We make no secrets here at MotoOnline.com.au that we’re massive fans of Chad Reed, so any chance we get to take time out with him for an interview is highly appreciated.

On top of that, every time I’m in the U.S. to carry out work for this very site, the TwoTwo Motorsports team owner/rider seems to get it done for us with a win or very close podium.

So when Reed won last weekend at Los Angeles’ third stop of the 2012 AMA Supercross season at Dodger Stadium, we were pumped for him and the entire TwoTwo team.

That all said, Chad was kind enough to spend 20 minutes of his Monday afternoon here in California chatting to us about his epic win on Saturday night, plus shared some more revealing info on the future of his team.

Congratulations on a big win in LA. This year it took just three rounds to get it done, so was that a surprise at all for you, or did you know you were up for it despite the crash in the heat?

Actually, I was a little surprised after some of the adjustments we made from the heat race to the main. You always anticipate what they’re going to do and what they’re going to bring – hopefully it’s in the direction that you kind of anticipate. But you’re still always taking a shot at it when it’s go time, when the points are handed out and stuff.

We gambled a little bit in the main and the feeling was there. Luckily for me – this kind of sucks because it was at the expense of two guys getting hurt – but when they restarted the race, I had a second shot at getting a little better start.

I was really far outside, so the goal was to try and get in there. It’s one of those things that once you’ve gone through the punches once, the second time you sort of know where they are coming from.

I just tried to get a good start, tried to get myself up there from the second turn and get through the guys. All that happened, I was able to get a better start and then go to the front. Then yeah, rode good.

I just felt like I was riding the way I should be riding and felt confident. I felt like my lines were coming together, so it was a really good feeling.

At that point you’re happy because you feel like you’re riding the way you should, so win or lose at that point, you’re happy with how things go.

You’ve had a long rivalry with James Stewart and now obviously the two Ryans – Villopoto and Dungey – are in there as well, but how good did it feel for you to come up on James and pass him like you did before taking control of the race in LA?

It was awesome. There’s no denying the fact that we’ve had a pretty fierce rivalry over the years and nine times out of 10 he’s been the one coming out on top. It’s definitely nice to be able to pass him and ride away with relative ease.

Doing it once or twice is always fun [laughs], but the goal is to try and maintain that throughout the year – keep him kind of doing what he’s doing now.

But yeah, I mean as far as just one race and feeling good, being able to pass him and ride away, it was a nice feeling for sure.

Villopoto has very fast outright speed, but has had to come back from being on the ground in the past two races. Is that something you search for answers for? I mean, how do you approach that?

You know, I don’t really look at it any differently this year to last year, or previous years. I mean, Ryan has always been a guy that can drop the hammer.

Since he was on the Lites bike he was extremely fast and can let it hang out. He has a great technique, the way he rides. When he’s on, he’s really on, and when he’s off, he’s typically really, really off.

The days that he gets holeshots he’s extremely dangerous, and as we’ve seen the past two weeks, even when he makes mistakes he can drop the hammer. Last week he came back to third and this week he came fourth.

That’s somebody that we’ve always been able to see, somebody that wants to win the championship, somebody that’s in the elite group, they’ve always been able to do it.

You go back and Jeremy [McGrath’s] been able to do it, Ricky [Carmichael’s] been able to do it, James has been able to and I’ve been able to do it.

It’s not like he’s doing anything that hasn’t ever been done before. I think he’s riding faster than everyone else and he’s able to get into fourth, and for us, we were able to be up there in front.

I don’t feel like he’s any faster or better than he ever has been – I just think he’s a very fast and extremely talented young kid who’s not scared to let it hang out.

You mentioned earlier the settings of your bike, and you have had some crashes this year including the LA heat race. You rode the factory Honda last year, but only in the last couple of supercross races and then outdoors. Is it just a matter of getting it to your liking in supercross?

I feel like the changes that we’re making on race days at all three races have been the smallest changes that I’ve ever made in any year to the bike. I feel that we’re in a really good spot.

The front tyre change that we made this past weekend was really something that has been brought up during testing, though I feel it’s something only that you feel when you’re looking for that last two percent, four percent, five percent – whatever that number is.

You feel you just can’t go to that percentage during practice because of either the track or the [lack of] competition, because you always step it up on race day. You’re always riding a little faster, a little harder, for whatever reason.

With the front tyre, I was comfortable in those conditions and had been, but it hadn’t been as big of an improvement as what I felt on the weekend.

So, we’ll just take it with a grain of salt, put it in the back of the logbook and remember that when we’ve got issues, we have a Band-Aid.

It seems the Australian mainstream media and general motorsport media is following you a lot closer lately. That’s been something that yourself, Matt Cousins and Fluid PR have been working on for quite a few years obviously, so does that feel good to know that all that hard work between you guys is paying off?

