For this edition of Classic Ink, we are going to take a look back at Fox Racing and their dynamic duo of Carmichael and Stewart in the 2000s.
The 2000s were a great era for Fox Racing. The arrival of No Fear in 1999 had pilfered two of their superstars, Jeremy McGrath and Travis Pastrana away, but they remained a gear powerhouse with Ricky Carmichael, Ezra Lusk, David Vuillimen, Jimmy Button, and the Yamaha of Troy team under their tent. Even better, they had “the next big thing,” James Stewart waiting in the wings to take the sport by storm with his debut in 2002.
With Stewart’s promotion to the pro ranks and the ascendency and utter dominance of Ricky Carmichael, Fox Racing had the two biggest stars in the sport flying their banner throughout most of the decade. Stewart’s flash and Carmichael’s grit and determination were the perfect combination of marketing magic during this era.
In 2000, RC moved up to the 250 class outdoors and immediately asserted himself as the dominant rider in the big boy division.
Carmichael’s 2000 season indoors was far less successful, but in 2001, he finally found success with a dominating performance that unseated seven-time champion Jeremy McGrath.
In 2002, the hype meter was pegged to eleven with the arrival of Kawasaki’s latest superstar James Stewart. Brash, bold, and blazing fast, the kid they called “Bubba” backed up the hype and blew people away with his talent, speed, and showmanship in 2002.
In 2002, Carmichael made the surprising switch from long-time sponsor Kawasaki to Honda. While the color of his bike changed, Fox Racing and his signature orange colorway remained a staple of the Carmichael camp.
One of the keys to RC’s domination on the 250s was the utter transformation of his body. Once a pudgy kid with tons of talent, Carmicael’s partnership with Aldon Baker resulted in him becoming one of the fittest riders in the sport. When you combined RC drive with Baker’s training know-how, the two became nearly unbeatable.
Stewart’s showmanship and style were the perfect fit with Fox’s bold designs of the early 2000s.
Like Carmichael, Stewart’s affiliation with Fox Racing went back to the earliest days of his amateur career.
In 2005, Carmichael once again shook up the industry by leaving Honda for Suzuki. As before, RC maintained his affiliation with Fox Racing through the change.
The other big story in 2005 was James Stewart’s graduation to the 250 class. While the RC/Reed/Bubba dual for the title never materialized due to Stewart’s propensity to hit the deck, he did serve notice that he was a threat for the win on any given Saturday.
In 2006, the major talk within the industry was the move to four-strokes by all the major players. Interestingly, by the time Stewart debuted his new KX450F at round one, he had retired his iconic 259 in favor of his new permanent number 7.
With the move to four-strokes in 2006, RC, Chad Reed, and Stew signaled the final nail in the two-stroke’s coffin as the machine of choice in professional MX/SX racing.
In 2006, we finally got the pitched RC/Reed/ Stew battle for the Supercross title fans had hoped for in 2005. In the end, the title came down to the final round with Carmichael capturing his fifth and final Supercross title by a mere two points over Stewart and Reed.
With RC’s part-time schedule in 2007, the door was left open for Stewart to capture his first AMA 450 Supercross title.
With RC’s retirement at the end of 2007, it was left to Stewart to carry the banner of Fox’s number one rider. After going undefeated in the 2008 AMA 450 outdoor season, Stewart would make a surprising jump to Answer Racing in 2009.
Even after RC’s retirement, the GOAT continued to be featured in Fox Racing’s advertising campaigns well into the next decade.
