DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Ricky Carmichael, a 15-time American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) national champion and holder of a record 144 career wins in Supercross and motocross, is moving to NASCAR. On Thursday, he announced a multi-year agreement with the Bobby Ginn-owned MB2 Motorsports operation, which fields NEXTEL Cup Series teams with Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin.
But even with his stock car aspirations, Carmichael is not forgetting about continuing his success at Daytona International Speedway where he owns a record five Daytona Supercross by Honda victories.
While he starts a developmental program in 2007 that will consist of events in late model stock cars, ARCA and possibly the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the 26-year-old Carmichael is also planning on competing in an abbreviated Supercross and Motocross schedule with Team Makita Suzuki Racing.
He says defending his Daytona Supercross By Honda victory on Friday night, March 10 is one of the items at the top of his to-do list.
"That’s probably one of my most favorite races that I do all year,” Carmichael said. “I’m definitely looking forward to it. I’ve got it penciled in on my Supercross schedule. I’m looking forward to it. I love that race. That’s my favorite race."
When he captured his record fifth Daytona Supercross By Honda in 2006 breaking Jeff Stanton’s mark, Carmichael admitted he was a little bit distracted by the intimating 31-degree high banks of DIS.
"When we go there for that race, we park our transporters coming up for the tri-oval there,” Carmichael said. “It’s hard for me to focus on the motorcycle race because it’s such a dream of mine to get out there in a stock car on that track. Especially this year, when I wanted to get something going in NASCAR, that’s all I could think about the whole time I was there. Man, I would just love to get in a stock car out there.”
From Daytona Int'l Speedway
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