Richard Joseph Carmichael (born November 27, 1979) is an American former professional motocross and stock car racing driver. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1997 to 2007 and in NASCAR from 2008 to 2011. His unrivaled successes in the sport of motocross earned him the nickname "The GOAT"; standing for Greatest of All Time. He won 15 AMA championships (1st), 10 in Motocross (1st), five in Supercross (2nd); scored 150 wins (1st), 102 in Motocross (1st), 48 in Supercross (4th); had two perfect Motocross seasons; was never beaten in 125 Supercross; and was a five-time winner of the AMA's Rider of the Year award.
His NASCAR career began with him competing full-time in the East Series in 2008 for Ken Schrader Racing, as well as part-time in what is now the ARCA Menards Series for Kevin Harvick Incorporated. He drove in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series full-time for three years, first with KHI for most of his rookie season in 2009, and then the rest of his time there with Turner Motorsports. He also made select starts in what is now the Xfinity Series as well as ARCA for Turner in 2010 and 2011.
Racing career
Motocross/supercross
After a dominant amateur career, Carmichael made his professional debut in 1997 for the Splitfire Pro Circuit Kawasaki team. In his rookie Supercross effort, he showed promising speed, winning multiple main events. However, crashes and inconsistency ultimately cost him the title of Suzuki's Tim Ferry. Outdoors, Carmichael was more consistent, beating defending champion Steve Lamson for the overall win at round 1, and went on to win the overall 125cc title.
In 1998 Carmichael proved his ability to dominate indoors as well, winning all 8 of the 125cc East coast Supercross rounds, as well as the "East/West Shoot-Out" event. Outdoors, he defended his title comfortably despite early challenges from Lamson, John Dowd, and Mike Brown.
Carmichael jumped to the 250 class for Supercross in 1999 with the Factory Kawasaki team. He had moderate success in the early rounds, including top 5 finishes, but frequent crashes throughout the remainder of the season resulted in a finish outside of the top 10 of the final standings. For the outdoor season, he remained in the 125cc class, which he won handily for a 3rd consecutive year. In 2000, Carmichael moved to the 250 class full-time. He showed more consistency in Supercross, getting his first premier class race win at Daytona. He finished 5th overall in the final standings. Carmichael again displayed his outdoor prowess in the 2000 AMA Motocross championship, winning the title in his rookie year despite challenges from Sebastien Tortelli.
Leading into the 2001 Supercross season, Carmichael showed a newfound commitment to his physical conditioning, bringing on former professional cyclist Aldon Baker to oversee his training regimen. After contests in the early rounds from defending 250 Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath, Carmichael established himself as the new leader of the class, winning 13 of 15 rounds along with the championship. He then continued his streak of outdoor titles as well, fending off challengers Sébastien Tortelli and Kevin Windham.
Carmichael moved to a new manufacturer, Honda, for the 2002 season. Despite a violent crash in round 1 of Supercross, he quickly rebounded and went on to win 11 of 16 rounds, as well his second 250 title over runner-up David Vuillemin. In the 2002 outdoor championship, Carmichael won an unprecedented 24 of 24 motos to take his third consecutive 250 outdoor title.
2003–2007
In 2003, Carmichael won both Supercross and National titles again; winning 7 races indoors where he faced a stiff challenge from Chad Reed. He won the National title again with 9 race wins over Windham.
In 2004, Carmichael was injured for the Supercross season, he had a knee injury (torn ligaments/meniscus) but came back for the Motocross season to record his second perfect season; winning 24 of the 24 motos he raced and all 12 overalls on his Honda CRF 450; his first effort on a 4-stroke bike.