Australia’s Reed on verge of wrapping up crown

Friday, April 30, 2004 | 9:56 a.m.

Chad Reed was set to celebrate in style last weekend.

In anticipation of clinching his first THQ AMA Supercross Series championship, Reed flew his parents to Salt Lake City from his native Australia and a tour group of about 15 fans made the trek to the States to witness the factory Yamaha rider become the first Australian to win the title.

On the eve of the Salt Lake City race, however, Reed was one of three riders informed by AMA Pro Racing that the fuel he used the week before during his winning ride in Dallas did not meet the AMA's specifications.

As a result of using the "illegal" fuel, Reed was penalized 25 championship points and was not able to clinch the championship despite finishing second to Kevin Windham, his closest pursuer, in the main event.

Instead of being demoralized, Reed said he now has added incentive to win Saturday night's main event at Sam Boyd Stadium, the season finale for the THQ AMA Supercross Series.

"It was a real tough weekend for me," Reed said. "I was kind of going into it feeling really confident with a good week the week before. Having my parents and everybody around me expecting to win a title ... unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way.

"I unfortunately lost last weekend so I'm extremely motivated to go and win the last race and hopefully go out with a (title) and just be happy with the series once it's over."

Team Yamaha is in the process of appealing the penalty handed down by AMA Pro Racing, which mandated teams switch from leaded to unleaded fuel this season. Yamaha officials said in a prepared statement that they have tested its riders' fuel all season long and each time it showed levels meeting AMA requirements.

Reed, who has a series-leading 10 victories this season, said it was important for him to let his fans know that he and fellow Team Yamaha rider David Vuillemin, who also was assessed a 25-point penalty, were not using illegal fuel in an attempt to gain a competitive advantage.

"We were not caught cheating, we were not running leaded fuel, it was just found that our gas was a little over the limit and Yamaha is trying to find why," Reed said.

"Up until this year, we had been running leaded gas and I believe that maybe some of the leaded (gas) must have been left in some of the tanks in the semi and unfortunately there was an accumulation into our gas.

"It's an unfortunate thing but I think things happen for a reason and it's at times like this when you've got to rise above everything and just do better than ever. But I still have a chance at winning the title and the number-one goal in racing right now is to go have a good race this weekend and get the title."

Reed leads Windham by 12 points going into Saturday night's season finale and needs to finish eighth or better in the 20-lap main to clinch the championship.

If Reed finishes eighth and Windham wins, the two would be tied in points but Reed would win the tiebreaker based on season victories; Windham has won four races this season coming into Las Vegas.

But Reed, 22, said he didn't spend any time working out the various championship scenarios during his 4-hour drive Wednesday to Las Vegas from his home in Southern California.

"I'm just looking forward to it like a normal race," Reed said. "Nothing changes, really; I was hoping to come here and win anyway and that hasn't changed at all.

"The only thing that has changed is I have yet to win the title and I was kind of planning on winning it last weekend but it wasn't able to happen because of something out of my control. I'm looking forward to this weekend to get a title and to get another win and do it for myself and for Yamaha."

Although he admitted winning a Supercross title has been a dream "for as long as I can remember," Reed said he doesn't intend to alter his approach Saturday or "points race" to protect his points lead.

"I think anytime, in any sport, whether it's motorcycle racing or football or anything like that, once you get too conservative, you let your guard down and people blast right through you," he said. "On the other hand, there is a title at stake and there is a certain position that I need to finish within and that'll definitely be in the back of my mind because it's all about winning the war and not the battle.

"I definitely want to go and win the race, get a good start, stay out of trouble and get away from everyone ... everything else is basically out of my hands."

That approach has served Reed well this season.