Welcome back NASCAR fans! The 2009 NASCAR season is underway!  We’ve had one wreck fest of an ARCA race and another wreck fest of a Sprint Series Cup race, both at…..Daytona, of course!

So for something just a little different, each Wednesday, (if you guys like it), we’ll do a write up on someone new to the NASCAR scene - or maybe someone behind the scenes, a crew member or Team owner.

This week, we’re gonna give a big FanIQ welcome to Ricky, yep, the one and only Ricky Carmichael, sometimes known as G.O.A.T.

Rick Carmichael is better known for his accomplishments on two wheels, and those accomplishments are many. At only 29 years of age, Ricky has records on two wheels that may never be broken. In 2002 he had the perfect season in Motocross, winning all 24 of the 24 races that year. A head injury disrupted his 2004 season and he was unable to compete in the Supercross series, but returned in time for the Motocross series and again had a perfect season, winning all 24 races. In 2005 he was ranked as the underdog, as James Stewart had made his way into the series, but again, he dominated. His success on two wheels resulted in a nickname given by his peers, Greatest Of All Time, or G.O.A.T.

By 2006, Ricky had decided to move to four wheels and he signed with Ginn Racing for 2007, as a developmental driver. Unfortunately, Ginn had overextended themselves and ended up merging with DEI, leaving many of their employees without jobs. Ricky, however, was able to continue with DEI for 2007. He found himself without a sponsor for 2008, and therefore without a ride.

In stepped Kenny Schrader, a great mentor of young talent. He signed Ricky to drive for his team in the Camping World East Series, and there Ricky found his stock car seat, so to speak. He finished 6th in points for the year, scoring 3 top 5’s and 8 top 10’s in the 13 races for the year. While driving for Kenny Schrader he came to the attention of Kevin and DeLana Harvick who decided to put him in a Kevin Harvick Inc. car for the Talladega ARCA race late in 2008. Ricky proved he has a talent on four wheels as well as two and ran up front, in the top 5 for most of the race, until a blown tire took him out. It was a heartbreak, but Ricky had essentially proven what he knew he could do and what Kevin and DeLana hoped he could do.

This year, Ricky is slated to drive the number 4 KHI truck in the Camping World Truck Series. He’s also going to drive 3 more ARCA races for KHI. He competed in the season opener ARCA race at Daytona this past weekend, and although he was only trying to get some track time and some more experience in the car, an early wreck took him out of the running. The team fixed the car and he was able to get back out on the track, but it was mostly just to get a great view of the accidents that would occur all throughout the race.

Ricky and KHI have Monster Energy on board this year for all of Ricky’s races. They follow him from the bikes where they were his sponsor in 2005. KHI has also changed the number of the truck from 2 to Ricky’s own number 4, the number he has raced with on the bikes. He’ll be in the 33 for the ARCA races.

Both KHI and Ricky are excited about their upcoming season. Ricky had this to say about his past couple of years, and the opportunity ahead:

"It seems like a long road and I've had a lot of bumps and bruises to get here. But to land here, I'm very fortunate," Carmichael said.

"There was some critics out there. You will always have that. I've kept my head down and tried to be the person that I am and the racer that I am and nothing else. Fortunately for me, I've been able to hold my own behind the wheel and show some potential."

KHI will have two trucks in the Camping World Series for 2009. Ron Hornaday will continue in the 33 truck and Kevin himself, along with other “guest” Cup drivers will pilot the number 4 when Rick isn’t behind the wheel. Kevin said:

"He's done well in everything he has done for us," said Harvick. "He's got the knack to do it. The great thing about Ricky is you don't have to explain what's expected on the (public relations) side or personally how much time it takes.

"All we have to teach him is how to drive the race car and I take that as a personal challenge."

I look for Ricky to do well this year, if he can only stay out of the way of wrecks not of his own making. He is definitely a talent and the fact that no one is paying attention to him is to his advantage. All eyes are on Joey Logano and Scott Speed. Ricky started out as a “young gun” in a different series altogether and took it by storm. There’s no reason why he can’t do it again, in NASCAR.