Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128143
AMA EA Sports 1 2500 Esstern Region Supercross Championship Series Round 2: Hubert H. Hurr1Phrey Metrodome REED PROVES HEJS A HERO J BUT HE STILL HATES MONDAVS By CHRIS JONNUM PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN hanks to it being Presidents' Day, there was a large rider tumout at Elsinore Motocross Park on the Monday after the Minneapolis Supercross, but Chad Reed wasn't among the contingent. Who could blame him? Just three weeks ago, the Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing rider crashed during Monday practice at the popular Southern California track, injuring both of his shoulders. Reed shrugged it off (so to speak) and won the opening round of the 125cc East Region SX Series, then showed up at Elsinore the Monday after, only to crash once again. This time, the Australian pulled a groin muscle badly enough that he still couldn't walk two days later, and things weren't looking good for the fast-approaching Minneapolis round. He skipped press day and friday practice, then tested out the leg during Saturday's practice session, and despite considerable pain, he deemed it good enough to race on. As it turns out, it was also good enough to win on - by 10 seconds. "I was out at Elsinore riding around and just trying to do some difFEBRUARY 27, 2002' flip, and I landed on the bottom of my back. I straight away got on a plane threw me over the handlebars ... I MlNNEAPOUS, MN, FEB. 16 12 ferent sections of the track," Reed said. "I came up short and it just cue and went to Phoenix to see Jeff didn't really want to hurt my shoul- Spencer. You know, he's the real rea- ders again, so I chose to do a bit of a son I'm here this week. I trained with (Topi Chad Reed (1031 started up front all night, as this heat-race shot Illustrates. Here, he's followed by Mike Kann (1721, Paul Currie (511, John Dowd (161, Lany Ward (101 and company. (Right) Reed (1031 led every lap of the 125cc main, even though he was pressured earty on by KTM teammates Steve Boniface (36, behind Reed) and Grant Langston (hIdden behind Boniface). him every day, and Wednesday came around and I still couldn't walk. So I kind of jumped on a plane and thought, 'There's a 50/50 chance I can race.' [I figured] the worst that could come of it was I come out of this race even on points with Grant." The Grant referred to was KTM Red Bull's Langston, who although pegged by many as the pre-season favorite, dropped out of the roundone main with a broken clutch lever, and finished second to the injured Reed in Minnesota. The South African had some trouble getting around teammate and eventual third-placefinisher Steve Boniface, and he's impressed with the level of talent in the east. "Even with Chad and Michael Byrne in the 250s [in the western rounds), you saw they were competitive," Langston said. "They were front guys, and it just shows you that 125 East Coast has a lot of good guys. I think it's going to be a tough, tough championship. " finishing in fourth place, and as the top American, was Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki/Chevy Trucks rider Mike Brown, the round-one runner up. "I'm a little disappointed after this race," said the 125cc National MX Champion. ") felt good on my Kawasaki this weekend - I just didn't do the things that it takes to win, like get good starts. It's hard to play catch-up after you give guys this fast that much time. I'm okay with the fact that I'm right there in the points, but if I can't beat Chad, then I'm not really in it anyway. I like racing in Atlanta, and we'll see how it goes." Next came a trio of YZ250fs, with Moto XXX/DGY rider Larry Ward completing the top five, teammate Kelly Smith snaring sixth, and Boost