A flying leap: Carmichael latest rider to park motorcycle in search of safer endeavors

By: DAN HAYES - Staff Writer | Thursday, October 19, 2006 12:36 AM PDT ∞

In the past three years, I've attended two weddings at which the disk jockey played Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" as the bride and groom exit the ceremony.

That same DJ might want to contact a lot of today's supercross and freestyle motocross riders and offer to play at their soon-to-be-leaving press conferences.

Last week, supercross legend Ricky Carmichael added his name to the list of two-wheel stars opting for four wheels when he announced that he has signed a developmental deal with NASCAR's MB2 Motorsports.

And while he's still planning to run some supercross races next season -- including Anaheim, where he's never won -- Carmichael will join Encinitas' Jeremy McGrath, Travis Pastrana and Wildomar's Mike Metzger in the land of roll cages.

Two words: safety first.

"It's amazing," Carmichael said in a press conference last week. "It is a dream for me. It's definitely very challenging."

According to MB2 owner Jay Frye, Carmichael will begin by running Late Models with the hope that he will eventually run an ARCA race and possibly a truck race. But all in all, MB2 -- the same team that just signed Mark Martin for 2007 -- plans on taking Carmichael's development slow.

"One of the things we don't want to do is we don't want to rush him though this process," Frye said. "And with his motorcycle schedule next year, that kind of helps this process."

Count on it that the healing process has made this decision that much easier for Carmichael.

He has won 22 major titles on a bike, has earned more than 130 career victories -- and has had a boatload of injuries to boot, including a major shoulder injury he suffered at Glen Helen (San Bernardino) in September.

In November, Carmichael turns 27. And he essentially has very little left to accomplish in the biking world.

All he has to do is look at a recent injury to McGrath, who is sidelined six to eight weeks with two fractures of his C7 vertebra -- and it just gives a champion like Carmichael all the more incentive to get into a safer vehicle.

And did we mention Carmichael's wife, Ursula, is pregnant with twins?

So why return when there's so much to risk? Being able to play with their children, walking at age 50 -- those are the kinds of things these bikers are thinking about.

Metzger has joined the Championship Off-Road Racing series. Pastrana is in Rally America. And McGrath is working on his own future.

All these guys are still young and have that competitive fire burning inside. And there's no better way to fuel that fire than to move into a race car or truck -- anything that doesn't lead to easy injuries and death-defying jumps.

Stewart wins U.S. Open

Staying on the supercross kick, James Stewart won last weekend's U.S. Open of Supercross at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Despite his shoulder injury, Carmichael finished second overall in the $100,000 challenge, with Kevin Windham, David Vuillemin and Tim Ferry rounding out the top five. Murrieta's Ivan Tedesco finished seventh overall.

-- Contact staff writer Dan Hayes at (760) 739-6643 or dhayes@nctimes.com.

Pit Passes

The Championship Off-Road Racing series returns to Chula Vista on Saturday and Sunday to finish the 2006 season. The Pro 2 class has five competitors with an opportunity to capture the season title. They are separated by six points. Carl Renezeder is in first with 145 points, Scott Taylor and Jerry Whelchel are one point back, with Michael Obert (142) and Todd LeDuc (139) looming. Johnny Greaves has a considerable lead in Pro 4, but Renezeder and Scott Douglas are still alive. Jeff Kincaid has a 24-point lead over Chad Hord in Pro Lite. The weekend also features the Jason Baldwin Memorial race featuring Pro 4s vs. Pro 2s. Drivers will compete for a winner-take-all purse of $66,000 on Sunday. Baldwin, the son of CORR owner Jim Baldwin, died in a plane crash last November after competing in the Baja 1000. ... Poway's Brian Ickler and Ramona's Johnny Borneman III will take part in the fourth annual NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway on Friday and Saturday. Ickler and Borneman will go through qualifying Friday before competing against the top drivers from the East and West

series of the NASCAR Grand National Division. The Grand National race follows the Elite Division race with both being televised on SPEED. The two races have a combined purse of $500,000. Last year's Grand National winner was NASCAR full-timer David Gilliand. ... Ramona's John Hopkins finished sixth overall in the Moto GP Grand Prix of Portugal on Sunday, moving him up to ninth in the season standings. ... Carlsbad's Boris Said will spend part of next week tutoring Rusty Wallace's son Steve on road-course driving, according to the Des Moines Register. ... Ron Capps (Carlsbad) exited in the first round of last weekend's inaugural Virginia NHRA Nationals in Richmond. Thirteen-time champion John Force raced to a semifinal finish and now leads Capps by 46 points with two races left, in Las Vegas and Pomona. ... Ramona's Bill Groves Jr., finished third overall in the Western States Dwarf Car Association race at Barona on Saturday. ... Mike Spencer (Temecula) is fourth overall in the USAC/CRA Sprint Car points standings heading into Saturday's race at Perris.