Carmichael takes record breaking run to Red Bud.

Makita Suzuki's Ricky Carmichael is on the biggest roll in AMA Motocross history: As the 2005 racing calendar reaches the middle of the season, with round five at the renowned Red Bud Track 'N Trail on Independence Day Weekend, RC is seeking to continue an amazing winning streak that dates back to July of 2003.

But while Carmichael's dominance this year was not totally unexpected, Mike Brown has been a somewhat surprising story in the 125 class this year. Riding for his own privateer team sponsored by a local dealership, Brown finds himself leading the 125 class ahead of a horde of factory teams.

Many thought 2005 would mark the end of Carmichael's dominance of AMA Motocross. He was, after all, going to finally face Kawasaki's James Stewart, who bettered most of the records set by Carmichael in the 125 class.

Additionally, Carmichael switched to Suzuki, a team that had a less than stellar record in AMA Motocross in recent years. But so far it's business as usual for Ricky. He's won the four rounds leading up to the Red Bud National and shows no signs of slowing despite reaching 'middle age' in terms of a motocross riders' typical career span.

"I'm very happy with the way things have gone so far this season," said Carmichael, who has won six nationals at Red Bud counting his two wins in the 125 class in the late 1990s. "I don't think too many people would have thought I would have been undefeated this far into the season, especially considering I'm riding a brand new motorcycle.

"The competition has stepped up this year no question, but fortunately I've had enough in reserve to hold them off. Suzuki is continuing to improve the RMZ so I look forward to racing Red Bud and beyond," he added.

As he mentioned, Carmichael is racing Suzuki's new RM-Z450 four-stroke motocross bike. It's the first time Suzuki has entered the four-stroke fray in the big class, joining the already established four-stroke models from Honda, KTM and Yamaha.

So far Carmichael has given the new machine the best introduction Suzuki could hope for: "I won't be satisfied until I get the championship and that's still a long way off," Carmichael declared. "If I keep working hard and the team keeps improving the bike I think everything should fall into place."

The only other past Red Bud 250 National winners in the field, besides Carmichael, this weekend will be Kevin Windham and John Dowd. Windham is running third in the championship, but is looking to score only his second podium finish of the season at Red Bud.

Dowd has shocked a lot of motocross pundits with his strong showing in this his final full season of competition. Dowd, who turns 40 in August, scored a podium finish at his home national of Southwick in June and is running a solid eighth in the series standings.

Yamaha's Chad Reed is second in the standings and will forever be remembered as the rider who actually broke Carmichael's 31-moto winning streak. Reed said while he is happy to finally score his first moto win in the 250 class, he's hungry to go a step further and take a national overall victory in the very near future. Reed scored a pair of thirds in his previous Red Bud 250 National outings.

Brown scored an upset win over James Stewart, who crashed in the second 125 moto, in last year's Red Bud 125 race and the Honda rider heads to Red Bud having taken his first win of the season at Budd Creek last time out. That victory extended the veteran's lead in the series to 27 points over Ivan Tedesco.

"I think I over-trained a bit early in the season," said Brown, who is training a lot this year with Ricky Carmichael at Carmichael's track in Florida. "Ricky just gets out there and pounds out lap after lap in the heat and at my age (32) I think I wasn't getting enough time to recover. I think I've found the right balance now in my training, so we'll see how it goes as we get into the thick of the season."

Tedesco is somewhat of a surprise running second in the standings. He's never finished better than sixth in the championship and 'Hot Sauce' feels it's time to prove his ability in the outdoor series.

"I've gotten the reputation of a Supercross specialist," said Tedesco, a two-time AMA West 125 Supercross champ. "I want to show I can be successful in motocross as well. I've worked hard to get ready for the season and it's paying off."

There have been three winners in the 125 class in this season's four races. Joining Brown in the win column are KTM's young hot shot Mike Alessi and former AMA 125 champ Grant Langston. Alessi is fourth and Langston fifth coming into Red Bud. Both are riding with injuries, but the week off before Red Bud should help both.

But there will be a major hole in the hearts of Red Bud fans this year. It will mark the first Red Bud National without local hero Mike LaRocco since 1987. LaRocco has retired from motocross to concentrate exclusive on AMA Supercross in his final years of racing.

The famous Red Bud jump 'LaRocco's Leap' will be the South Bend, Indiana, native's permanent monument at the track.