Monster Energy Drink To Back Ricky Carmichael Full-Time in 2010

Monster Energy Drink will continue its long-time sponsorship of Turner Motorsports driver Ricky Carmichael in 2010 and beyond.

The combination of Monster and Carmichael are not only a winning one, but it's also one of the most successful combinations in the world of action and motorsports.

Carmichael had the most prolific American Motorcyclist Association career, winning 15 championships, 150 races, and five Rider of the Year awards.

He earned the nickname the Greatest of All-Time (the GOAT), and much of what he achieved was with Monster Energy as his sponsor.

Last year, Carmichael spent his rookie season running 16 truck races with Kevin Harvick Inc. and two races with TMS.

He ran a decent part-time schedule with Monster as sponsor, picking up two top-10 finishes and then finishing fourth in the rookie standings, as he showed a lot of promise.

It's just tough to learn without being at every race and getting seat-time.

"Monster has been a sponsor of mine for five year," said Carmichael. "So it's really an honor for them to continue to expand their motorsports efforts with me."

"I learned so much as a driver working with Kevin Harvick last year. He encouraged me to make the jump to Turner Motorsports because of the number of races I was going to be able to compete in."

"I know seat time is the key for me to become a successful driver. Last season was a great year for me, but I am really looking forward to this season."

At Turner, Carmichael will be reunited with his first crew chief Mike Fritts, whom he worked with in his first motorsports endeavor in 2007.

With Carmichael running full-time with TMS in 2010, a lot more will be expected from him, and he should live up to the challenge.

I like the combination of Carmichael and TMS. He should improve on last season, and I figure he'll just miss finishing top-10 point wise.

Another benefit for him is that he'll still be driving one of those stout KHI Silverados.