Despite describing Saturday's home-town Super X win as the "best he's felt on a motorcycle", Hunter-raised world champion Chad Reed has ruled out racing in Australia again until a US deal is secured.
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The win at Newcastle's leg of the Super X Australian Supercross Championship at EnergyAustralia Stadium may have given hope to the 12,500 sell-out crowd that the champion would continue with the seven-round series.
The win was a much-needed boost for Reed, whose recent dark times saw him spend 15 days attached to an intravenous drip after contracting Epstein-Barr virus.
But it did little to sway him from his priority of chasing a riding contract for next year's US championships.
The former Kurri Kurri rider made no apologies, saying: "I want to be a world champion, not an Australian champion. That's who I am."
Reed wore a heart monitor on Saturday to take vital data that will be used to develop a training program.
"[Saturday] was everything I knew in my own mind, everything I was confident about," Reed said in a post-race interview with Transmoto broadcast on his Twitter account (@chadtwotwo).
"It feels good to know those feelings you've got to have to be competitive," he said. "I had that edge, that fire, I had a little something that I know can be competitive in the US."
Reed praised place-getters, US-based Josh Hansen (second) and Justin Brayton (third), as genuine contenders for the Australian Super X title in his absence.
"You can't discredit Josh and Justin, they are fast and respectable guys in the US," Reed said. "The track was slick, hard and tough to pass so you had to be patient."
Brayton said Reed was in a class of his own.
"Reed is racing great and it's good for him to get the win in front of his home town. My first race didn't go to plan, but I managed to get a good start in the second, so it was a good result."
Reed, dogged by claims his big-budget equipment and professional US crew gave him a competitive edge in the Super X series, answered the critics by competing on a bike far below his usual standard.
The bike was built on Thursday from scratch and Reed said it "felt awesome".
A spokesman for Reed's management said discussions in the US were very positive and hoped for developments tomorrow.
"But until a contract was signed, sealed and delivered, you don't count on anything," he said.
"I haven't seen Chad ride like that since 2004.
"That bike was nothing special too, which just shows what dedication and self belief can really do."
It is also the first time in 10 years Reed has spent this much time in Australia.
"Having a kid and wife and dragging them around on the scene is not easy," Reed said.
Reed was glad for the luxury of home this week when six-month-old son Tate began teething, prompting his sympathetic dad to tweet, "Sure glad I don't remember getting teeth! Tate sure doesn't seem pumped on it poor lil guy. I feel helpless."
Reed tweeted on Friday of the novelty of racing in his home town saying, "Feels so weird chilling at home watching TV and there's a race on tomorrow. Going to be a short 5 min drive to the stadium so pumped seems surreal. This is where it all started for me way back in 86."
Reed's post-race tweets conveyed his rapture. "Amazing night! Felt as good if not better than my Suzuki days. What a night! The fire is alive:)"
Wife Ellie was tweeting from her Twitter account (@mrs22) every step of Saturday's race and when he won, proudly tweeted, "He still has it. Welcome back!"
Reed returned to his tweeting yesterday a little worse for it and was said to be, "Feeling the effects of not being in race shape today."
