Three rounds and six motos are all that separate TwoTwo Motorsports’/Bel-Ray Racing’s Chad Reed from from the final chequered flag of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross season, and the Aussie will exert all of his effort to ensure he is in the running for the 450 class title.

This weekend’s sandy Southwick National in Morgantown kick-starts what will be a frenzied three weeks of racing, practice and training, and the 2009 outdoors champion is focused on the task of taming the class leaders.

While acknowledging that his dramatic Spring Creek crash had disrupted his campaign, Reed felt there was still time to make back the 25 point-deficit to Ryan Villopoto.

“I haven’t finished where I’ve need to for the last few rounds and this has opened up the gap to the leaders,” said Reed. “I felt like I could have come away with a much better result at Unadilla and we’ve really been focusing on what went wrong there.

“Southwick changes things up again with an all-sand surface. The track will change a lot throughout the day and to get a result here you need to be on top of it.

“This starts the real run home for us – three rounds in three weekends. For us to have a chance at this we need to be fast enough to be challenging for and taking wins.

“I’m proud of what we’ve achieved so far but a strong finish to the season would really round the year for us as well as our sponsors and fans.”

The Australian rider has taken four overall wins in 2011.

A maximum of 50 points can be claimed at Southwick, with the Steel City and Pala Nationals following on consecutive weekends.

Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship Championship Standings (after Rd 9 of 12)
1. Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki – 391
2. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki – 384
3. Chad Reed, Kurri Kurri, Australia, Honda – 366
4. Brett Metcalfe, Mannum, Australia, Suzuki – 262
5. Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., KTM – 210
6. Andrew Short, Colorado Springs, Colo., KTM – 196
7. Kevin Windham, Baton Rouge, La., Honda – 193
8. Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki – 190
9. Davi Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha – 173
10. Tommy Hahn, Great Bend, Kan., Yamaha – 140