The 25 year old also set a new record for most consecutive AMA Supercross main event wins by a Suzuki rider: Former factory Suzuki rider Mark Barnett won three straight events on his way to the 1981 AMA Supercross title, but Carmichael went one better.

The Florida rider didn't get the holeshot but he completely dominated the 20-lap main event, winning the race by 20 seconds - nearly half a lap – and lapping up to eighth place.

"I turned what should have been a bad race into a good race in Anaheim," said Carmichael. "I just tried to race myself and ride consistently - not do too many crazy things - and put in some solid laps.

"I'm fortunate in that I've always gotten good starts, even when I was on minis, and I try to make wise choices on my starting positions," he explained. "Also, my Makita Suzuki has a good engine and it helps with getting out of the gate first."

Team mate Sebastien Tortelli, got a poor start and finished in 13th place. "I got tangled up with another rider in the first corner," said Tortelli. "So I started way back and then I was passing a guy in the whoops and he almost stopped. I had to slow down and the front end of my bike dropped and I went over the bars."

Defending Champion Reed overcame a neck injury suffered earlier in the week, a crash in practice and a first-turn pile-up in the main event to finish second with Michael Byrne third.

Byrne grabbed the holeshot from Carmichael, Erick Vallejo and Jeremy McGrath, while Reed got snarled up in the first turn and went down, quickly remounting but starting well down in the running order. The seven-time AMA Supercross Champion then stumbled in the short rhythm section before the third baseline triple jump and lost two positions. Meanwhile, Carmichael shot by Byrne to take over the lead just before the end of the first lap.

Added Carmichael about the upcoming race this weekend at Indianapolis: "I'm excited about Indy because I definitely enjoy racing on the East Coast. My home is there and I feel more in my element there. I was glad to get through this weekend with as many points as possible. I think we'll have some really good races on the East Coast and I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Tortelli added: "I am very happy to have made it out of Anaheim because it has been rough on me in the past. But all of the pieces of the racing puzzle are coming together for me and my RM-Z450 is so much better than it was at the first race. So I'm really looking forward to Indy."

In the 125 event, Team Makita Suzuki Racing's Broc Hepler didn't compete due to a broken left arm sustained at last weekend’s San Francisco round.

250 Results:1. Ricky Carmichael (Suzuki); 2. Chad Reed (Yamaha); 3. Michael Byrne (Kawasaki); 4. David Vuillemin (Yamaha); 5. Ernesto Fonseca (Honda); 6. Mike Larocco (Honda); 7. Nick Wey (Honda); 8. Travis Preston (Honda); 9. Tyler Evans (Suzuki); 10. Ryan Clark (Yamaha); 11. Erick Vallejo (Yamaha); 12. Damon Huffman (Honda); 13. Sebastien Tortelli (Suzuki); 14. Kyle Lewis (Honda); 15. Justin Buckelew (Honda); 16. Jeff Gibson (Honda); 17. Heath Voss (Yamaha); 18. Joseph Oehlhof (Honda); 19. Jeremy McGrath (Honda); 20. Kevin Windham (Honda).

Championship Points (after 5 of 16 rounds): 1 Carmichael 120, 2 Reed 91, 3 Larocco 81, 4 Windham 80, 5 Fonseca 74, 6 Wey 73, 7 Vuillemin 67, 8 Tortelli 65, 9 Byrne 64, 10 Voss 55.

Next round: February 12, Indianapolis.