Chad Reed looked to be the man to beat in San Diego before his costly mistake. Image: Simon Cudby.

TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed is taking the positives from his San Diego 450SX main event performance, after going down while dicing for the race lead inside Qualcomm Stadium.

The Australian tops the all-time wins list inside Qualcomm Stadium, and with his early form in the main event, looked poised to add another win to that impressive tally.

While pushing Rockstar Energy Racing’s Davi Millsaps for the lead position for the first half of the race, Reed lost his front end in one of the bowl turns, finding himself back in seventh place as he remounted.

Reed finished the race fifth and said that while he was disappointed with the end result there were positive gains made over the past week.

“There are definitely some positives to take away from the race tonight,” Reed said. “I was up there challenging for the race lead but lost the front while trying to find a way around Davi.

“We are making gains, I am up there battling the guys at the front, now I just need a little luck to go my way.”

Reed currently sits fifth overall in the championship standings, and will now return to his home base in Florida to prepare for the first of the east coast rounds at Texas Cowboys Stadium on Saturday 16 February.