Chad Reed’s got himself a new job! The multi-time SX and MX champ was hired by the FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) guys to do some TV work as well as be an advisor to the series. With the series kicking off this weekend in the UK, we had Reed on the Pulpmx Show last Monday to tell us a little more about it.
Racer X Online: You got yourself a job. What made you want to do it? You raced it last year until you crashed. You’re a fan of the series. I get it, but what made you want to commit more time and energy and travel and all of that?
Chad Reed: I’m a fan of supercross and always have been. Growing up in Australia, racing supercross at twelve years old, chasing the dream, racing in the U.S. and everything like that. Supercross will just always be. In my opinion, it’s the elite of our sport. Two wheels off-road racing at the highest level is supercross. For whatever reason, I fell in love with it when I was about nine years old, and I’ve just loved it. So, just wanting to be a part of it, the goal, the vision. As a rider, I always kind of loved and shared that vision of wanting to go bigger and better and go global.
We initially started to scratch the surface with that in 2002 going to Switzerland and to Holland. It just didn’t really work out for whatever reason, and then here we are. We’ve got a new group that’s kind of sharing and chasing that same dream as well. Love to be a part of it. I’ve been in both on so many different things. The athlete side of it, the team owner side of it, and then obviously into the 2009, 2010, 2011, I was the co-promoter of Australian supercross. So, definitely seen it different side of the world from the promoter side of it. So, just that perspective and understanding all the different outlets and seeing how that experience works, because I can help them better ammunition going forward, I guess.
You’re going to help out in the TV booth. It says you’re an advisor, as well. Does an advisor kind of mean, like, “Chad, you got any ideas about anything?” Are there parameters for this or is it basically like, “Hey, Chad, tell us what you think or what you see or what we can do better?”
I think consultant would be a better word. Basically, my contract that I signed had consultant on it. That obviously involves advising. Looking over the schedule and the races and how they do them. Diving into different and new things. I think that when the FIM and the AMA were here, they kind of co-existed but didn’t really. I think there was a little influence from the FIM, but mainly we kept it in the window of what we were used to with the AMA side of it. The AMA and the FIM do things quite differently. Some negative and some positive on both sides.
So, try to make some better common ground there with the ruling and some of the things. Maybe the GP's and the FIM, what’s important to them, maybe it doesn’t necessarily have to be so important or in our wheelhouse of supercross. Just little things like that. Really there’s no limit. Just the whole program, the goal. How can I consult or advise a better way forward.
I’m guessing you’re going to talk to the guys that are racing. This is part of it. If you see me in the pits, if Colt Nichols or Shane McElrath see you in the pits, come up to me. Let’s talk about it.
Yeah. I think that’s the position that many times has been considered or talked about, whether it be Kevin Windham, Mike LaRocco, myself. Kind of once you get a certain age, you’re considered old or the vet of the series. People tend to want to tell you things or vent to you because you have… I’ve never been shy or being afraid to go to the powers that be to try to make things better. If I genuinely believed in what the rider or the team or whoever it was that was sharing that information, I was always willing and able to go to said person to get it in front of them. Did they always listen? Not always. But at least I had that opportunity. When the shoe is on my foot, and those guys are confiding in me and sharing that information, then my goal is that I can take it to the right people, and I can implement change as quick as possible.