Yeah, I think it’s great to see that the results are making it on primetime Sunday nights or Monday nights over there, whenever it is. This year I did an exclusive thing at the first race with Channel 9.

They came over and spent the whole race day with me, so they were able to get a really good insight with what we go through on race day. They were kind of like a fly on the wall the whole day, which has never really been done before.

I’ve never seen anything like that done for Channel 9 or something – hadn’t seen [Mick] Doohan, [Wayne] Gardner or [Casey] Stoner do it.

For us to get that opportunity and get those guys to commit to coming over was really cool and something that I felt was groundbreaking. It shows that what we’re doing over here in the U.S. is gaining momentum and people want to see it.

It’s just like anything, whenever there is a demand for it then you’ve got to push in the right areas. Matt and I have been working extremely hard over the years to try and do that.

It’s never really about you as an individual, it’s more about the sport because we have such a great sport and a family orientated sport. You want to get the word out there and have people enjoy it like we all have.

We all know that you’re a fan of Twitter and use it a lot, but does it open your eyes at all to see guys like Valentino Rossi, Mark Webber, or even Craig Lowndes or somebody, from other sports follow and pay such close attention to what you do?

You know, I mean those three guys you just mentioned are three guys that I look up to – I’m as big of a hardcore fan to their particular sports as anybody.

That’s probably what I love most about Twitter is that it goes deeper than just an interview. The whole Facebook thing I’ve never really gotten into, but it’s right from the guy and it’s their personality that comes across.

So yeah, I think it’s awesome because you can follow them and their results, what they’re up to, and all that kind of stuff. To get Twitter mentions from Webber, Lowndesy and Vale is friggen awesome – I get a kick out of that!

I think that it’s quite a neat feeling and I’m pretty honoured of that because I follow their individual careers pretty closely.

Last year TwoTwo Motorsports were the new guys on the block, sort of put together late in the game and not really having too many expectations put on you because of that. You overachieved in many ways and it was a major year for you, but going into this year you have more experience and factory Honda support. You’re more so expected to win than last year, so even though you are the boss, do you feel extra pressure?

The expectation comes from being there and done it. I feel that I have all the tools necessary to get the job done, as I did last year, but it was such a different position that we were in. We were literally on production bikes and shooting in the dark for the first six to 10 weeks.

There was one thing that I needed, some fork changes that were going to help me with front-end feel, and Honda has that stuff in the back of the shop, whereas last year I had to wait literally 10 weeks to get it.

In this situation you have access to a lot of different parts, you’re involved in a lot of the development of the motorcycle for the next year’s bike, and all that kind of stuff.

You’re in the loop and you’re moving forward, which is all stuff that I had been used to. So in this position feels more normal than what last year did. I think it’s great what we’re achieving, so really right now the pressure comes from me wanting to take the team to the next level.

We have to find a sponsor that fits us and to come in financially to put us in a position to go after somebody young. I’d really like to go after a [Dean] Wilson, a [Justin] Barcia, an [Eli] Tomac or some young kid who is willing to move up to the 450 Class.

And then I’d really like to go after one of the top guys, like a Villopoto or something. The goal is to put people on the team who can take the reins and run with it, to put us in race-winning and championship contention year in, year out, to keep this team going.

I was going to wrap it up there, but you gave me an idea for one more question. Personally, last year I thought you did enough to gain a title sponsor at TwoTwo Motorsports with your results and presentation of the team. That hasn’t happened, so is that a sign of the economy? You see title sponsors on other teams that I think you’d deserve sponsors over, but is it more of a case that you have your price set what it costs to be title sponsor of TwoTwo and you’re not just going to settle for anything less on the bike?

Yeah, that is really what it is. You know, I have a lot of opportunities from a variety of different things like energy drinks, tool companies and a few different kinds of possibilities.

But I’m just, I’m really in this position because I’m hard headed, so I feel that the title sponsor is worth X amount of money.

Right now we have some great sponsors and Bel-Ray has been behind us from day one, so we’re really happy to extend that relationship for two more years. Honda has stepped it up to factory equipment, so right now I have what I need to go racing for me as an individual.

But definitely to take it to the next level we need a big title sponsor. I’m not like the rest of these teams out here – I’m not willing to go and sign for as little money and be what I would call a sell out.

We bring a lot to the table and we can hit the 18- to 34-year male better than any other sport in the world, so I’m confident that we can do a good job and bring positive feedback to that demographic.

Day and night we’re seeking, trying to get sponsors. It’s just a matter of the right one coming in and the right amount of money for that position, otherwise we’ll continue to try and look. I’m really grateful for Bel-Ray for being a really good, strong associate sponsor.

Okay well perfect, we can’t wait to see how it pans out in the future.

Thanks mate.