Chad Reed

Chad Mark Reed (born 15 March 1982, in Kurri Kurri, Australia) is an Australian 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.

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.

The family soon purchased a small property located just outside of Kurri Kurri.

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.

Chad's family supported him along the way in his early years of competition.

Without fail, weekend after weekend, his Dad Mark, his Mom 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, Chad'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.

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.

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 US 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.

Reed won his first and only 125cc National victory at Mount Morris, PA, 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 7 wins, Reed was in 2nd with 5 wins, and Stewart was in 3rd with 3 wins.

In 2006, despite suffering a level three shoulder separation mid-season, Reed remained highly competitive.

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.

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.

Reed raced the first round of the 2010 Super X series held at Energy Australia Stadium, 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.