Carmichael clinging to points lead, St Louis next.

Ricky Carmichael heads to round seven of the 16 race Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series, on Saturday evening in St. Louis, locked in a heated battle for the 2006 championship with Kawasaki's James Stewart and Yamaha's Chad Reed.

Both Carmichael and Stewart have three AMA wins each coming into the St. Louis race. Reed has yet to win, but is hanging tough in the point standings by virtue of finishing on the podium in all but a single round this season.

This past Saturday Stewart edged Carmichael in San Diego with a late race pass in the best head-to-head race of the year. That leaves RC with a slim 3-point advantage over Stewart in the AMA championship, and just a 2-point lead in the World SX GP series.

"Ricky and I had a good battle," said Stewart of the San Diego race. "Throughout the race I sized him up and made my pass. It feels good to ride on a track that has tacky dirt. I knew that after last weekend I had a long way to go so this win feels good. I come to St. Louis trying to make sure I don't over ride the tracks. As consistent as Ricky and Chad have been I can't afford to make mistakes."

Carmichael tipped his helmet to Stewart after their epic race last weekend: "I gave it 100 percent and he got the best of me," said Ricky, a four-time AMA Supercross champion. "I'm looking forward to getting back East and racing in St. Louis. I'm happy to get out of the California rounds with the points lead. It's been a good start to the season."

Reed is a two-time winner in St. Louis and a victory this weekend would give a bump start to the Australian's quest to win back the AMA Supercross title.

While the emphasis will be on the 'Big Three' in the AMA Supercross class in St. Louis, fans there will also get the opportunity to witness the kick off of the 2006 AMA Supercross Lites East Series.

The Lites East Series is expected to be a wide-open affair just as it was last year. Josh Hansen actually tied last year's Lites East winner in the final standings, but lost on a tiebreaker.

Hansen, who rides for Red Bull KTM, is expected to be one of the top contenders as the series gets underway in St. Louis. Among the others expected to contest for the title include Honda's Davi Millsaps, Matt Walker and Branden Jesseman of the Boost Mobile/Yamaha of Troy squad, Motoworld Racing.com's Stephane Roncada, Josh Grant of Sobe/Samsung Honda and Team Makita Suzuki's Broc Hepler.

Defending class champ Grant Langston is racing in the Lites West Series.