I’m not sure if you’ve been paying attention to the American outdoor series or not but there’s definitely something weird going on over here. Yeah out front in the 450MX class it’s the Ryan show with Villopoto and Dungey putting a beat down on everyone else. That was to be expected but further back in the pack are a couple of moto icons banging bars with some riders that they’ve never ever seen on a track before.

Chad Reed and James Stewart are numbers three and four in all-time SX and MX win lists and two of the greatest riders of all-time. Their legacies are secured in the sport no doubt about it but right now, it’s very strange to see these two as just, well, just another guy out on the track. Supercross wasn’t easy for either of these rivals either, it’s a bizarre thing to see them just circulate the track each and every week.

Stewart’s best has been a third but it’s been a while since he did that- most recently it’s been crashes and some ineffective riding. Remarkably, Reed’s best was this past weekend when he finished seventh in moto one. Seventh! Stewart’s sixth in the points and Reed’s sixteenth – what kind of world are we living in where Chad effing Reed is sixteenth in the points having raced every single race?

Stewart started the season with a pair of third’s at Hangtown and although he appeared to be off the pace of the machines known as The Ryan’s, it was expected that he’d get better and improve as the series rolls on. Instead, it’s gotten worse. Still able to go out and set a fast time (Stewart’s twice set the fastest qualifying time) he hasn’t been able to do it in the motos.

Australia’s Chad Reed continues to fight an uphill battle during 2013. Image: Simon Cudby.

Sometimes he looks great and there doesn’t seem to be a problem, other times the crashes come back and he can’t keep it on two wheels. At Southwick it was all there for him, the Ryan’s stuck in the back, a ten second lead on second place and ten minutes left in the race. The man who once went 24-0 in an outdoor season couldn’t close the deal. His violent crash knocked him out of the race and what could have been turned into “Just another James Stewart race.”

Truly a one-of-a-kind-talent, too many times you’ve been waiting for Stewart to get going, to slice through the pack and yeah, maybe age and injuries have caught up to him and he’s not as good as the Ryan’s but everyone else? No way, I refuse to believe that the drop off can happen this fast. It’s been a tough season for the #7 and I don’t see it getting any easier.

For his part Chad Reed says he’s battling some sort of illness that has prevented him from being at his best. He’s not saying what it is but what he is saying is that if he wasn’t the owner of his own team, he’d probably be on the sidelines.

“If I’m getting paid and I know what I know, you take the time off and work on it at home. What I have going on, I shouldn’t be on the couch not riding or training,” Reed tells MotoOnline.com.au from the airport on his way to round seven of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships at Redbud.

“I have some things that need attention and love and when you have your own time and space and not worrying about racing or being able to take time off, you can just chip away at it but I’m not that lucky.” This has to be tough on the #22 right? When you’ve won as much as Chad Reed has, riding around in the back of the pack and getting lapped can’t be much fun and to this, Reed takes it a step further as he uses the word that’s raw.

“Embarrassing. It’s embarrassing for me, it’s not what I expect of myself. My position is what makes it tough. As much as you want an overnight fix, there’s things that can’t be,” says Reed. “2013 is the year where I learn patience; it’s been a frustrating year for me all around. There’s always a chance I can still turn it around. Southwick was my best finish of the year and it’s hard to get excited for a seventh but my team was.”

Can James Stewart return to his former glory? Image: Simon Cudby.

The kid from Kurri Kurri has turned from someone that was looked upon as a threat to the American hero that was Ricky Carmichael to now someone in the paddock who’s got the respect of everyone and whose autograph line is probably the longest each weekend. The starts haven’t been there much and when they are, like at Budds Creek, he’s quickly shuffled to the back and into a place that’s very strange for Reed.

“At the end of the day your reputation is on the line and it’s not fun. I’ve gotten my monies worth out of paying to go race the nationals because I’ve hit every bump out on the track every lap,” says Reed. When asked about his bike, it’s no secret that the new 2013 Honda and Reed haven’t, at times, gelled. He refuses to go there though; he’s not putting the blame on anyone but himself and this mysterious illness.

“My bike’s horrible because I’m riding it horrible, it’s just a chain effect,” says the honest-to-a-fault Reed. “It hasn’t been fun at all, riding around outside the top ten, sometimes twenty is horrible.”

Some think he should hang it up but there’s no quit in Reed. He’ll be back in 2014 (on what color we’re not sure, his Honda deal is up and there is a chance he rides another brand) and with a full off-season to work on his craft, he’s hoping to come into the season on a much better note.

When I spoke to Reed in November of last year, his knee was better but he seemed to have more interest in driving go-karts than pounding through whoops. This fall, I’m betting that will change. Being the optimist that he is, Reed sees a silver lining in this summer’s struggles “We’ll come out of this better, we’ve been throwing things at the bike in racing situations and bikes been getting better. And I think I’m getting better, it’s not massive improvements but it’s there.”

Kudos for Reed for looking on the bright side and it remains to be seen if 2013 was the tipping point to where one can look back and say ‘That was the year Reed and Stewart began the decline’ or if it’s blip and there are more wins and podiums to come. No matter what it is, what happens – it’s been weird. I’ll say that much.