Ricky Carmichael

Carmichael lives in Havana, Florida, and owns 98 acres in Georgia where he has built three practice courses. His success has earned him long lines of fans waiting for his autograph and, including endorsements, up to $5 million a year. Yet Carmichael's complete dominance has just as many fans awaiting his downfall. When he fell twice in the first 250-cc Supercross of the 2003 season, fans erupted in cheers as he fell into last place. Then again, they cheered just as loudly when he miraculously moved back up to fourth place, threatening to find his way back into the lead before the race ended. A superb recovery, but Carmichael races to win and anything short of an outright victory is certainly a defeat.

With McGrath's retirement after the 2002 season, Carmichael is posed to become the next great king of the sport. Just twenty-three years old, Carmichael plans to race for a long time to come; however, Motocross is a dangerous and daring sport that has crushed its number of competitors, some of whom now live life in a wheelchair. But Carmichael is not worried about getting injured. He explained to CNNSI.com, "It's not the crashing but the losing, because when I lose, I'll retire. And that scares me. I've been doing this since I was five years old. What the hell are you going to do next?" With any luck, he won't have to answer that question for several years to come.