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Chad Mark Reed (born 15 March 1982, in Kurri Kurri, Australia) is an Australian former professional motocross and supercross racer. He is a two-time AMA Supercross 450cc champion, a one-time AMA Motocross 450cc champion, record holder for the most main event starts in AMA Supercross history with 265 starts, as well as podium finishes with 132.[1]
As a child, Chad owned a horse named Fern. After his cousin Craig Anderson started riding a bike, Chad discovered his interest in motorcycles and decided to trade in his horse in place for his first bike - a Yamaha PW50.[2] The family soon purchased a small property located just outside of Kurri Kurri.[3] The 25-acre property was overgrown with thick bushland and was yet to even have a house or electricity on the land. The family went to the property to clear the tea tree shrubs by hand at any spare chance they could find, which resulted in the family home being built along with several tracks for Chad to practice on.
Reed's family supported him along the way in his early years of competition. Without fail, weekend after weekend, his father Mark, his mother Robyn, and his younger brother Troy, spent the majority of their time traveling around Australia so that Chad could compete against the rest of the country. Chad was often dubbed the 'underdog', but that was certainly something that would change in the future. Honing in on his skills on 80cc bikes, Reed's amateur career started to take off in 1997 when he took the top spot at the Australian Junior Championship.
Reed formally began his professional career in Australia in 1998. He emerged from the Australian junior ranks to compete in the then-premier 250cc class, bypassing the traditional stepping stone of 125cc racing. Reed was immediately competitive in both motocross and supercross, winning the Australian 250cc Supercross Championship in 1999 and 2000.[4]
Reed revisited his home in Australia to race the Raymond Terrace, round 4, of the Australian Motocross series. He beat Daniel Reardon with a 1-1 performance, providing Reardon with international notoriety for holding Reed off for a significant portion of the races.[5]
In 2008 Reed was responsible for developing and partially funding the new Australian Supercross Championships, dubbed Super-X. He also competed in the series and dominated all but one race to take the Australian Supercross Championship. Reed won 6 out of the 7 races.[6]
Chad Reed, aboard his new Monster Energy Kawasaki KX-450F, won 4 out of the 7 rounds of the series. Reed won the championship by beating Daniel Reardon by 23 points. This is Reed's fourth Australian Supercross Championship.[7]
Reed raced the first round of the 2010 Super X series held at the Newcastle International Sports Centre, Newcastle on a Honda sponsored by Vodafone. Reed won the event beating Americans Josh Hansen and Justin Brayton who finished in second and third respectively.[8]
Reed travelled to Europe in 2001 to compete in the FIM World 250ccc Motocross Championships, riding for Jan DeGroot's factory Kawasaki team. Reed was a revelation aboard his KX250, winning the Grand Prix of Lierop (Netherlands) and eventually finishing the year second to multi-time World Champion Mickaël Pichon. He is the first Australian to win a world 250cc GP race.
Reed moved to the United States in 2002 and picked up a ride with Yamaha of Troy. Reed won all but two Supercross races that season to win the 125cc East Coast Supercross championship.[9]
Reed won his first and only 125cc National victory at Mount Morris, Pennsylvania, and finished the third season behind James Stewart Jr. and Branden Jesseman.
Reed's first-ever SX race was in San Diego, California.
Reed moved to the 250cc class in 2003 riding for Factory Yamaha. In his rookie 250cc Supercross season Reed finished second to chief rival Ricky Carmichael, losing the title by only 7 points to Carmichael despite winning 8 races to Carmichael's 7.
Reed finished his first 250cc Motocross season a distant third behind Carmichael and Kevin Windham.
In 2004 Reed won the 2004 AMA 250cc Supercross series, battling with Kevin Windham, Michael Byrne, and Tim Ferry with Reed earning 10 victories for the season.
Reed finished 2nd to Carmichael in that year's motocross season.
