Chad Reed showed the world last Saturday night at the SX season opener in Anaheim that he is not racing for second in 2009. After a tough heat race, where contact with his teammate Mike Alessi and an off track excursion resulted in a sub-par finish, Reed came off the line in the main event focused on winning.

Narrowly beaten to the first turn by Josh Grant and other-worldly James Stewart, Reed wasted no time passing Grant and putting the heat on Stewart. Consistently showing Stewart a wheel in almost every turn, Reed completed a pass after a tricky rhythm section. For the next four laps Stewart hounded Reed and then was able to make a pass after a long whoops section. Reed immediately attacked and again was making his presence known in every turn. Coming out of a bowl turn and lining up for a long whoops section, Stewart seem to lose drive and drift left. This caused a collision between Reed and Stewart. Both riders remounted but only Reed was able to start his motorcycle. Stewart failed to start his bike and was hit by Kevin Windham when he attempted to push his bike off the track. With his front brake damaged, Reed never was able to push forward but held onto third place for the race.

One thing is certain; Chad Reed has found a new gear that has Stewart panic revving.  

SCOTT Motosports is proud to announce the signing of Team Canidae MotoSport Kawasaki to use SCOTT boots, gear, and goggles. SCOTT Motosports, long known for their excellent goggles, added gear to their European line almost six years ago and introduced the SCOTT Genius Boot to the public over a year ago. “We have been looking for the right team to partner with in a relationship that goes beyond goggles”, SCOTT Motorsports Marketing Manager Reidar Oyen said of the signing. He added, “The Canidae MotoSport Kawasaki Team with its seasoned management and strong roster of riders is a great fit. We are really excited for the coming season.”  

Bill Keefe, team manager for Canidae MotoSport Kawasaki, had this to say about joining forces with SCOTT, “We were looking for a top-level brand to partner with in our racing efforts. It’s my job to make sure the team has equipment that will allow them to achieve their potential and with SCOTT I know they do.”

Team Canidae MotoSport Kawasaki will compete in the Monster Energy AMA SX Series and the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship.

After sloppy conditions in the previous SuperX round caused Chad Reed to make some uncharacteristic mistakes and finish third for the event, the constant downpour leading into this past weekend’s event had to have the Reed camp on edge.  

Miraculously, the weather abated right before the race and the event was held under clear Queensland skies. This meant a dry race track and the return of clean smoking-fast riding from the AMA SX Champion.

Reed was flawless throughout the evening and clearly much faster than his competition. He handily won every race of the Quadruple Sprint format, even overcoming a mediocre start in one of the races.

The original “King of SX”, Jeremy McGrath, raced the event and there were one or two memorable rhythm sections were he and Chad raced side by side. McGrath spent most of the evening banging bars with Australians Jay Marmot and Daniel Reardon for second and third place.    

With his dominant performance, Reed sealed up the SuperX series championship.

Ricky Dietrich had a tough pill to swallow earlier this fall when he lost the WORCS Series to Bobby Bonds at the last race of the season. Fortunately, smart riding and a wide array of ISDE-honed technical skills allowed Dietrich to place second at the final AMA/Maxxis EnduroCross Championship Series round at the sold-out Orleans Arena in Las Vegas to avoid a similar fate.

Even though Dietrich’s teammate Damon Huffman won the event, Dietrich maintained the points lead and secured the championship title with his second place finish.

Last year’s phenom Taddy Blazusiak battled with Dietrich in the first couple of laps and then settled into third. From there, Blazusiak eventually succumbed to the pressure applied by Geoff Aaron and gave up his podium spot, slipping back to fourth.

Ricky Dietrich has spent a lifetime racing off-road and all those years of hard work are now coming to fruition for him. Dietrich won the WORCS Championship, placed second in this year’s ISDE race, and now is AMA/Maxxis EnduroCross Champion for 2008.

This past weekend in Wollongong at the sixth round of the SuperX series, Chad Reed left his competition light years behind. At the start of the race, Reed, much like Han Solo’s fictional starship Millennium Falcon from Star Wars making the jump to Hyperspace, accelerated away from everyone. In just a few laps Reed had put considerable space between himself and second place.

Making a charge late in the race, Daniel Reardon moved into third place and was making up ground on second, until getting out-of-shape in the whoop section. Reardon was tossed over the bars and landed squarely on his back on the face of a whoop, leaving the fans in attendance grimacing.

Reed, on the other hand, never backed off and almost lapped the field. By the checkered flag, he had lapped up to third place. With only two rounds remaining Reed now has a 19 point lead and a strangle hold on the series. The next round is in Townsville on November 22.  

 

Stewart also put on a show during the three-day event, winning all 18 of his races. In doing so, Stewart added his name to the hallowed list of champions who have won at Bercy in the past. The most notable of these former champions, Chad Reed, won every race but one he entered in last year’s event.

 

Reed did make it interesting in the final race of the night by getting pinched off at the first turn and starting dead last. Even that disadvantage and a short race (only five laps) were not enough for hole shot winner Daniel Reardon to hold onto the lead. On the last lap Reed caught and passed Reardon, winning the race going away. With three rounds left in the SuperX Series, Reed simply needs to stay out of trouble and finish in the top three to seal the championship. The next round will be at Wollongong’s WIN stadium November 15.