Racer X ReduX: L.A.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 | 5:10 PM
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After last year’s L.A. Supercross, the pits were buzzing. Ryan Villopoto, James Stewart, Ryan Dungey and Trey Canard presented an instant classic, swapping spots, passes and crashes in a 20-lap thriller. Afterwards, everyone wanted to talk to someone. Villopoto had just engineered the best race of his supercross career. Dungey had shown uncharacteristic aggression. Stewart was steaming after being caught by Villopoto, fending off a challenge, and then crashing. And Trey Canard had proven he belonged in the elite class.
Over at Club TLD, the party was going off. Cole Seely snagged the first SX Lites win for himself and his team. There’s always a party atmosphere at that TLD semi, but that party was bigger than ever in L.A.
Everything was. Supercross’ long-awaited debut at Dodgers Stadium lived up to the hype. The stars had come out and put on a show.
Stewart and Dungey, among others, put on a show in L.A. last year.
Photo: Simon Cudby
But one character had not found a part. So while the journalists roamed the pits onward toward midnight, searching for quotes and gossip and stories from the night’s top performers, this one rider appeared by himself, cruising the pits in jeans and a hoodie. The rider was Chad Reed, and he was looking for someone to talk to.
We eventually came to call it the Reed “Walkabout.” At that moment, three races into the season, Reed was on a search for relevancy. We know now the success his TwoTwo team would soon find, but three races into the 2011 season, that success was far from guaranteed. After 5-4 finishes at the first two rounds, Reed crashed on the first lap in L.A. and literally buried his head in the sand. He finished seventh.
But he was not bummed. He was in a good mood and wanted to talk. Not because he had a burning thought or a message to send. He wasn’t even looking for an interview. He just wanted to bench race. At least I think he did. I’m really not sure what the motivation was. Either way, he was just hanging out.
Rarely, if ever, do athletes of Reed’s stature cruise the pits after the race looking to engage in some friendly bench racing. It was a strange situation. Myself, Steve Matthes, and SCOTT Goggle man John Knowles were standing outside of the Kawasaki pit area. Steve and I were hoping to chat with Villopoto one last time. Reed, who left that Kawasaki team a few months earlier, strolled up and let out a simple, “What’s up?” I almost didn’t realize who it was at first. We each took turns chatting with Reed about anything and everything while waiting for our chance to talk with the relevant rider of the night—the race winner, Villopoto. To make things stranger, at one point, Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Manager Mike Fisher strolled past, and shook Reed’s hand. “Nice comeback tonight, Chad,” said Fish. Reed said thanks. Then he later told us it was the first time he had spoken a word to Fisher since he left the team.
Reed had gone through a three-year metamorphosis on being open with the press and fans, but this was a new level. He wasn’t just taking care of interviews and autographs because it was part of the job. He was volunteering to come over and hang out. So we treated him as that—as a guy hanging out at the races. If we wanted the big story on the race, we would have to talk to Villopoto.
A year later it was Reed in the drivers seat at L.A.
Photo: Simon Cudby
A week later, Reed grabbed his first podium of the season in Oakland. At the time, it seemed only like a nice story—Reed back on the box, at least once, running his team. Wins? Titles? Seemed unlikely. But then he won a race two weeks later in San Diego. In Atlanta, he and his old rival Stewart were, for a night, back to being the best in the game. Reed was a contender again, and as relevant as ever.
As unthinkable as it was to see Reed cruising around the pits like a random fan, it’s now unthinkable to not think of him as a contender. This year, 52 weeks after being shut out of the battle for the L.A. 2011 win, he found himself not just back as part of the conversation, but at the lead of it. One year after his walkabout, Chad Reed walked to the top of the podium. And it was an impressive ride, catching passing and leaving rivals en route to a hard earned win.
This time at midnight, Reed was over at his semi, signing the last few autographs. The rig finally pulled away, but Reed stood there for a Monday Conversation interview. He was just as willing to talk now as he was a year ago at that time, regardless of where he finished—I know that because he was there, chatting, at midnight last week in Phoenix, after finishing fifth.
