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Reed claims AMA pro motocross victory at Budds Creek
It's a winner
Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by JAY FRIESS
Chad Reed leaps his way to the 450 class championship on Saturday at Budds Creek Motocross Park. He scored 434 points en route to his championship.
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It was a day of heavy rains and streams of thick puddles Saturday that turned into a mud fest at the 2009 Lucas Oil Monster Energy Motocross National at Budds Creek Motocross Park in Mechanicsville.
That did not hinder Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki's Chad Reed of Australia as he eluded the weather conditions with his fifth victory of the season and his first-ever AMA pro championship win in the 450 class.
Kawasaki's Jake Weimer of Rupert Idaho captured the 250 class win for his third victory of the season, but Christophe Pourcel from France is still atop the standings with 432 points, 13 ahead of Suzuki's Ryan Dungey.
The final two rounds of the 250 class will finish up in Southwick, Mass., this Saturday, which will be aired on SPEED Channel at 9 p.m. that night.
Reed pointed out that this outdoor season was in fact the most successful of his career. Before this season, the two-time AMA Supercross champion had never claimed an AMA pro motocross event, but has broken through this campaign in dominating fashion.
Reed also took home some greenery, a $5,000 bonus as the winner of the three-race Monster Energy Triple Crown of Motocross.
"I feel like my career is complete," Reed said. "I also feel like I got a lot more fight in me, but it's a step in the right direction. This is what hard work is all about. I want to thank everyone at Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki for putting this together. It was a last minute deal and, just like in all racing, we had our ups and downs, but came out on top in the end."
Dungey added on what he has to do for the next two rounds: "To win all four motos would be nice, but I just have to keep picking away. It's a lot of points up for grabs and a lot of racing, so I believe that I can do it. I'm going to hope for the best and may the better man win."
Weimer is currently fourth overall in the standings with 302 points behind Honda's Brett Metcalfe of Australia.
"I've had glorious moments in the mud like today and I've had the worst days of my life," Weimer said. "You just never know how it's going to go. I got a good start and kept my goggles on, so it worked out."
In each class, there were two moto races during the day for Round 10 and after taking the runner-up position in moto one behind Davi Millsaps of Murrieta, Calif., Reed pushed passed Honda Red Bull Racing's Ivan Tedesco in the second moto for the early lead and cruised to the title.
"I came here and I was really looking forward to this it's a great track," Reed said of the inaugural Budds Creek track that he raced at two years ago. I've had a lot of great motos here and I knew it was going to be a long shot to win the championship with all the mud and rain, I just wanted to put myself in great position."
Millsaps added: "I've been racing pro for six years and this is the first time the experience was pretty cool here. It was very muddy and slick, but I was very impressed of how I did and how the track was."
Pourcel took the top spot in the first moto and rode very conservative in the second moto, which led to a second-place moto finish behind Weimer.
"In the first moto I was able to get a good lead," Pourcel said, "but in the second moto I was a little disappointed with my start and my brake lever was broken, but I'm looking forward to the next four motos."
