It was a dinner like he had many times before, but this time Ricky Carmichael knew the call could come at any moment. It was Thursday, February 15th in Orlando, Florida and Carmichael was having dinner with Bobby Ginn. His wife Ursula was pregnant with twins and although their due date was still 6 weeks away, he knew any call from his family in Tallahassee could be the call.

"My mom called me around 8pm and told me I might have to come home. She then called 90 minutes later and said to get in the car and start driving." Carmichael was going to be a father. At 27 years old, he had conquered the sport of supercross, but now, he was about to enter the most challenging event of his life.

"I made the four hour drive home in less than 3 and a half. Two of my friends were in the car with me. For most of the ride we were just talking about normal stuff, but eventually I said, 'Dude, It's really going to happen. I'm going to be a dad in a little while."

The doctors held up the pregnancy so Carmichael could be there. "I got to the hospital at 2:30 am and a little more than an hour later we had twins. Elise came at 3:31 and Kadin came at 3:33. They had to be rushed to ICU so I didn't get to hold them immediately, but once I got to hold them it was amazing...simply amazing."

Carmichael's been preparing for this phase of his life since he would stop by his parents Day Care business as a kid. "I'm ready to be a dad. I've been around this kind of stuff for a long time. I want to be a dad who is involved. I want to be there."

That's part of the reason Carmichael has made the decision to retire from the sport he loves. He's been riding for more than 20 years, but now he'll only do it for fun. He's achieved all there is to achieve. He's won all there is to win. Now, he just wants to be Dad.

He first started riding when he was 3 years old. At 16, he made his pro debut at the last race of the 1996 AMA season. Since then, it's been 10 years of motocross and supercross dominance. He holds the record for all-time wins and championships in AMA competition. He has more than 100 wins and has never lost an outdoor championship.

By 2001, Carmichael dethroned Jeremy McGrath as supercross champion. "That year was the turning point for me. I hired a trainer and said I'm going to give it all I've got. I wanted to be the king of Supercross. Jeremy is one of the nicest guys in the sport. I learned a lot from him. He'll pass you clean, but that's not to say that he wouldn't get the job done on the last lap if he needed to. It was great to beat him, but with that came the weight of carrying the load of the champion on your shoulders. You not only have to be a great racer, but a great role model as well."

The next season is regarded as arguably the greatest season ever. Ricky won every single moto of the 250 National Championship. It was the first and only perfect season ever. The only year of the next 6 seasons that he didn't win the AMA SX title was in 2004 when he sat out the championships to have knee surgery. He had risen to the top of the sport, dominating like no one before him.

He stayed atop his perch until last month when Ricky bid the sport he loves goodbye on March 17th. That's when he rode competitively for the last time. He did it in Orlando at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando in front of more than 42, 000 people.

He only got to spend about 24 hours with his newborn twins whose birth came on the day before the race. On race day, Ricky rode in a helicopter from Tallahassee to Orlando and arrived at the track at 11am...just 15 minutes before the track walk. Ricky's mom, Jeannie, was there as she has been at just about every race for the past 10 years. Every track he's raced at all season has given him a ceremonial send-off during the pre-event ceremonies, but none were like this.

At least a dozen riders addressed the crowd and talked about Ricky using the words, "the greatest." Carmichael couldn't have been more appreciative. " There wasn't an opening ceremony this year that I didn't shed a tear, especially in Orlando when I saw my Momma out there crying. That'll get to anyone." He was raised high above the stage for the loudest cheer from the crowd of the night. "When they lifted me up, I took a moment to take it all in. I saw all the fans. They were all cheering for me. That's when it hit me. It's been a great ride."

The night was set-up for a storybook ending. The only one not willing to cooperate was James Stewart, Carmichael's heir apparent. Stewart passed Carmichael on lap 13, fended off a side-by-side challenge three laps later, and held on to win.

"The race was a great send off for me, regardless of the finish. I have a lot of respect for James. He is now instantly the guy." As an amateur, Stewart broke all of Carmichael's records and now he's got his sights set on his professional records too. "Records are made to be broken. He's got so much stuff happening around him. He can win for a long time. He's got a lot of opportunities, good and bad. "

Even in retirement, opportunity is knocking for Carmichael too. But for the next phase of his life, he's trying his hand, or should I say feet, on four wheels instead of two. Ricky has a 3-year deal with Ginn Racing. He will start off in the development program that will include a combination of approximately 15 events in late model stock cards, ARCA and possibly the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He has already had his stock car debut at the North Florida Speedway in Lake City, FL.