2005 marked the entry of James Stewart to the 250cc class alongside Reed and Carmichael. Each scored multiple wins. Carmichael won the championship with seven wins, Reed was in second with five wins, and Stewart was in third with three wins.
In 2006, despite suffering a level three shoulder separation mid-season, Reed remained highly competitive. His injury, however, hindered his ability to compete at his highest level. In the final event of the season, Reed and Carmichael were tied for the points lead, resulting in the closest AMA Supercross championship in history. Reed secured third place that night, while Carmichael took second place, resulting in Reed narrowly losing the 2006 AMA Supercross title to Carmichael by only two points. Throughout the season, Reed won two races. Reed's shoulder injury resurfaced, causing him to withdraw from the Nationals after the Millville round, where he had held second place.[10]
In 2007 Reed announced his plans to leave the factory ktm team to form his own private team, similar to Jeremy McGrath in the past. Obtaining support from Yamaha, The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Thor, and Nike, even brought in McGrath's former team manager Larry Brooks to spearhead the new effort, dubbed L&M Racing. Reed took 1 win for the season and finished 2nd in the title chase to James Stewart Jr.
In 2008 Reed won nine out of 14 races in the AMA Supercross season to edge out Kevin Windham and win the AMA Supercross title for the second time. This was a season full of great battles with Reed duking it out against Davi Millsaps, Kevin Windham, and Josh Hill for race wins, with Reed, in the end, winning the championship by 13 points over Kevin Windham.[11]
Reed joined team Rockstar Makita Suzuki for the 2009 season. Reed battled hard with his rival James Stewart Jr. during the 2009 AMA Supercross championship, with the pair coming to blows on more than one occasion. He narrowly lost the title to Stewart by 4 points. Reed won 3 races this season.
Reed elected to race the 2009 motocross season after a 2-year hiatus. He won the AMA Motocross Championship at round ten, out of the 12-round series. He also won the Monster Energy Triple Crown Championship during the motocross season. He won 5 out of the 12 races in this season.[12]
For the 2010 season, Reed joined new teammate Ryan Villopoto riding the KX-450F for the Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team.[13] Reed failed to finish during the round one final due to a collision with another racer's footpeg, breaking spokes in his front wheel. During round two he collided with James Stewart Jr. in the final, breaking his hand which resulted in another DNF. Reed returned to race round 13 of the Supercross series, and despite having a bad start, Reed finished fourth. Chad Reed withdrew from the competition stating he has Epstein-Barr virus. In an open letter published on his website, Reed admits that becoming a new dad and also the death of his close personal friend Andrew McFarlane may be reasons people look to for his poor performance.[14]
After racing & winning the first round of Super X in Newcastle, Australia in October, Reed returned to the US to test various bikes and teams searching for a suitable 2011 team structure. Reed embraced social media using Twitter[15] to publish hints as to the likely brand of bike and apparel that he would be using in the 2011 AMA Supercross series. Failing negotiations with established teams, Reed decided to create his own team, TwoTwo Motorsports, aboard a Honda CRF450R, with support from Honda, Bel-Ray, Shift and many other sponsors. The 2011 season had been a 5-way battle between Reed, Ryan Villopoto, James Stewart Jr., Ryan Dungey and Trey Canard. It came down to the final race in Las Vegas between Ryan Villopoto, Reed, and Ryan Dungey. Reed won the Las Vegas race but lost the championship by 4 points to Ryan Villopoto. Reed was presented with the "2011 Rock Hard - Ride Hard Bret Michaels Supercross Award." at Vegas for his great work starting a new team and still finishing 2nd in the championship.
While competing at the seventh round of the 2012 AMA Supercross series in Dallas, Texas and going in an Epic Battle with Ryan Villopoto, Reed crashed and sustained numerous injuries including his left knee. The most serious of the injuries required surgery for a torn ACL. Consequently, Reed was forced to drop out of the 2012 title chase while sitting second in overall championship points.
