Hey guys, Ricky Carmichael here. A lot of you know me from my years in motocross and supercross racing, but now I’m racing full time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and getting ready to make my first start in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this weekend at Kansas for Braun Racing.
I’ve been very fortunate to make a smooth transition from two wheels to four. We’ve definitely hit some bumps in the road (and into the wall) along the way, but I’ve made a lot of progress this year in the Truck series with my team at Turner Motorsports. In fact, I led my first lap of NASCAR competition last weekend at Las Vegas, so that was a pretty cool experience to be out front leading the race.
This weekend though, I’ve got a really exciting new opportunity and that’s to make my first Nationwide Series start. Through a great partnership, I’ll be driving the No. 10 car for Braun Racing. Monster Energy, my sponsor in the Truck series, will be on board with me and that’s pretty cool for me because they’ve been my sponsor for about five years now.
Monster has come over from the moto world with me and continued to support my career, so it’s nice to have a sponsor who supports you like that and – hey – having all of that Monster to drink is definitely a good deal!
I haven’t made a lap in a Nationwide car, so this weekend is definitely going to be a learning experience for me. I know I won’t be out there setting the world on fire, but I’m going to be using this opportunity to gain some seat time, log some laps and really just get some good experience in the car so that, as the season moves forward and I make more Nationwide starts, I’ll know what to expect and be able to make good solid runs.
I’ve had some good experience at Kansas in the past – I’ve run twice there in the Truck series. Kansas is a lot like Chicago. I think it’s kind of a forgiving track so I think that’s a good place for me to start. I’ve been there a few times so, even though I don’t know exactly what to expect from the car, I do know what to expect from the track and how it races.
I get asked this a lot, so for those of you who are wondering, I am still involved in moto and still get on the bike. I’ve got a farm near my house where I ride and I also still attend a lot of moto events.
Earlier this week I was at the Motocross des Nations in Colorado. It’s almost like the Olympics of moto where the three best riders from each country come together to race. I’ve been a member of the U.S. team six times, and that’s where I rode my last pro race, so it was pretty cool to go back to the event.
Thanks for checking out my first blog on FOXSports.com! Be sure to tune in to the Nationwide race on Saturday and be on the lookout for me and my Monster Energy/Braun Racing team in our first start together.
