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Popular Australian Supercross Motorcycle Rider Chad Reed Wins Two U.S. Titles
from: Maxx Sports GuidesChad Reed, an Australian Supercross champion, won the U.S. AMA 250 Supercross title in 2004 and 2008. He also won the Australian Supercross twice.
Reed was born in 1982, in Kurri Kurri, Australia. After winning the Australian Supercross Championship in 2000, Reed went to Europe in 2001 to ride for Jan DeGroot's factory Kawasaki team. Reed was a revelation aboard his KX250, winning the Grand Prix of Lierop and eventually finishing the year second to multi-time World Champion Mickael Pichon.
Eager to move to America and campaign to world's premiere series, Reed picked up a ride with Yamaha of Troy to ride 125 East Coast Supercross and 125 Nationals aboard the four-stroke YZ250F.
Reed won all but two Supercrosses that season and earned the East Coast championship. He scored his lone 125cc National victory at Mount Morris, PA, and finished the season third behind James Stewart Jr. and Branden Jesseman.
Reed moved directly to the 250 class full-time in 2003 with Factory Yamaha. Aboard an YZ250, he won one more race than chief rival Ricky Carmichael, but lost the title at the last round to the Honda rider. He finished his first season on the 250cc Nationals a distant third behind Carmichael and Kevin Windham.
The 2004 Supercross series was a battle between Reed and Windham, as Carmichael was unable to defend his crown due to a torn ACL. Reed won ten main events to Windham's five, and became the 2004 AMA Supercross Champion.
Carmichael recovered over the course of a championship season. Reed finished second to Carmichael in that year's outdoor National season, but failed to win a single moto, as Carmichael won every race to record his second perfect season.
In 2005 James Stewart entered the 450 class. With the "Big 3" all aboard 250 two-strokes, it was a great season as each rider scored multiple wins, but again it was Carmichael winning the championship handily with seven wins to Reed's five and Stewart's three. Reed was unable to successfully defend his title, but he did earn a hard-fought second place overall. If not for some trouble at the early rounds for Reed it likely would have been closer.
Reed would win his first National moto that summer at Southwick, MA, but was unable to win an overall. Reed dropped out of the series after the halfway point to recover from some nagging injuries.
In 2006 Reed switched to the Yamaha YZ450F four-stroke full time. Reed was extremely competitive despite suffering a level three shoulder separation in mid-season which hampered his ability to compete to his highest ability.
Going into the final event of the season, Reed and Ricky Carmichael were tied for the points lead, making the 2006 season the closest AMA Supercross championship in history. Reed took third place that night to Carmichael's second, narrowly losing the 2006 AMA Supercross title to Carmichael by only two points. Reed withdrew from the AMA Nationals after the Millville round, citing a shoulder injury. Up to that point, he had been holding 2nd place in the point's standings.
For 2007, Reed announced his plans to leave the factory Yamaha team to form his own private team, similar to Jeremy McGrath's team in the past. Reed even brought in McGrath's old team manager, Larry Brooks, to spearhead the new effort, dubbed L&M Racing. They are backed by Yamaha, The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Thor and Nike. So far, the new team is working well as Reed won the opening round of World SX competition in Toronto, displaying a level of speed and aggressiveness that he has missed for several seasons.
In 2008 Chad Reed won the AMA Supercross title for the second time. He won the title coming into the last round at Las Vegas. There were 10 championship points separating Chad and Kevin Windham, but Reed took out the title in Las Vegas at Sam Boyd Stadium riding his YZ450F for L&M Racing.
On August 7, 2008, American Suzuki Motor Corporation announced that Chad will join the Rock star Makita Suzuki factory race team in 2009 as he race the 2009 AMA Supercross series and the other events, as well as competing in Supercross events in his home country of Australia to aboard his Suzuki EFI RM-450.
Chad is married and currently lives with his wife in Tampa, Florida. In the off-season, he enjoys water sports, playing blackjack, and golfing.
Chad Reed's website Reed at chadreedracing.com is the place to go if you're looking for more information on this popular Supercross rider. You can also find links to official autographed merchandise. Whether you want a piece of autographed history or just a shirt, you can find what you are looking for online.
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