USA Insider No.115: Reed To Kawasaki?

Welcome to our weekly web-exclusive column, Transmoto’s USA Insider presented by Lucas Oil. Penned each week by our man on the ground, Transmoto’s US Correspondent, Jason Weigandt, the USA Insider presents the story-behind-the-stories of the AMA supercross and motocross scene.

I can’t even escape motocross when I try! Last week I was on a real vacation at Disney World with my family, when a guy came walking by wearing a Fox shirt and a Monster Energy hat. Total moto style – who did this guy think he was? Chad Reed?

Wait, it actually was Chad Reed! He was in the park with 19 (!) family members from Oz land. As anyone who follows the circuit here can tell you (Chad and myself can volunteer in this situation) September is the time to get stuff like this done. You don’t get summer vacations in when you’re up to the eyeballs in racing – you’ve got to wait until the off-season.

So Chad and I spoke briefly before giving our attention back to the people we came to the park with. I threw out a “Good luck on the Husky” as he walked away, and he laughed and mentioned that he didn’t have anything done yet.

The rumours around Chad’s situation have kicked back up, though, thanks to Steve Matthes’ interview with him that we posted on Racer X Online. There, Reed admits to having big help from Mitch Payton at Pro Circuit again (Mitch’s help made TwoTwo Motorsports possible on Hondas when it started back in ’11. Factory Honda bikes came later). Meanwhile, it’s been pretty well known that Chad has been riding and testing a Kawasaki quite a bit, which is kind of surprising considering how it all went on that brand in 2010. But bikes change, and Chad could be in a perfect situation if he aligns himself with Payton’s Pro Circuit team.

Pro Circuit was supposed to have a 450 team full-time in 2014, but those plans seem to have run aground. Payton told me back in May that the team was in jeopardy because the expected title sponsor, Traxxas, might not be able to make things happen as originally hoped. Not surprisingly, Dean Wilson, who was supposed to be the guy for this 450 effort, has announced he will be back in the 250 class in 2014. But that means Pro Circuit’s 250 team is way too packed, with Wilson, Blake Baggett, Darryn Durham, Martin Davalos, Justin Hill and Adam Cianciarulo on board. A seven rider team! So I’m going to connect some dots here: A careful alignment with Reed and Pro Circuit could house one of those riders, and at that point does the often-rumoured Reed and Wilson tie up not look likely once again? Dean could stay on the PC 250 but perhaps do it under Chad’s truck, freeing up space for the other PC 250 guys.

Not signed or sealed yet, for sure, as there would obviously be several sponsors to work out between the teams, which is never easy. It might not happen at all, but I’m sure Chad is feeling pretty lonely as the only rider in that TwoTwo truck. Remember, he just went on vacation with 19 people!