"I qualified third. My times were good, but I blew up on lap 7 of 25. It's really a learning experience everyday. Restarts. Pit Stops. There are a lot of guys around you." The guys include NASCAR legend Mark Martin who also races for Ginn Racing and has become Carmichael's mentor. "Martin has been there, done that. He makes suggestions, what to change as far as driving style. He tells me to try this and it might help."

Martin was in Carmichael's pit in Lake City. As if the crowd wasn't going to be big for his first stock car race, when it was announced Martin would be there, the crowd was one of the biggest they've ever had. "I'd say there were a few thousand people. That's huge for that place. There wasn't an empty seat. It's not like Daytona or Bristol, but for what we were there for, it was huge. That being said, it doesn't matter what size the crowds are. When you're racing, you're focused. You sometimes lose track of how big the crowds are."

The jump to NASCAR is not without it's critics. Most drivers who signed a developmental program contract are teenagers. There are those who say Carmichael, even at just 27 years old, is too old to be getting started in stock car racing. "Only twenty to thirty percent of the feedback has been negative. A lot of people are jealous. I'm thankful for the chance. I'll be racing late models. It's not like I'm jumping to the NEXTEL Cup right away. It's a shame there are naysayers, but I've been down this road before."

There have been other SuperCross riders make the jump to NASCAR, but they haven't had the star power of Carmichael. Clint Bowyer is currently racing for Richard Childress Racing. Unlike Carmichael, he made the switch at 16 years old. Since then, he's worked his way up the ranks and is now one of the top drivers in NASCAR's top series, the NEXTEL Cup.

"Clint and I used to race bikes together. We're still friends. I also know Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne real well." The camaraderie in NASCAR is very different than in SuperCross. "All the top (NASCAR) drivers all seem to get along. In motocross, sometimes everyone thinks they're high and mighty, but in NASCAR you sometimes see the top 2 guys talking to each other and joking around on race day. I wish motocross was like that."

Unfortunately, he won't have the opportunity to see that through. When asked if there's any chance he'll race SX in the future, he gives a very simple and direct, "no, I'm done." Sure, we've heard that before from athletes who retire from their sport only to be lured back because they miss it, money or the need for competition. Don't expect that to happen. "It won't be tough to fight off (the temptation to come back) at all. I know how hard it would be to try to come back after taking time off and I'm not willing to go out there and race unless I felt I had a good chance to win. I just wouldn't want to do that."

Instead, in addition to his stock car career, he plans on doing some of the things he never found time for while racing bikes. "I will definitely will have time to do other things like golf tournaments, charity stuff, or even just going to the beach during the week. I'm just going to do what I want to do. Living in Tallahassee, I'm a Florida State University booster. I love college football. I'll finally get to go to some games."

His retirement will also give his parents a chance to have some time to themselves. "They've traveled so much over the past 10-years, they'll finally be able to spend sometime on their farm. They're looking forward to just having sometime to spend outdoor with their horses and goats."

His parents must be proud of the man Carmichael's become. He once said, "To be a great racer is one thing. To be remembered as a great ambassador and a good person, that's what I want." He knows his role is much more as just a champion. His role has been to serve as a representative of the sport for the present riders and fans, as well as those who will come in the future. "I always wanted to be an ambassador for the sport as much as a racer. Winning races helped me do that."

As an ambassador, he plans to continue to represent the sport even though we won't be riding. He is concerned about the growing trend of guys not running outdoors. "I'm sad they're not running outdoors. I see the rider's side of things. I've been a racer. Supercross takes so much out of you mentally and emotionally, but that's where our sport came from. They're almost shooting themselves in the foot by not racing outdoors. I need to encourage them to race outdoors. They've just gotta do it. Times change, but they need to do it."

Times do change and so do the names and faces in motocross and supercross. Ricky Carmichael leaves the sport in better shape than when he arrived. For now, he's going to be just plain ol' dad to Kadin and Elise. But don't expect him to play motorcycle sounds in his newborn twins' cribs or to play his DVD's for them anytime soon. "I don't know if I want them racing. I saw my dad go head over heals once and it's stuck with me. As much as I love my sport and I'll be around it one way or another until the day I die, I won't be pushing them into it. I'll, of course, let them choose on their own and if they want to try it, that's fine. But I'm not going to force anything on them."

Ricky Carmichael won't ever forget the night he sat at dinner with Bobby Ginn when he got the call saying his children were ready to be born. From that moment forward, his life would be different. First and foremost, he is now a father. In addition to that, after that weekends SX race, he is now racing on 4 wheels instead of 2. He is now a stock car driver. If he's as successful as a father or a stockcar driver as he was on motorcycles, Kadin and Elise are in for quite a ride.