"We usually get heat and humidity at Budds Creek, and those are just the kind of conditions I practice in all the time, so I'm looking forward to another good battle there."
Reed is looking for his first win at Budds Creek, but the well-liked Aussie has finished on the podium at every round this year and is as close to Carmichael at this point in the season as he's ever been.
"I feel pretty happy about the way things are working out," Reed said, "Good things can happen when you ride clean and, so far, so good. I'll stick to this programme and see how everything plays out."
Stewart rode well last week in spite of dealing with nagging injuries from his crash in Mt Morris last month.
"I want to thank my team and Doc Augustine for getting me ready to race," he admitted, "I'm trying to do my best to hang in there, even though I'm not totally healthy."
Red Bull KTM rider Alessi is quietly getting the job done in the Motocross Lites class. After scoring victory in the series opener, the young Californian has since scored a pair of third place finishes to keep him atop the class standings.
"Keeping consistent is my plan," said Alessi, who is 25 points ahead of Honda's Andrew Short, "I think I'm the only rider to finish on the podium in every race so far, so I hope I can keep that streak going at Budds Creek."
Short moved up to second place in the standings after winning at Southwick last week, and he's eager to use the win as a launching pad.
"Getting the overall win at Southwick is a great way to get my season turned around," said Short, who scored a sixth and fifth-place in the first two Motocross Lites rounds, "But we need for Alessi to have a little bad luck to get up there in the points. That may be asking for a lot since he's been so steady. Fortunately, we've got a lot of racing to do yet this season."