In this sport, riders like to drop the word “fun” into their interviews. And somewhere along the way, we’ll complain and say, “Hey, I don’t get paid to have fun at my job, and neither do you. You’re supposed to win races, not have fun. You want to get paid to have fun? Go work on Tosh.O.”
But that fun thing is funny. Something the veterans of the game figure out, eventually, is that if they want to win races, it’s necessary to have fun to do that. Fun helps results, and hence, having fun becomes part of the recipe just as much as training and testing and practicing. Some riders actually work to have fun. They seek out friends and conversation. They realize that there are many, many hard parts in the job description of professional racer. There’s travel and fatigue, pressure and scrutiny. Pain and nerves, sacrifice and suffering. You can’t make it go away, so you might as well make yourself like everything else. Make yourself enjoy it. Make yourself want to be at the races, want to hang out with friends, teammates and even other riders. Make yourself want to sign autographs and do interviews late into the night. You can let it all bother you, but that only makes you not want to be at the races, and when that happens, your results may suffer.
Reed and TwoTwo Motorsports celebrate their first win of the new season.
Photo: Simon Cudby
I can guarantee you that Reed and Kevin Windham have more fun at the races now than they ever did. The years should make them burnt out and jaded, but instead they enjoy it more, because they make themselves like it more.
So there was Reed on his walkabout a year ago, just looking to bench race with some buddies in the parking lot. He did not want to sulk in his motorhome about finishing seventh. So he made himself go out and keep it light. He made himself have fun. And soon, he was winning again.
It was so bizarre that we couldn’t ever quite figure out what the motivation was. Why would Reed come back out of his motorhome at midnight, on a cold night, to chat with somebody, anybody? Didn’t he have more important things to do?
We theorized that Reed was maybe missing the spotlight. A lot had happened that night, and not much of it involved him.
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I agree with you Reed was nat a fan favorite just 3 years ago maybe because of is ego .. But now he seem's to have realise that the fan's make's you become what you have become so respect is in from both sides, just ask js7 how he feel ? as for most others rider's they act like drink factory robots , as if we can't read or think who their sponsor's are
PJ
Great read. Behind the scene stuff is alway nice to hear about. It is so fun to root for Reed right now, just a cool dude.
Weege - good article! It's nice to see CR22 back on the top step again too. Great season already - a new winner every week (in both classes). Who's next? Can't wait for Oakland!
I dont get it. So was Reed just looking to chat because he wanted to or are you saying he cant handle not being the center of attention?
Yeah I m with ClappedOut.Sounds to me like Reed was just in a better place mentally,and just wanted to get out there and hang out with the people that share the love for the sport that he has proven he has.
I think Chad and Kevin also know that they are in the twilight of their careers and can appreciate more what they have and are still racing very competitivly.They are having fun and savoring every minute because they know how much they will miss it some day.
I am always a fan of the vets, they get personality as their careers wind down.
Finally!!!! A motocross journalist with decent use of the English language isn't easy to come by. May be your best work Weege. Wish you'd replace Shaheen permanently.
Btw...I agree with mxfans also.
tell that to heath voss. the invisible man who won a world supercross title
Eli Tomac? With those lap times he could make the kessel run in less than 12 parsecs.
Awesome Reed, I mean read. Keep up feature stories like this one.
I really liked that article. Thanks for that. I must admit I have always been a fan of Chad as being an Aussie growing up racing motocross it almost seemed impossible to reach US level. Than along came Chad. Proved to many Australians that it can be done. I have seen his growth since around 97 as a fan. It has been frustrating at times his attitude towards, media, fans, riders and tracks. I never stopped being a fan however right now it is a pleasure more than ever to be a Chad Reed supporter. Go Chad! bring it home this year!
ps - I just seen the new pole and noticed alot of people voting for semi's. (off topic I know). I know alot of people are stressing about their favorite riders not making the main this year. But please no semi's. It is not good for Tv or new fans. Maybe the option to have longer LCQ's?
