The 12-race Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship season will get started at Glen Helen Raceway.
The new season will bring new sponsors, a new TV package and the return of two-time Supercross champion Chad Reed to the lineup.
Reed, who finished second to James Stewart in the indoor Supercross championship this year, will take part in the outdoor season for the first time since 2006. The Australian driver plans a full-scale bid in the premier 450 Class championship, challenging top returning riders like Ryan Villopoto, Mike Alessi and Andrew Short. The Associated Press
The return of Reed, who hasn’t raced a full motocross season since 2006, is a boon for the series, which rides a wave heading into Sunday’s season opener at Glen Helen Raceway in Devore, Calif. By consolidating its race schedule to one day, events will be held on Saturdays, which allows for live TV coverage (for six races on NBC and Speed) for the first time in the sport’s history.
The addition of Reed, who lost the ‘09 Supercross title by four points to James Stewart in the closest two-rider battle in history, bucks a recent trend of Supercross stars skipping the outdoor season.
Davey Coombs, vice president of MX Sports Pro Racing that manages the outdoor season, says the duration of the Supercross and motocross seasons (which run back to back from January to September) make it “hard to fault a top rider for not doing both series if he makes enough money racing one.”
Reed said he wrestled with racing the outdoor season before deciding with wife Ellie that it was worth the time commitment. This could be the final motocross campaign for Reed, who plans to continue signing Supercross-only contracts.
“You need a break every once in a while,” says Reed, who spent a week and half in his native Australia after the Supercross finale in Las Vegas on May 2. “The hard-core fan doesn’t understand the pressure and demands every week. I thought long and hard about my decision to race this series, but it’s something I have to do. It’s not going to be easy.”
“I’ve got a lot of work on my technique and physical fitness, and we’ll be in the hunt,” Reed says. USA Today
James Stewart, who won the championship in dominant fashion last year and then captured this year’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series title for the second time, is not scheduled to compete in motocross this year.
But Stewart’s arch-rival Chad Reed, the Suzuki rider and two-time supercross champ who fell four points shy of Stewart for this year’s supercross crown, announced Tuesday that he will compete in the 12-race Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship.
Other riders expected to race include Suzuki’s Mike Alessi, Honda’s Andrew Short, Kawasaki riders Tim Ferry and Ryan Villopoto, and Josh Grant of Riverside, a Yamaha rider for Joe Gibbs Racing. Los Angeles Times
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