Not everything went as Chad Reed expected last weekend at the US Open Supercross event in Las Vegas, Nevada. A big crash in the first corner on the second night (caused by Reed) ruined his chances at sweeping the event (he had won on Friday night), and caused him to lose the overall to Yamaha’s Grant Langston. Nevertheless, the aggressiveness with which Reed rode, and his statements after the race, indicated a new Chad Reed may show up for the first AMA Supercross event in Anaheim this coming January.
The last couple of years, while Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart have taken the lion’s share of supercross wins, Chad Reed has been “Mr. Third Place”. Reed is a former Supercross champion, but he didn’t always look like it while Stewart and Carmichael were on the track.
Ricky Carmichael is retired, of course, and you could make a good argument that Kawasaki’s James Stewart is the only man standing in Reed’s path as he attempts to gain his second AMA Supercross title in 2008.
Changes to his YZ450F seem to be to Reed’s liking, and although “crash or win” may not be his philosophy next year, I think we can expect to see a much more aggressive Chad Reed. Will it be enough to dethrone defending champ Stewart? That is a tall order, but I am sure we will see some close battles between the two as the series unfolds next year.
