CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 55 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 27, 2018 P61
REED'S RECORD
Chad Reed made the main event in
Tampa, marking the 228th premier-class
main event start of his career, surpass-
ing the 227 of Mike LaRocco, but he
didn't make it easy on himself. In the heat
race, he ended up 10th, one spot out
of qualifying, and he was forced into the
LCQ. "It was a pretty frustrating race, to
be honest, but I've always heard that they
don't give these main events out—they
make you earn them," Reed said before
the LCQ. "To break the record, I didn't
really plan on going to the Last Chance,
if I'm honest, but clearly I need some
track time. I'm pretty frustrated with my-
self right now." Reed won the LCQ, then
in the main, he was running 11th, which
would've been easily his best finish of
the year if he stayed there, but then he
dropped out late in the main event. "It
[the bike] just keeps cutting out," Reed
said. "It did it about three laps ago, and
then you kind of second-guess like, 'Did
that really happen?' And then it hap-
pened on the face of the triple, and then
on the face of the finish line. What was
I in, 11th? No, 11th is worth jumping over
the front of the bike."
SEELY SIDELINED
Cole Seely was running second in the
championship going into Tampa, but in
the second 450SX heat race, he came
up short on a quad in a rhythm section
and went over the bars and was struck
by his bike. Early reports are that his
Briefly...
Austin Forkner
came away with
the 250SX East
main-event win.
