Carmichael injured at AMA finale, Stewart wins.

Ricky Carmichael's fairytale final season of full time competition had far from a fairytale ending at Glen Helen on Sunday when the reigning ten-times AMA champion injured his shoulder in race one.

Carmichael suffered injuries to his shoulder shortly after passing arch-rival James Stewart, on lap six, which handed the victory to Stewart, who also cruised to the second moto win and the 1-1 moto sweep.

"I felt good in practice yesterday and today and it really helped in the motos," said Stewart, who registered his third AMA Motocross win of the year. "I was pretty close to (Carmichael) where I could see him when he went down. He caught an edge and just went right over. It was pretty bad. I hope he's alright."

Carmichael suffered a contusion to his left shoulder in the accident and was forced to sit out the second moto. He will head home to Tallahassee, Florida, for further tests and examinations and it is not yet know if he will be fit for the Motocross of Nations at Matterley Basin in Winchester, England, on September 24th.

"Ricky was in the lead and had just passed Stewart and seemed to lose the front end," said Makita Suzuki team manager Roger DeCoster. "He has hurt his shoulder and is already on the plane back to Florida. He is in big pain but we will not know the extent of his injuries until tomorrow (Monday) morning after he has seen his doctor."

Honda's Davi Millsaps put in a strong 3-2 moto finish to earn second place overall behind Stewart, while team-mate Travis Preston earned his first podium of the season with a third place finish (4-3).

In the Motocross Lites class, rookie Ryan Villopoto put in another solid ride en route to his sixth win of the season - and first pro championship. The Kawasaki rider entered Glen Helen with a 29-point advantage over KTM's Mike Alessi but won the championship by an even larger 35-point advantage.

Alessi posted 2-2 moto finishes for second overall, with former Motocross world champion Ben Townley an impressive third (3-3) on his return from injury.