The reigning World and AMA Supercross Champion - racing the new RM-Z450 four-stroke - beat former Champion Chad Reed (Yamaha) by 2.5 seconds with Kawasaki�s James Stewart � who he�s now matched on 45 points - 13 seconds behind in the 20-lap Main Event.

Said Carmichael, who claimed a record 130 combined AMA Supercross/ Motocross victories: �I feel good, I�m happy to get the win and it was a good race for the fans.

But the evening didn�t get off to the best of starts for the defending champion: Paired in the first heat race with team mate Ivan Tedesco - who got a great start and finished an impressive second - he got caught up in a turn-one melee. But he raced to third place by the end of the heat�s eight laps.

�I was unhappy with the heat race,� Carmichael admitted. �I was pretty upset after that. I knew I was better than that and I was pretty disappointed.�

Tedesco was at the front at the start of the 20-lap Main Event behind holeshotter Jeremy McGrath. The aggressive rider was in third position on the first lap and moved into second fairly quickly, but he fell challenging for the lead.

Said Tedesco: �I was in a good flow but I guess I tried a little too hard to catch Jeremy. The track was really slick and the front end just washed out. No doubt about it, if you pushed too hard on that track, it was going to put you on the ground.�

Meanwhile, Carmichael again suffered a poor start, but he charged hard and picked off his competitors quickly and by the mid-race distance, the Floridian had taken the lead and rode consistently and smoothly to take the win.

�It was a good race,� said Carmichael. �I still didn�t get a good start but I just tried to plug away and not make any mistakes. I made a few mistakes, but fortunately not big ones. The championship fight is turning out to be pretty good. I�m trying to have patience and enjoy the moment and the momentum and may the best man win�

�Hopefully, we�ll all stay healthy and give the fans what they want to see.�

With this victory under his belt, Carmichael has nothing but praise for Phoenix and enthusiasm about next weekend�s second Anaheim event.

He said: �I love Phoenix. I love everything about this place. And now I just want to try and build on this momentum and take that to Anaheim. It�s a long season.�

250 Main: 1 Ricky Carmichael (Makita Suzuki), 2 Chad Reed (Yamaha), 3 James Stewart (Kawasaki), 4 Jeremy McGrath (Honda), 5 Nick Wey (Honda), 6 Michael Byrne (Kawasaki), 7 Ernesto Fonseca (Honda), 8 Mike LaRocco (Honda), 9 Ivan Tedesco (Makita Suzuki), 10 David Vuillemin (Honda).

AMA Supercross Points (after 2 rounds): 1 Carmichael 45, 2 Stewart 45, 3 Reed 44, 4 LaRocco 31, 5 Wey 30, 6 Fonseca 29, 7 McGrath 28, 8 Tedesco 28, 9 Byrne 27, 10 Preston 23.

World Supercross Points (after 4 rounds): 1 Stewart 95, 2 Carmichael 89, 3 Reed 84, 4 Tedesco 69, 5 Wey 63, 6 Byrne 52, 7 Gibson 50, 8 Thomas 48, 9 Clark 42, 10 Bucklew 38.