Image: Simon Cudby.

Discount Tire Racing/TwoTwo Motorsports team owner and rider Chad Reed matched his pre-race target of finishing inside the top 10 at Glen Helen’s Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship opener.

Reed made his long-awaited race return at the famed Southern Californian facility on Saturday, finishing 10th overall with a consistent effort of ninth in moto one and 10th in the second. The result comes just three weeks into his comeback from injury.

“The goal was to try to come here and be inside the top 10,” Reed told Racer X. “It’s easy to say and then be happy with it once it actually happens and be on the backside of the top 10, not on the front side. But we just have to take it – three weeks is just not enough.

“I’ve just been fighting myself and trying to be super patient on trying to get back and not blow out my hand. It’s just a matter of taking the steps.”

Reed said that despite little time testing in preparation for Glen Helen, he was particularly comfortable aboard the KX450F at a circuit that usually highlights any weaknesses in bike settings due to its rough, dry nature.

“The positives are the bike felt good and I couldn’t tell you that I’ve ever been at Glen Helen and been happy with the bike,” he added. “And we only spent two days of testing. I think we’re in the window, I just need to get stronger and get some bike fitness and I think we’ll be fine. I think we’ll be back in this thing pretty soon.”

Glen Helen marked Reed’s first race since his season-ending supercross crash at San Diego almost four months prior at the beginning of February.