Just three races into his rookie season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Ricky Carmichael was hit from behind, sent spinning into a multi-car wreck and placed an ill-deserved 24th on the 2.5-mile Daytona superspeedway, was eighth at the 2.0-mile Auto Club Speedway D-oval in Fontana, California and was, due to no fault of his own, crashed at 180 miles per hour-plus on the 1.54 mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. But now comes round four of the series: The Kroger 250. A 250-lap, 131.5-mile race staged on Martinsville Speedway, a 0.5276-mile, 12-degree banked oval, it is the smallest at oldest track in all of NASCAR.

Words by Eric Johnson

Ricky Carmichael has been entered in the No. 4 Oakley / KHI All-Stars team Chevrolet Silverado for the Kroger 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway Saturday, March 28

After 100 laps and 1 hour, 22 minutes and 17 seconds of racing, Ricky Carmichael pulled into the paddock area of Auto Club Speedway, shut off the 358 cubic inch engine, undid the safety net, pulled off his helmet and climbed out of his #4 Monster Energy-backed Chevrolet Silverado. Pelted with chunks of Good Year rubber and covered in a thin emulsion of grease and oil, the jet black and electric green truck had certainly just been given the once over twice in the San Bernardino County 200.

Taking home a total of seven medals, the Oakley MX / FMX program represented not only the roots of the brand with Jeff Ward’s gold, but also our ability to re-invent ourselves with Ricky Carmichael’s first FMX gold medal in Step Up.