Chad Reed, No More Mr Bad Guy!
Published: 12th February 2008
Author: Steve Cox
Chad Reed’s had some bad press recently – in the US and the UK – but when our tame Yank hooked up with him as he prepared for the new SX season he found a happy, relaxed Aussie looking to make a fresh start in ’08…
Chad Reed is a bit of an enigma - both on the track and off. On a track he’s shown that he’s probably the only rider capable of beating James Stewart with any regularity. Off the track he can be perceived as moody, hard to talk to and even downright impossible.
Coming into the 2007 season Reed fully expected to take his San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Yamaha to the championship but it didn’t come together for him quite like he had planned.
“There were a few things missing,” reckons Reed. “To start with, coming into the season not healthy and not even knowing whether or not I was going to race the first four weeks wasn’t necessarily the best start to the season. That didn’t help any. From bike set-up to some personal things with riding and all that kind of stuff, it all adds up.
“When I was at my best and my strongest I just felt a part of the bike. I think over the last few years it’s been frustrating to fight some things with the bike. But we’re learning year by year and we’re getting closer and closer but as a person you want things to happen yesterday. I’m being patient and the people around me are being patient as well. This year will be better than last. I’m in a better spot than I was last year – I wasn’t even riding at this point last year.”
Starting the season injured isn’t anything new for Reed who kicked off his 2004 championship attempt with a shoulder injury.
“When I had shoulder surgery it was the end of ’03 going into the ’04 season and I had only been on the bike three days or something like that going into the opener,” Reed says. “But I was at a different point in my career, I think. I had spent so much time testing and I was on the best bike possible – the bike was amazing. I felt like I was stronger and ready to win. I felt like I was a part of something that was going to win. I had a great end of the ’03 season and was ready to go.
“It was a real bummer that Ricky got hurt that year. I think that was probably the one year that I can honestly say with all respect to him that I felt like I was going to win whether he was there or not. That was just 100 per cent about feeling good, feeling confident and having better equipment than what he had at the time. Since then the roles have been reversed a little bit and it’s been tough to swallow.”
Part of Reed’s reputation for being a bit distant seems to come from the times when he’s not doing as well as he would like. He gets down on himself and his team and tends to become a bit anti-social but he sees 2008 as a new start.
“For sure I get bummed out. It shows. It shows in everyone. Right now I feel good. I feel re-motivated, fresh, we have a new direction, we have a new bike and things right now look good on paper. The way that I feel at the test track, I honestly feel I have a great shot at winning. Taking a beating through supercross and then doing it all again during the Nationals isn’t so fun. The winning is what motivates me. I love to race bikes and it’s obviously my job but if there’s no winning then I don’t know if I want to continue to do it.
“I work too hard to go out there and feel like I should be better. I’m not scared of anything, really. I’m not scared of hard work, I’m not scared of changing up my programme, I’m not scared of anything. This year’s going to be a big year. It’s a year that’s going to be make or break for me. All of my contracts are up and I don’t know what’s in the future for me – whether I stay around or I go home racing cars or what. We’ll see.”
When pressed as to whether he’s implying that he might retire at the end of 2008, Reed’s not quick to commit to that possibility. “It’s hard to say that I’d be done. I have a lot of will and everything that it takes to win but if certain things are holding me back from my goals then you may see a whole different Chad in ’09 – that’s for sure. It’s frustrating.”
Reed says that it would be entirely different if everything was going well and he just wasn’t fast enough. That would be an easier pill to swallow for him. “I really feel at this point that it’s not me. I feel like my programme, my training...I feel like I’m covering my bases but it’s things that are out of my control. Other riders have made it very public as to what those problems are and I think I’ve done a pretty good job of sheltering the problems but it seems like the cat’s out of the bag and it is what it is but we as a team have been struggling with some set-up and it’s been like that since 2005.”
Reed says that when his set-up isn’t perfect he has to adjust his speed to the bike’s capabilities. He can’t go as fast as his brain and his body will allow. “You just can’t. It’s not physically possible. We’ve gone a small direction better but we’ll see how that is. I can honestly say that as I sit here today that I’m by far the fastest guy out at the test track and I feel comfortable but the guy that’s winning races is a different guy so we’ll see.”
However, the perception from the fans and even pit pundits tends to be that Chad Reed just is not fast enough to race with James Stewart. “I don’t think that’s 100 per cent accurate. I think the speed is one thing but going that speed and being comfortable is something else. As a rider you’re going off of a feeling and a confidence and if something’s not giving you confidence and not giving you the feel that you like it’s hard to push that limit. I’m not going to sit here and lie and say that James and Ricky don’t haul ass. They do. They lay it down and they go fast. I’m anywhere from first to third in that group.
