28 races from 2002-2004.

Initially, this moto was the start of great finishes for Primal Suzuki's David Pingree #60. Prior to this race, Pingree's best finish for the season was a 5th overall at Kenworthy's. All it took for Ping was a holeshot and he finished a solid 3rd; unfortunately, Pingree faltered to a 9th place in the 2nd moto, which matched his season best 5th overall. At the final round at Steel City, Pingree got another holeshot and finished 2nd behind Carmichael; a 5th place in the 2nd moto gave him 3rd overall for the day. The momentum carried over into the 2000 125cc West Supercross season. He won the opener at Anaheim, but first turn crashes and bad luck haunted him for the rest of the season. Despite leading the series for 5 of the 7 races, David Pingree lost the 125cc West Supercross title by just 2 points to Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Shae Bentley at the final round at Dallas. After both crashed in the first turn in the main, Pingree fought back to finish in 2nd while Bentley crashed again with Suzuki's Travis Preston. Bentley didn't give up and fought back to finish 7th, which was just enough to win the championship; sadly, a stomach virus caused Bentley to skip the 125cc East/West Shootout, and eventually, the 125cc Motocross Nationals.

Enjoy.