Injured Reed trying to hold on

A little thing like a fractured shoulder blade isn’t going to slow down a tough guy like Monster Energy AMA Supercross star Chad Reed.

The 2004 series champion, injured April 12 in a crash during a race at Ford Field in Detroit, is still hanging on to his Yamaha bike and the series points lead after two gutsy -- and painful -- races.

“It was just one of those freak accidents,” Reed said this week in a telephone interview from his home in Tampa, Fla., where he is undergoing intensive rehab. “I had a small mistake and then I was on the ground.”

The crash came during practice and the 26-year-old from Australia was taken in an ambulance to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken shoulder blade and scapula and a separated shoulder.

Four hours later, Reed was back at the stadium, ready to use a provisional qualifying rule to race in the main event. He finished 12th, scoring much-needed points.

Supercross is a series of laps on a dirt track -- usually indoors -- that includes several sections of bumps that appear to act like long washboards and lots of jumps that send the riders majestically into the air and then slam them back to earth.

Ouch!

Reed won’t back down.

He was back on his bike in St. Louis just seven days after the accident, finishing second to Kevin Windham, the rider chasing him for the title. With races remaining Saturday night in Seattle and on May 3 in Las Vegas, Reed, who led by 27 points heading into Detroit after winning eight of the first 13 events, is just 13 points ahead.

“It’s still a little bit rough,” Reed explained. “I’ve just been trying to rehab, trying to get back up on top of it. But, in seven days, we made some huge progress and were able to get on the podium last weekend, so it’s definitely looking more promising for us than it did [in Detroit].”

Reed said there was never any doubt in his mind that he would continue racing through the injury.

“For me, it’s more pride,” he said. “No amount of money can make me do things. It comes from within. I really, really want to win this championship and I’ve worked really, really hard for it.

“Ever since I was a kid, this is all I ever wanted to do. Basically, when I [crashed], I had three races to go. I just put my head down and said, ‘I can make this happen.’ It’s definitely going to hurt, but I think it would hurt a lot more to go home and watch something that I’ve worked so hard for slip away from me.”