1. Where does this leave Chad Reed?

Jason Thomas: For now, he’s in flux. He’s been the captain of his own ship for the last five years. Now, he and his agent must go to work on finding him a new home. He’ll be trying to find a lucrative offer that also has winning-capable equipment. The real challenge will be adjusting back to a normal team atmosphere. He won't be calling the shots on every decision any more. Many obligations and team nuances that he didn't enjoy before will again be approached. He’ll have to compromise, and he’ll have much less responsibility and pressure, but he’ll also be subject to someone else's agenda.

Jason Weigandt: We know Reed shut the team down so he can ride for someone else, reduce stress, and increase his chances of making money. But who is going to hire him? Remember, Reed started TwoTwo Motorsports for the 2011 season because he was out of options. In 2010, he had a bad season on a Kawasaki with just one win, he had health problems that knocked him out of the Nationals, and he was considered old by motocross standards. Five years later, he's in the same situation again. 

Chad is in a tough spot because this sport's short-term memory is too good. The "he had a bad season" tag is hanging over him now, which really isn’t accurate because he won a supercross, and that's legit. But everyone just remembers the last few months, which were bad. He's lucky, though, because the long-term memory in this sport is terrible. Chad's been an outspoken guy and has said things about bike brands that few could get away with. But guess what? We've seen much worse things happen between riders and brands only to see them get back together again. Some team will be excited to get him back. 

I think there are three options: A) A factory team nabs him because of his skills with testing and development. He may not be the lead, highest-paid rider like he was in previous factory stints, but he can still deliver strong results, even race wins and maybe even a SX title run, while also improving the bike. Chad's known for picking bike settings that no one else likes, though, so we'll see. B) A private team grabs him to legitimize themselves. A few years back BTO Sports was getting great results from Matt Goerke—around seventh each week in supercross—but it wasn't until they hired Andrew Short that they took "the leap" in the eyes of the fans and industry. Reed would give a similar team a huge boost. C) Here's what I think is most logical: Get him in the RCH truck as Ken Roczen's teammate. They all share agents, Reed's sponsors could come along easily, and this team would become the most popular in the pits, which is something they actually recognize and market. Wouldn't surprise me one bit. 

Steve Matthes: I think this leaves Reed needing to find a bike he wants to ride and a team with which he can pit! But in all seriousness, I can't see him riding with anything short of full factory involvement, so that rules out a few teams. I can't see him jumping to KTM or Husky or something that he's never been on, either. And I think the Kawasaki ship has sailed for him. So it's the Honda factory team(even though there were some strained relations between CR and the factory Honda guys at the end of his time on red), an RCH Suzuki deal (which he almost did a couple of years ago, and the team is all tied in with WMG, who is Chad's agency), or Yamaha, who I know he's talked to about joining again. He started with Yamaha in America, and he's told me that he'd like to end it with the brand he started with. What a sentimental guy that Chad Reed is. 

He'll do one or at most two more seasons of SX-only, and before you write him off, can you just go back a few months and remember that he was one of a handful of dudes to win a supercross race this past year, and he threw away more than a few easy podiums? The guy can still ride, people.