Great write-up...I agree with most here this type of no-nonsense article is rare. and Reed do have changed his attitude to the better. VP2 is a great rider / racer but he does not make me cheer for him....maybe when he is also a Veteran he will be more human like and less of a "Factory Robot"
.
What about the crowd?? Looked exceptionally thin from some of those CBS shots!
Really nicely put Weigandt!! Thats how it done folks! Good solid smooth read with tons of relivance and real insight!!! I enjoyed that!!!
What I liked about CBS's coverage of the race was the way the managed to squeeze about 25 minutes of actual racing into a 60 minute time slot. And expect more of the same these next two weekends. I'm glad to see racing on a 'major' network, but there's no reason they can't show both qualifiers in their entirety. Highlights of the LCQ is understandable, but show us the qualifiers!!!
Great read! It's possible all of us have missed the point Reed was going to retire.
Then he brain stormed a business for himself where he gets to ride (something he loves) without out the pressure of a boss. He can put as much presure on himself as he can take then go out and ride without the wear and tear of a boss.
Also he used his sponsors that he wants and likes. So doing all this HIS way he really doesn't have anything to complain about. Think about if we could go to our jobs and go at our own pace do things our way and not answer to anyone how much less stress would you have in your life. And you guys that have your own business don't chim in it's not that easy your right but you only have to answer to yourself!
I like the direction that Reed has gone, and when he's ready to stop racing he can still be a big part of what he loves to do. Which is giving back to the sport he loves. I'm Jealous!
I can see Reed doing this with no suprise, Hes a father now... and hes grown up alot since we saw him give RC six straight @sswhoopins in his rookie year.
Heath Voss won the "world supercross" title becuase no one else showed up.... and i mean no one who was fast showed up. RC,Bubba,Reed and Windham all opted out of the "World" opener round in canada which was a week earlier than the US sx opener. It was untill later they combined the series, and i believe right before they combined the two into what we see today james stewart actually did show up for the world opener in... 06? maybe i cant remember.
I have one question Jason. Where were all the "fans" in LA? The stands looked empty. With such low fan attendance, how can LA possibly keep the SX race for next year when other venues which have lost races (such as Minneapolis) were consistently packing in 40,000 plus people?
Earlier rain is not an excuse. Salt Lake has been packed while it is snowing and 30 degrees.
JonR290....i can tell you the early rain had nothing to do with it. LA does things much different then San Diego and Anaheim and im sure the rest of the venues. They are way too strict on tail gating policy which is all part of going to the event, unless they expect you to stay inside stadium from 12:30pm to 7:00pm when show starts. Being that there is a Police Academy stationed on edge of Dodger Stadium parking lot they have plenty of resources to burn and it makes it completely unenjoyable. It's the conversation piece going on in the parking lot how many cops are patrolling and just acting as if the fans in general are they're for a rap concert rather then a supercorss race. I think fans learned from last year that if you can't enjoy yourself like we do at the other venues then why go and spend that kind of money..........I can assure they will not race again at Dodger Stadium and we can all thank the decision by security to patrol the grounds like its a hot bed of crime going on....!.......it's nice to be safe but not to the point where you feel like a criminal yourself....
@sleestak. Interesting. In MN where it is cold there is no tailgating or limited tailgaiting at the past SX events. Heck, we love being inside from 12:30 to 10 pm to avoid -10 degrees. In SLC there is no tailgating because.....well, it is Salt Lake. However, I can see how tailgating could be an important part of the CA events.
yeah i guess i didnt think of that good point....!......for the most part the race and riders are what we go to see however being out in the sun and bbq' ing is big at the cali events.....conversating and having a good time with not only your buddies but people that you meet simply walking through the parking lot.! everyone is in a good mood and its just a great time..............i hear ya though still a good time anyway you put it im showing up when gate opens regardless of venue...!
i never understood the fans that showed up at 7pm to watch only the main events....the way i figure if im paying an amusement park price i want an amusement park experience......so come early stay all day...