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CHAD REED
450 MX / 8TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> After not racing outdoors since High Point in 2015, Chad Reed decided to make his return to the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross series this weekend for the season nale at Ironman. The thirty-six-year-old veteran from Australia has reached icon status in motocross racing. He is an overwhelming fan favorite and fans across the world rejoiced when hearing they’d see Reed compete quite possibly for the nal time in outdoor motocross. The opportunity for him to race came about just over a week ago when he was seen testing a JGR Yoshimura Suzuki. The team knew they were going to be without Weston Peick for the nal round and Reed was looking for a way to race the nal round so it worked out for both parties. This will also allow Reed to “audition” for a ride for Supercross in 2019 as he has yet to nd one and would still like to compete. Reed showed he still has some speed left in the tank when he powered through the mud and rain in the morning qualifying practice session. He went out there and threw down the seventh fastest lap time of the class. He was extremely happy with that effort and aimed to give it his all and slop around with the top guys in the muddy day of racing that lay ahead. Reed used an old school veteran tactic to get out to a good start in moto one. He lined up on the very inside gate and hopped onto the edge of the track that was grassy to get that extra traction. He hammered it into the rst turn, but he was unable to block out the muddy hole- shot mastermind in Dylan Merriam. Merriam captured the holeshot, but Reed was right on his rear wheel. Things got hectic early and Reed made a few mistakes as he slipped back to fourth by the end of lap one. He settled in on lap two and moved up to third by passing Merriam. He wouldn’t hold it for long though because Eli Tomac would come through and take the position away the following lap. Reed didn’t falter, and he settled in behind Tomac and began logging smooth laps. He was always a good mud rider and it was certainly paying off. Midway through the moto, Ken Roczen was able to nd a groove and move past Reed, sending him back to fth. A few laps later, Marvin Mus- quin would also make his way by pushing Reed further back to sixth. This is where Reed locked it down and would ride it home. He kept churning good laps and it paid off because on the nal lap, he was able to pass Phil Nicoletti to retake fth. He would nish there in his rst moto back. A spectacular nish that many people in the industry did not expect. You can never count Reed out and he would look to mirror that performance in moto two. Reed narrowly missed out on the holeshot in moto one, so he used the same line as he did then and this time it paid off. He ripped the holeshot in possibly his moto ever. His lead was short-lived though because Bam Bam Barcia barreled his way through to take the lead a few turns into the race. Reed would run into some mistakes on that opening lap and fall all the way back to eighth, but he stopped the bleeding there. He would settle into that position and ride a smooth, steady rest of the race. Tomac slotted in behind him a few laps into the race and the two riders rode the remainder of the race together. It was a cool sight to see. One of the sports most decorated riders leading around the leader
of the new generation of riders. Reed would nish the moto in eighth and his 5-8 moto scores netted him an eighth overall on the day. It was great to see Reed back at the races and he sure gave everyone in attendance one awe- some performance.
50 GRITMOTO • AUGUST 26, 2018