Mrs Reed, Unplugged

Simon Cudby

Ellie Reed offers an intriguing insight her husband – TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed.

Chad Reed and Ellie Brady were school friends at 13, became teenage sweethearts at 16, and headed to Europe as 18-year-olds to contest the 2001 World MX Championship. They married a few years later and, since 2002, forged an incredible life for themselves in the USA. Ellie has always played a hands-on role with Chad’s racing career, especially when it comes to ensuring he’s in the right headspace to perform at his peak. But how has the turbulent past 12 months changed Chad, and what lessons have they both learned along the way? The likable Mrs 22 kindly offered us an insight.

You’ve always been an active part of Chad’s racing. Was that a conscious choice or something you fell into?
Originally, in Australia, I wasn’t able to go to many races because I was still in school, and he was always travelling. But when we decided to live in Europe together in 2001, I began helping with all those little things. In this sport, you need those people around you. So whether it was building goggles, being a shoulder to cry on or figuring out a road map, I kind of fell into the role. Being around it so much, I learned a lot very quickly and it became my biggest passion as well.

Sure, but your role was soon much bigger.
Well, Chad always said that he’s got people to look after boots and helmets and goggles. He likes me there because I know him; I know when he’s on and when he’s not. I’m not focused on bike set-up or the physical side of racing, but I’ve always taken an interest in the emotional and psychological side of it. Also, I guess I can tell it to him straight if things aren’t 100 percent right. With many other top riders, they have a group around them and their wives aren’t so involved. Sometimes their wives don’t want to be involved. Or often, those guys were established prior to meeting their significant other, and are more set in their ways. Chad and I took that whole journey together. And I love it. I wanted to learn more about the sport.

Give us an example of how you might knock Chad into line.
He’ll come off after practice and be mad because he’s not jumping through a section a certain way. I don’t need to talk to him about technique. He knows that. What I can do is ask him why he’s not jumping it and work on his confidence and helping him do what he knows he can do. Performing on a given day and just doing it is often the hardest part, so sometimes he needs that affirmation. At the Atlanta supercross earlier this year, I wasn’t even there, but when I spoke to him on the phone after practice, I just knew he wasn’t right. After we had a long chat, he came out and turned it around and rode really well. Then after Salt Lake City, the conversation wasn’t so positive. He knew what he needed to do, but Villopoto got away and he didn’t get it done. I mean, Chad obviously debriefs with the team guys while I’m putting Tate into his pyjamas, but he and I also talk after each race. Y’know, we’ll try to stand back a bit, look at how the race played out, and talk about some ideas for the following week. We often end up chatting about it til 2am!

How hard was it to put TwoTwo Motorsports together last year – in the midst of a new child, building a house and trash-talk that Chad was washed up?
There was a lot going on and there are not even words to explain how far we’ve come since the end of last year. At the time, it felt like all these doors were closing. But Chad wasn’t ready to sit it out, and I’m there to support his racing for however long it makes him happy. Obviously, everybody wants to earn money, but for us this year, it’s not about the money. Chad loves doing it and he inspires me because he’s so passionate and works so hard for it. So instead of focusing on the doors closing, we decided to find doors that were going to open, and to open some ourselves. Chad’s always been frustrated being told what to do on teams – not in a spoiled brat kind of way, but just because he doesn’t want boundaries, whether that’s bike set-up or the way the team flows on race day. He’d wanted to set up his own team for a couple of years, but we thought it was too big a risk. So I think our predicament was a blessing in disguise. When you have nothing, you’ve got nothing to risk. So you may as well just go for it. We did, and rest is history. It was such a scramble to put it all together so quickly, but everyone just put their head down and worked crazy hours to make it happen. We put together a great team of people and the Vegas win was such a nice way to finish the supercross season. Chad’s second in the championship surpassed what anyone predicted, and then to win the Team of the Year award at the AMA Banquet was just a really great moment for us all because it was such a team effort.

Did you think you might have the summer off to catch your breath?
Well, yeah. But the same thing happened with the Outdoors, just before the season started. Financially, it wasn’t a good deal, but it was an opportunity to go racing and that’s what Chad wants to go do. He’s excited about the bike and getting more support from Honda now, which helps us out a lot. With more funding, we want to expand the team to a second rider at some stage. And we want to be around for a while. We don’t want this to be a short-term thing, just so that Chad can go racing. Hopefully, it’s something that’ll let us be involved in the sport into the future, even when Chad does decide to quit racing.

Chad seems a lot more relaxed this season. Dare I say that chip in his shoulder is gone, and replaced by a happier guy?
I think he’s always been a little frustrated with people not wanting to listen or go his direction. He is very smart when it comes to bike set-up and an efficient way of running things with the team. A lot of people said he’d be overwhelmed with being a team owner and racing and, sure, there are a few different pressures. But for the most part, he has just loved every minute of all the detail and the work because it’s what he wants. He so passionate and so involved with it on so many levels and it’s paying off. He’s happy with the bike and happier within himself. He’s very proud of the great group of people we’ve put together on the team, and that we’re having success.

And the fans seem to be buying into that success.
When it came to dealing with the media and learning to express himself in the early days in America, Chad, for the most part, was more quiet and reserved. So sometimes what he said or the way he said it didn’t come across the way he intended. He got a lot of flack when he was first in America for being too harsh or cocky. I knew what he meant – as did people around him – but I think he was very misunderstood back then. It took quite a while for him to express himself and not have things lost in translation. Now that he’s able to do that, I think people can finally see who he really is; who he has been all along. And that’s why so many fans now come by the TwoTwo Motorsports semi.

The success has also seen ramped-up industry support. Finally!
After last year and what he went through, a lot of people doubted. You have to accept that and say it is what it is. It’s not about whether it’s fair or not, and he knows the harsh reality that we’re only as good as our last race. We knew we couldn’t dwell on that, and we got on and did what we needed to do. So when people decide they want to trust and help and come on board, you don’t bitch and ask where they were before. You keep it positive and be thankful that people are seeing the positives. We hope to build those relationships and make TwoTwo Motorsports even bigger.

There seems to be a whole new level of respect from the industry now. You feelin’ it?
Absolutely. I am in awe of what Chad’s done, too. It’s so nice to be able to look at your partner and what they’re doing, and see that they’re not worried about the money and other concerns. I just see that he loves racing and he wants to be out there. I think people are finally getting that, and it’s coming across to the fans. It lets people in a little more to who Chad really is. Especially having a kid now, that’s what you want to teach your children – that if you’ve got a dream and you work hard and go for it, they can come true. Things aren’t handed to you on a plate. I know that more and more people are seeing that in Chad because the support we’ve had has been just amazing.

Not only did we talk to Ellie, but Mr TwoTwo himself. You’ll find the full interview with Chad in our latest August issue of Transmoto, on-sale now.