Background and career
Chad Mark Reed (born 15 March 1982, in Kurri Kurri, Australia) is an Australian former professional 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, Reed owned a horse named Fern. After his cousin Craig Anderson started riding a bike, Reed 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. Reed's family supported him along the way in his early years of competition. Without fail, weekend after weekend, his father Mark, his mother 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, Reed'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.
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 six out of the seven races.
Reed, now aboard his new Monster Energy Kawasaki KX-450F, won four out of the seven rounds of the series. Reed won the championship by beating Daniel Reardon by 23 points. This was Reed's fourth Australian Supercross Championship.
