Expectations continue to rise for Carmichael in '10

If Ricky Carmichael wants someone to blame for getting him mixed up in the insane and fanatical world of NASCAR, he can look no further than his pal Clint Bowyer.

He can blame him, yes, or he can thank him.

Considered widely to be American Motorcyclist Association's all-time greatest rider, Carmichael is finding his footing fabulously in NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series.

In his sophomore season, Carmichael entered the series last year with minimal expectations, as his learning curve would be steep transitioning from two wheels to four.

But early in the season, he has already posted two top-10 finishes and sits seventh in the point standings, 10 points behind Ron Hornaday in sixth and 188 points behind points leader Timothy Peters.

And it's all thanks to Bowyer, well sort of ...

Both racers met during their early moto days. Their families became friends as they traveled across the country to go racing. Carmichael's career took off but Bowyer decided to explore his dirt car career and forge a path into NASCAR. But their families stayed connected and in 2004 reconnected in Daytona where Carmichael was bit by the proverbial stock car bug.

"That year I was hurt and had to sit out the Supercross season. I ended up going to the Daytona 500 to watch Clint [Bowyer] race," Carmichael said. "It was his first Daytona 500, I think."

The two-wheel racer was impressed with what the drivers could do with four and was immediately interested.

"And what I knew at that time that no one else did was that I was negotiating my next contract for only three more years. I left the race and went on with my normal deal and later in that season Kasey Kahne's manager called me and asked if I was interested in running a late model," he said.

Carmichael, up for a new challenge, jumped at the opportunity.

"I knew racing in NASCAR was something I could do for a long time if I could succeed at it," Carmichael said. "I absolutely love it and I guess the rest is history."

But what was it about motorcycle racing that made racers such as Jimmie Johnson and Bowyer lay down their bikes permanently? Both Johnson and Bowyer stopped racing on two wheels while they were still amateur. They turned their focus to race cars, while Carmichael turned pro.

Why not stay on two wheels?

"Man, I got tired of falling down and busting my butt," Bowyer said. "You hit a little bit harder here, but our eggs are scrambled anyway, we can do without the broken bones and the broken legs and stuff."

As could Johnson, who started his career as an off-road racer of 50cc motorcycles but then injured his knee in the course of his first 60cc class victory.

"I wanted to be a motocross racer growing up and I still to this day watch and love the sport," Johnson said. "I think I got discouraged when I changed age groups and was at the bottom side of the age bracket and was getting beat. When I went from winning all the time on 60s, moved up to 80s and started getting my butt kicked, I didn't like that much."

Johnson put bikes on hold and took a couple years off until he was ready to race again. He had endured a couple more injuries and his dad was more than happy to retire the bikes.

"My dad had this vision that if they could keep me off bikes and put me in something with a roll cage on the dirt then I would do just fine," said the four-time Cup champion. "We went to work and found me a ride in the Mickey Thompson Series and got my four-wheel career going."

And no more major injuries.

Expected to have more breaks and injuries without the protection of fenders and SAFER barriers, Carmichael, in 23 years of racing motorcycles, had broken three bones and underwent three ACL (knee) repairs, and that, he said was a fairly small amount for the average motocross rider.

Sure Cup Series drivers get hurt these days but more recently it's because of something they've done away from the track; basketball leagues, boating and even Frisbee. Recall Carl Edwards.

Nevertheless, Carmichael has managed to stay in excellent condition. He runs 5 miles and bikes up to 25 miles a day to stay in shape and is furthering his stock car transition with pointers from Bowyer and others in the Cup Series.

"I think it's still about balance, I think a lot of what we do in the Cup Series has to do with balance," Bowyer said. "You're balancing the car front to rear no different than you are the motorcycle with the throttle control and things like that.

"I think you get on bigger race tracks and you have to drive the car loose and you have to be able to balance the car front to rear and you're throttle control is a big part of doing that."

Something Carmichael is learning from Johnson is how to communicate with his Turner Motorsports crew chief Mike Fritts.

"If you listen to Johnson on the radio, he really, really breaks it down a lot more than other drivers. I think that helps," said Carmichael, who before leaving motocross won 15 championships. "When I was racing motocross, as I got towards the tail end of my career ... I could talk to my mechanic and say I need this and this on the suspension, as far as jetting on the carburetor, this on the engine, I could tell him exactly what I wanted, instead of saying, 'It's doing this, can you help me?' I'm getting past the stage of that on the car side of things. I still have a lot to learn."

Racing in the ARCA event this weekend in Texas, Carmichael is adding to his seat time putting him a little bit closer to his goal of racing in the Cup Series.

"I mean, I think in some ways for the little bit of seat time I've had, I've been somewhat successful. I've had some great qualifying runs and great finishes for the lack of seat time I have in four wheels just in general," he said.

Still it takes years of racing on a consistent basis, week in and week out, to make significant progress, he said.

"You can't do it part-time for three years. That's not going to cut it these days, especially when you got guys that are racing the Truck Series, then racing the Nationwide Series on the side, and then some Cup races, as well," Carmichael said. "Three years of full-time series racing will be key. I think by that point you know if things are clicking and if you're going to make it to the Cup level or not."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.