After the long hiatus, Reed returned to racing with his new bike and a new sponsor, Discount Tire, but he kept his TwoTwo Motorsports Honda. While battling with Ryan Villopoto, Davi Millsaps, Ryan Dungey, Trey Canard and Justin Barcia, Reed struggled to ride hard and pass for the lead. On 23 March 2013, after the race in Toronto, Canada Reed announced that he underwent knee surgery on Tuesday, and missed one round of competition in Houston, Texas. He came back to Minneapolis to race, however, in the Main Event in Seattle. Reed crashed in the first corner, where he tweaked his right arm. He came back to Salt Lake City, but had problems with his engine, putting him in the LCQ. In the Main Event in Salt Lake City, he was lapped by the leaders Ryan Villopoto, Davi Millsaps, and Ryan Dungey on Lap 16, and finished in 10th Place.
After a disappointing 2013 season, finishing twice on the podium, one in Anaheim 2, and the other in St. Louis, Reed returned to racing. He switched brands from Honda to Kawasaki, but he continued to ride for his team TwoTwo Motorsports and for Discount Tire. Throughout the season, Reed continued to struggle and ride a new bike. He finished 3rd in the Season Opener in Anaheim. He got back up passed Ken Roczen for 2nd place and then James Stewart Jr. for the lead, won the 3rd round in Anaheim 2, and got back up leading all 20 laps and won the 5th Round in Anaheim 3. While competing at Round 6 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Reed crashed hard in the whoops on the Final Lap after clipping Ken Roczen's rear wheel as he tried to take over 3rd place and then suffered a shoulder injury. He tried to race in Arlington, Texas during qualifying practice and his shoulder is getting worse due to a broken collarbone. Consequently, Reed was forced to drop out the remainder of the 10 rounds of the 2014 AMA Supercross Series while sitting second in overall championship points. In the Lucas Oil MX Series, he finished around 10th overall in the points and won 2 holeshots.
In 2015 Chad Reed would see one of his most disappointing professional seasons earning one win in the Supercross Championship along with 2 podium finishes. He would withdraw from the AMA Motocross championship midway through the season due to motocross competing sponsorship reasons. He would later announce the folding of his TwoTwo Motorsports Team which was founded in 2011. Reed would later announce that he would be riding a Yamaha for the continuation of the 15' Season and the 2015 Monster Energy Cup.
In 2016, Reed competed in the 2016 AMA Monster Energy Supercross Championship with Factory Yamaha. His sponsors include Yamaha Motor Corporation, Monster Energy, Yamalube, Chaparral Motorsports, Yamaha Financial Services, Oakley Motorsports, and Pro Circuit.
Chad Reed obtained the world record for the most career Monster Energy Supercross main event starts ever.[16]
On 2 February, He finished Top Five (5th place) at the AMA Monster Energy Supercross in San Diego. On 23 February, Reed finished on the podium in 3rd in the AMA Monster Energy Supercross in Detroit, Increasing his record of most all-time AMA Supercross podiums to 132. On 23 March, He crashed at the start of the main event during the Seattle, WA supercross event. He sustained multiple injuries including a broken scapula, eight rib fractures, and a collapsed lung ending his 2019 Supercross season.
In the previous year, Reed had announced that 2020 would be his last season. Midway through the year after the break caused by COVID-19, Reed switched from Honda to KTM. His best finish in 2020 was a 10th at the finale.
Reed has ridden for a variety of sponsors over his career, including: Yamaha Motor Company, Husqvarna, Monster Energy, Red Bull, Oakley, Fox Racing, Shift, Discount Tire, Boost Mobile, Pro Circuit, 360 Fly Camera, and Penrite.[17]
The 2004 motorcycle racing game MX Unleashed is titled Chad Reed MX Unleashed in Australia.
On 13 June 2011, Reed was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for service to motorsports as a professional supercross motorcycle rider at national and international levels, and to the community.[18]
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