Coming all the way from Australia as a teenager with a stop over in MXGP, Chad Reed more than made his dream reality in America.
Chad dreamed big and won big in his career as he, with Ellie always by his side from the start, won a GP in his one and only season, then the 125 East Supercross title, followed by the WSX title the two Premier class supercross titles and a 450 outdoor title to become one of the legends of the game.
Reed said in his speech that you can watch below: “I started out riding horses with my dad then my cousin got a dirt bike. I quickly chose to sell the horse and motorcycles have been a part of my life (ever since). It’s my belief athletes are born not taught, I was born to do this, I don’t know anything else.
“My dad, my mum, were always going to be the ones who were going to be tough to talk about tonight, i don’t have the bubbly story that most people do. As a child, it was me and my dad just travelling the country like everybody, those were the memories I have of him, they were a lot of fun.
“For me my goal from 11 or 12 years old, was to come to America, and as crazy as it seems, I never saw life happening any other way. Of course there were bumps along the way but I always wanted to come to America and race.
“I did it in 1999 I was 16 at San Diego, I remember being on the start line at Qualcomm and the big TV at the end of the start straight, and as they panned through the riders, I saw myself on TV and I was like, ‘that’s what I want to do, I want to be the guy who wins these races like Jeremy McGrath did.’
I went home, went to work, raced the big bikes and chased the dream, tried everything I could get hold of people in America and nobody was taking the phone calls. We were really lucky in 2000, we had an Australian Grand Prix and I raced the 500 GP a week before my 18th birthday which allowed me to race the event, I was somewhere around 8th-11th, two other Australians did well, they phone was ringing, mine wasn’t. I felt like I was missing the opportunity again.
“I wanted to get out of Australia and take on the world, I wanted more, i went to Europe was able to succeed and get on the podium a ton and finally, a guy called Bob Moore, asked me if I would race in America, I said yes, he wanted me to ride a 125, i said I didn’t want ride a 125 but I would come anyway!
“I remember coming and getting to do childhood dreams and ride the Yamaha track with Jeremy McGrath. That year went well I won six of seven races then I got to really live my dream and sign my big bike contract. From that point, i just worked hard, I feel blessed, my competities are what makes my 43 year old proud, the wins, the championships could always be more, but when you race the greatest of all time and the fastest man on the planet, shit gets hard! I truly believe those two individuals in particular, everything that I did, it makes me proud to be in that conversations.
“Reflecting on leaving Australia, I embraced America with everything I had, it’s the life I always wanted to live, everybody embraced it. My dad, when I was leaving, I was taking my then girlfriend now wife and he did not agree. And he said if I took her, he would wipe his hands of me. He passed a couple of years ago, in some ways I’m at peace with that. Maybe somewhere up there, never once did he say he was proud of me to me, he always told everybody else but man did I try hard to earn his respect and get his blessing. I don’t know why I tried to hard but I did.
“As an Aussie kid leaving, I recently texted Dazzy, the Lawrence brothers’ father, just to say congratulations – the boys absolutely crushed it this year. He wrote back, ‘Thanks mate, you created a dream.’”
When I was 16 I broke my and went to a mutual friend’s birthday and the rest is history (meeting Ellie) my life with her has been the best, I chose you over my family, it’s true. I can’t believe I was given that option, shame on them.
Your dad asked me, ‘who is going to take care of her,’ I said, ‘ I got it!’ I left Australia ona GP contract of $80,000, at that point that was a huge contract. We went to Europe, didn’t want to go to Europe but man it was the funnest time of our lives. We didn’t know what way to go to the first GP and now we have three children, if I told her tomorrow I was going to race Anaheim, she would be all in, it wouldn’t matter. It was our lives, going to the races was life. Being in the AMA Hall of Fame is such an honour, because it is my life.
Watch the full speech 2 hours nine minutes in:
We spoke with Chad about his MXoN memories below:
