Chad Reed slips to no 2

...after finishing second for the seventh round in succession in Atlanta at the weekend.

Australia's highest paid motorsport star was involved in a starting gate glitch that forced him to fight from the back of the field.

"I was a little too ready on the start," Reed said.

"Josh Hill hit the gate and it flinched and I pretty much ran right into it, then had to back up. After that I had to play it smart and to be honest I was lucky to finish the first lap as far up the order as I did.

"I am bummed, I really felt I had a good battle to take to James tonight and I was ready to go. Even though the results don't show it we were a lot closer tonight than last week."

The series hits the halfway point on Saturday with the ninth round at Indianapolis.

AMA Supercross standings after round 8 of 17

1 James Stewart, Yamaha, 177

2 Chad Reed, Suzuki, 174

3 Andrew Short, Honda, 140

4 Ryan Villopoto, Kawasaki, 126

5 Josh Grant, Yamaha, 120