Page 24 - Issue45

CHAD REED
450 SX / 6TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> What a different year it has been for the formerly known “Thunder from Down Under” Chad Reed. The Factory Yamaha rider is finally starting to show that decline we thought we would see years ago. He has somehow managed to outpace his old age (for a top supercross racer) but it appears to be finally catching up to him. He has only really had one race where he truly had the speed and aggression to win but it happened to be on a night where Eli Tomac got a rare holeshot and instantly checked out. He finished second in that one marking his only podium of the year. He has still managed to woo the crowd with intense heat race battles with the likes of Ryan Dungey but has not been able to translate it to anything in the main events. He was looking to try and dip into the fountain of youth yet again as we resumed racing this weekend in Salt Lake City.
Reed struggled a bit in practice only able to notch the fourteenth fastest lap time. He has never been a great qualifying rider so he was not worried at all and looked forward to the racing.
His heat race did not go according to plan as he started in tenth and could only work up to eighth. Failing to make the top four transfer spots, he was forced to try his hand in the semi. He found better luck there by starting in fourth and finishing third thanks to last lap pass on JGR’s Justin Barcia. He would be heading onto the main event.
Reed got a decent start in the main and rounded lap one in seventh. He channeled some early aggression and picked up two spots to hop into fifth place on lap two. He held the spot for a handful of laps before engaging in a battle with Blake Baggett. The two riders traded the position back and forth for a few laps before Baggett took it over. Reed then fell back to seventh after Tomac charged through but a few laps later would hop back up to fifth after getting back around Baggett and a downed Justin Bogle. He tried locking fifth down for a second time but Musquin came storming through on the last few laps
to take it away. Reed would end up finishing in sixth place. It was his best finish since Daytona so he may have created some momentum for himself heading into the last two rounds.
24 GRITMOTO • APRIL 23, 2017