It looked like the difference this year was that for 2017 you have a job, whereas last year you were sort of in limbo. It seemed like you had that added element of focus this weekend, and obviously Goose [Mike Gosselaar] is here and, as good of fun this is, it’s all about working towards Anaheim as well.
Yeah I mean, if people only knew how off the couch we were last year when I came here. I feel when I come here, whether you’re prepared 100 percent or less than prepared, you come here to put on a show. Last year I felt that I was probably a good 20 to 30 pounds heavier than what I am now and not even close to being in the shape I’m at today. And you know, the result really wasn’t drastically different [last year Reed went 1-2 and was just edged for the overall by Cooper Webb's 2-1], I think my riding was better and my bike and preparation. But like you said, having a job and knowing that I was coming here months and months ago, it just allowed me to kind of set out my off-season and use this race as a tool and roll out. Bringing Goose and sending out complete race bike from the States and all of those little things, that’s what adds up. I want to be good at Anaheim and this is the best that I could do to prepare for Anaheim.

Aside from the main events and the heat races, there was obviously the Australia vs USA and the Superpole as well. It looked like you were really working on improving yourself, making yourself better, during those parts of the show. That was a really good race with Brayton as well, especially the Aussie fans loved it.
Yeah, I think if I’m leaving here and finding things that I feel like I need to work on, one thing I really need to work on is that one-lap, all out, balls to the wall speed. I think that Superpole last night and tonight was a complete disaster for me, I just didn’t get the most out of my lap. Even in the practices, I want to say the first practice, which was a free practice, I was fast this morning, but you know, I was second in the next one, so it wasn’t like I was at the top of the board for those one-lap sprints. That is something that I haven’t been working on, my focus is not there, my focus is about going fast and being able to sustain that speed—that’s where we’re at in the program right now. So there’s some things to work on because you have to qualify good, there’s the addition of the semis back in the States now and you never want to go to a semi. You want to be in the top four and transfer directly out of the heat to give you a good top-eight pick of the main event.

What were your thoughts on the track this year? Night one versus today, it was actually quite a bit different, and a little bit of a different layout to last year.
The layout and the track were really challenging. It’s hard to say if it’s better or worse, I think racing wise, it was maybe better last year. I think if I were to criticize anything—and I would use it as constructive criticism—I think that they should leave the sand manly [laughs] and just have a normal situation out there and allow that to happen. The finish line maybe has a better place where it was last year, so maybe we can implement that if there’s a third event, but who knows, you never know these things. But I think that the second time around is always so difficult, things pop up that never popped up in year one and the expectation is there, so you have to achieve a certain goal otherwise you feel like you’re falling short. So yeah, I think overall, I’m really proud of what AUS-X Open achieved over the weekend and I’m just proud to be a part of it.

Something you mentioned a couple of times across the weekend, which will make headlines, is that during 2017 you would like to extend [your Yamaha contract] for another two years. Is that obviously the goal?
That’s the goal. There’s no discussion happening within my circle of trustees and with Ellie and I. It’s not about saying "Hey, this is when I’m going to retire", the focus is trying to live in the now and achieve the goals early on in 2017 that will put me in the position to go on and hopefully extend my relationship with Yamaha two more years as a rider. But yeah, I mean I’m sure that it’s not going to be easy, but I’m up for the challenge.

Having Ryan Villopoto here, a new element to the show this year, how did you find that?
Yeah I mean, obviously you know, the Ryan that we got [this weekend] was not four-consecutive supercross championships Ryan, but watching Ryan, riding around Ryan, it brings back good memories. The guy’s only 28 years old and for me in some cases it’s really sad to see a guy with so much talent and ability on a motorcycle so willing to be just okay with not doing anything. That’s something that I can’t comprehend, but obviously everybody and each individual is different and you have to respect that. But yeah man, massive respect for his talent and obviously the guy can still throw down. He got a holeshot tonight and lead three or four laps, you could tell he didn’t have 20 in him, but for me tonight when he was leading and I was behind him, the goal was to pounce when I could. I needed to pass him really fast, because again, kind of what I said earlier, the sand was just impossible. Coming into the sand and exiting the sand, no matter if you were first or last, anytime you were following somebody it was just so hard to maintain speed.