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Two-time Supercross Champion Chad Reed has a new role with SX Global, the promoters of the FIM World Supercross Championship, which kicks off this Saturday. Reed will join the SX Global team as an expert motorsport advisor and play an integral role in the FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) broadcast team for the 2023 season. We recently caught up with the Australian to talk about his new role and more. If you prefer to listen to the convo, search for the Vurbmoto Podcast Network wherever you listen to pods.
Vurbmoto: Chad, pleasure to chat. We won’t see you on the track racing this year in World Supercross but we will see you in the booth and other capacities with the WSX crew, how did that come about.
Chad Reed: Ok so, I’ll definitely spend some time in the booth but that won’t be my main focus nor will it be the main way I’m utilized by SX Global. I’ll be more as a Supercross consultant if you will. Throughout my time in the sport, I’ve been the athlete, the team owner/manager, I’ve worked with the Aussie Supercross series as a promoter as well, so I feel I’m able to make an impact in all sorts of ways.
Certainly, when I think of Chad Reed’s experience in the sport, I think of diversity. You’ve been able to wear so many hats over the years. Where do you feel you’ll be able to make the biggest impact?
I think it really comes down to what you said about diversity. It’s all of it. I think of myself being a young person back in Australia and dreaming about seeing these athletes in person. At the beginning of my pro career, the phone never rang. I had to go out and get it even if that meant going over to Europe or whatever it was going to take. I did a lot of things the hard way because the opportunities weren’t always there at the very beginning, so I was able to be very hands on. That allowed me to get a feel for what works, and what doesn’t work because I had to learn quickly and if I can use that knowledge to make World Supercross as amazing as I believe it can be, then I’m here for it.
Would you still have the chip on your shoulder that you come known for if you weren’t forced to go race in Europe before you were able to come to America?
I’d like to call it a chip on my shoulder but honestly, it’s just my personality. I had the same “I’ll show you” relationship with my own father. When I set sail for Europe with my (at that time) girlfriend Ellie, we faced a lot of “Oh, you shouldn’t do this” and I wouldn’t be denied and I’m glad I was able to stick to what I believed in and we were able to make some special things happen.
How far are we away from Chad Reed doing a Hot Lap alongside your oldest Tate at a Supercross is Australia.
Haha that’s going to come sooner than most would think honestly. We left Anaheim 2 this year and he made some statements about wanting to take things pretty serious about his own riding and we as a family are here to support him take it as far as he wants to take it. Riding and racing are things I really didn’t push on any of my kids. I wanted them to find your own enjoyment out of it and recently he’s been very vocal about wanting to put in the work. The supercross series in Australia is going to feature the Supermini and 85 class a lot more going forward which I’m hugely in support of and I think it’ll be cool to help him work on the fundamentals.
How excited are you for the opportunity that today’s young racers have set before them to be able to travel the world and race supercross? I can only imagine a 16/17-year-old Chad Reed champing at the bit to race Word Supercross had this series existed during your career.
I would have been all over it. You can see the world from the seat of a dirt bike and not just through the MXGPs but now traveling to places where supercross has never been. It’s exciting for the racers, it’s exciting for the fans and I’m excited to see it all come together and be a part of it.
Main image: World Supercross
