The American Motorcyclists Association (AMA) supercross season from January through May often seemed like a two-man show involving James "Bubba" Stewart and Chad Reed, but the summer motocross circuit on the rural dirt tracks is providing a stronger balance of competition. Chad Reed leads the motocross season points standings near the midway point. Still, new faces are emerging with seven first-time event winners. The latest is rookie Josh Grant of Riverside, California, who on Independence Day captured the Monster Energy Motocross National from RedBud in Buchanan, Michigan.

Every sport needs its superstars. Supercross and motocross are no different. Still, most fans don't want the same old same old. Josh Grant is among the up-and-coming young lions who are eager to share some podiums. "I really needed this win," says Grant, reflecting the impatience of a potential emerging star in his own right. "I finally got a decent start and just made all the passes I needed to get to the front. I knew we had the speed. I just needed to get a start and today everything worked out." Furthermore, Josh Grant's day in the sun came on a live national telecast on NBC.

Josh Grant moves to his own beat. He still lists Riverside as his hometown, but in October 2008 he moved to North Carolina, saying he sometimes wants to get away from the "circus" and train in more quiet surroundings with the Joe Gibbs Racing Team. Also, he wants to avoid a tendency to over train and wear himself out. "It took a couple weeks (in North Carolina) before we really got into a groove where I started riding a lot. Then a couple of weeks after that, we started testing. Then we just really hit it really hard from there on in," Josh explains.

Josh Grant paid his dues in the junior 250 Lites class before his gradual advance to joining the big boys on the 450s. He says the more powerful bike "suits my style" and demonstrates that he has "the power to do it." The summer of 2009 indeed is demonstrating that budding stars in supercross and motocross are ready to challenge the old guard.

SOURCES:
http://www.allisports.com/news/grant-adds-list-first-time-winners-redbud
http://www.allisports.com/news/practice-report-redbud
http://www.racerxonline.com/article/5-minutes-with-josh-grant-1-9.aspx

Ryan Villopoto's victory in a recent Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series event was good for three reasons. First, the 20-year-old demonstrated that his month on the sidelines stemmed from a viral infection, not something for serious or permanent. Second, Villopoto captured his first crown at the top level in his hometown of Seattle. Third, Ryan Villopoto demonstrated that a rider other than Bubba Stewart or Chad Reed can an AMA Supercross event.

Stewart and Reed not only have been hogging the AMA Supercross winner's circle for a long time, but it's also usually a one-two show with the other finishing second. Furthermore, the third place finisher and his followers often are quite distant. Many fans are really enjoying the Stewart-Reed rivalry, but is it good for AMA to have two individuals so superior? In golf, for example, even Tiger Woods wins "only" one out of every three tournaments he enters. Supercross and motocross could benefit from a wider range of true contenders.

Ryan Villopoto is a small (5-foot-5, 135 pounds) but fiery rider who is seen among the heir apparent, with 31 Lites victories on the supercross and motocross junior circuits. His father, Dan Villopoto, and his grandfather both are dirt bike enthusiasts. Ryan was 5-years-old when he took his first ride and soon he was competing. Dan Villopoto says that at first it was "just a hobby" to help father and son bond together and that, "I never knew it would become as big as it is today."

Does Villopoto's Seattle win portend that Bubba Stewart and Chad Reed will face more challenges? It's difficult to judge. The Seattle track was so poorly prepared that Chad Reed skidded out at the start, and had to struggle mightily to recover for seventh place. Meanwhile, Bubba Stewart apparently decided to play it safe in the Seattle "sand" and settle for second, seizing the season points lead from Reed.

But now that Villopoto is healthy and with some experience, maybe he can start to transform the sport's Big Two into the Big Three.

SOURCES
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2009078582_supercross18.html?syndication=rss
http://www.racerxonline.com/article/450-words-seattle-supercross.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Villopoto
http://www.racerxonline.com/rider/ryan-villopoto.aspx

A motocross journalist recent wrote that Chad Reed "by the numbers ... is one of the greatest supercross riders ever." Why the qualifier of "by the numbers?" Nobody ever speaks of Jeremy McGrath or Ricky Carmichael or James "Bubba" Stewart as "by the numbers." They simply are regarded as motocross greats.

Possibly the difference is that Chad Reed is so quiet and reserved. He doesn't say much about himself, not even on his own website. We can learn that he's 27 years old and from Australia, and that he came to the United States in order to match his skills with the world's best riders. He's just not big with the media.

Chad Reed won the the AMA (American Motorcyclists Association) supercrossseason championship in 2004 and 2008. As of late March, after 12 of the season's 17 events, Reed was leading Stewart, 271 points to 260. Unless Chad Reed takes a bad spill and/or suffers a major injury, he is in command for a third title. The supercross season concludes May 2 in Las Vegas.

Reed's reserved manner was reflected after his March 22 victory in St. Louis, in front of 56,000 fans. He stated mundanely: "Like I say every week, you've got to be in it to win it, and that's what we're doing. ... I just kept my head down and rode my Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 as hard as I could and it was good for the win this week." At least Chad Reed speaks up enough to give his sponsor a good plug.

A few years ago, an interviewer managed to pull something original out of Chad Reed. Chad noted that back in Australia, he actually used to chase kangaroos on his motorcycle. "Well, not on a daily basis," he explained. "Those animals are really fast, and it's amazing keeping up with them on a motorcycle."

Another journalist visited Chad Reed's training and practice site on one day, and Bubba Stewart's digs on the next. He described Chad Reed as taking more of a loose and fun approach, while the Bubba Stewart team was all business. But this certainly doesn't mean that Chad Reed isn't dead serious. During one season, he continued racing in pain after separating his shoulder. The next time you watch a supercross or motocross race, try to imagine that!

SOURCES
http://www.racerxonline.com/rider/chad-reed.aspx
http://www.coolgrrrls.com/2/chadreed.html
http://www.racerxonline.com/article/monday-wake-up-call-3-23.aspx
http://www.racerxonline.com/blog/blogandt/2009/03/6/blogandt-noun-of-the-week-9/
http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/ama-supercross-motocross/races/?lo_id=136
www.mxnationals.com
http://www.chadreedracing.com/-/bio
http://www.supercross.com/rider-profiles/795-chad-reed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_Reed