“On a good track - or a track that suits me - yeah, I can be the fastest guy but the window is small for me. But in the past I felt like the window was always pretty big. Even on what seemed like a bad day we were pretty good. It hasn’t been like that in a few years and it’s been frustrating for me. But I’m ready, dude. I don’t want to go anywhere. I love this sport and I love racing in the US.
“If I was to take a career change then it wouldn’t be here and I don’t know if I’m ready to leave here yet. I love it. I’m not ready to give it up yet. The money’s great but that’s not what motivates me. I would give that up in a second just to find happiness and that’s the truth.”
Of course, there have been quite a few riders who were continually lured back from impending retirement by the big paydays afforded to top racers in the AMA SX series.
“I’m 25. I don’t even see an end. If you see the end then I think that’s kind of dangerous. I know what I want in my heart and we’re going to chase that. I’m more motivated than ever just because I made a lot of changes this year and a lot of people didn’t really like it so it’s kind of like beating a dead horse. It just sucks to be on the end of that because I made a choice not to race the Nationals.
“A lot of people in magazines or whatever, they make you out to be whoever they want you to be. One minute you’re the hero and the next minute you’re the bad guy and it seems like I’m the bad guy now. I don’t feel like I’ve changed at all. I’m still me. I do things that feel right to me and make choices that are good for me and I can live with that. I wake up in the morning and I know that I made those choices. It’s been frustrating this summer to listen to some of the crap talk but it is what it is.
“My opinion about the Nationals is what it is. I don’t like the schedule and I think they drag it out way too long. Some of the tracks are the most awesome tracks I’ve ever ridden on and some of them are pathetic. That’s my honest opinion. But I think that’s normal. I don’t think any rider likes every track. I don’t think that’s humanly possible. And I have a team that offered half-a-season of racing and I could still make good money, if not more, doing that. Tell me who in their right mind wouldn’t take that! It’s an easy decision to make.
“As I sit here today I really think it would be awesome to go out and race one more outdoor season and just give it everything I’ve got - win or lose - but at this point that’s a long way away because of what I have planned and if I did race the Nationals my schedule would be nuts because of my commitment with Australian SX and all of that [during the American summer]. I’m not pussing out. I’m not scared of getting beat. I’m not scared of the hard work. I’m not scared of none of that. It’s not like I hate the tracks so I’m not going. First, the team didn’t want to go and, number two, even if I wanted to go it’s not that fun.”
Reed does miss the Nationals, though, despite his issues with them. “I miss the racing. I really, really miss the racing. Friday afternoons when you’re sitting at home and your friends are at the races and you’re checking the internet and seeing who’s doing what and cheering your buds on over the weekend and checking lap times, you kind of wish you were there. But then Monday morning, they don’t have anything good to say about it. They’re all complaining and saying the track was s**t or this was dumb or that was dumb and then I’m thinking it doesn’t feel so bad.”
People forget that Chad Reed was giving Ricky Carmichael fits during the 2006 Nationals. “I think on a good weekend I was a strong second-place guy whether James [Stewart] was there or not. Ricky’s Ricky. I don’t feel that bad. There’s so much talk about James Stewart but, dude, he got his ass handed to him by a retired guy. That’s harsh but it’s the truth. No amount of anything could stop Ricky – not even James Stewart. So it’s not too bad [to finish second to RC].”
That’s not the type of comment that will endear Reed to Stewart or to Stewart’s legions of fans but they don’t exactly have a history of being friendly. “Straight up and down, the honest truth is that the three of us don’t necessarily love each other. They’re [Stewart and Carmichael] made out to be friends and they’re all tight and whatever but that’s all bulls**t. As a rider I’ve heard and seen a lot and they’re not best buds. They’re not what the media makes out and what they make out in the public eye. But that’s all part of the political side of the sport. I’m the guy on the outside. You’ve got those two guys that are the American heroes and they wear the same gear company and all of that stuff so you can’t have guys that are the poster kids for one company and the next minute they’re hating each other and fighting.
“There’s no love lost between those two. They don’t bro down. They’re not tight. Away from it, me and Ricky talk. We get on. James and I get on. I don’t think that my relationship with Ricky or James is any different than what those two have with each other. That’s the behind-the-scenes side of it. If you look at the magazines or watch what the fans or spectators say on the outside of it then you’d think they’re cool but I’ve seen different and know different.”
Reed says that in order for him to end the 2008 season on an up-note he needs to have things fall so that he can race how he knows how. “I think that coming in healthy and being able to give it everything I’ve got, that’s going to make me happy. Me and my team will know where we stand set-up wise and what the expectation is for that and that’s it. I’m just trying to go out there and challenge. We’re going to do things a lot different – probably a lot different than I’ve ever done them – so I’m looking forward to it.
“No excuses. I’ll go out there and give it everything I’ve got and if we’re the best we’re the best and if we’re not we’ll go back to the drawing board again. I’m not afraid to go out and try new things and work my butt off to make stuff happen. I’m just looking forward to the new season with a team that has a year under their belt.”