There were plenty of storylines to follow throughout the field in the 450SX main event from San Diego last weekend. Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton had to go through the LCQ to even make the main event and then got put on the ground by Justin Barcia on the second lap of the main event. Dylan Ferrandis was fast all day but maybe not quite as much as he was in Anaheim. And privateer Alex Ray made his first main event of the year thanks to an untimely stall from Shane McElrath.
Here’s what each of them had to say after the main event.
Chase Sexton | 5th
First of all, in the main, you and [Justin] Barcia. Is it racing? Do we have a whole thing here?
Chase Sexton: I don’t know. I mean there’s not really much you can do with that because you’re going to get the same thing every time. I actually talked to him before the main event and he came in and he took me clean off my bike. You just kind of expect that from him. I didn’t know he was behind me. I probably could have guarded the inside a little bit more, but I didn’t know he was right behind me. After that I went back to probably like 10th and then got back to fifth, so not ideal tonight. Not great.
If not for the knock down, did you feel you rode okay?
Yeah, I rode good. My lap times were good. From where I was at on the gate, I actually got a good start. I was stoked with that.
Dude you were like third!
Yeah, I got a good start, but that got ruined by Justin [Barcia]. Other than that, I rode good. It was not a stellar ride by any means, but I was two seconds away from a podium after being on the ground and I stalled it. It wasn’t a great night.
The heat race, that was a scary one. Are you okay?
Yeah, I mean I was right next to Colt [Nichols], I was straight as an arrow and went to double out and I hit an edge that I couldn’t see and just kicked completely sideways and landed sideways. I’m all good.
We saw you walking away and I’m like, “Thank god!”
No it was just my tank. It looked like it got dropped off the Eifel Tower.
Oh, the gas tank broke? Looked like water at first. That was gasoline that came out.
Yeah.
Alright so you’ll take a fifth after all this drama?
I mean I’ll take it now because I have to. But not ideal. Just have to move on with it now and move on to next weekend. We’ve got a Triple Crown so a lot can happen there. I like Triple Crowns though. My starts are pretty good. So, just stay away from the carnage and that’s all I’ve really got to do.
Dylan Ferrandis | 6th
Didn’t quite get through the field like you did at A1, but everyone was kind of a similar pace tonight, hard to make up time it seemed like. What did you think about it?
Dylan Ferrandis: For sure it was a tough track to race, but it’s the same for everyone. I feel like the fastest guys were in front. I feel like P6 was the best I could do. I was lacking pace and speed tonight, which is very frustrating because I was starting out and was feeling good, feeling fresh, but I just didn’t have the speed. Don’t really know why, so we’re going to take a look with the team and try to understand why, but that track didn’t really suit me. It was very flat, very low turn and pretty basic. Everybody was doing the same thing. So, I was struggling a little bit to close the gap with the guy in front of me, so it was very frustrating.
Talk about the track a little bit. It seemed pretty soft in the free practices and then it kind of hardened up, maybe got a little bit slick. How much did you feel a change and adapt to it today?
Sure, yeah. I think the first practice was very soft, with a lot of ruts, and throughout the day it gets harder. The main event was kind of slippery a little bit, but I think overall the conditions were really good.
How did you feel about your bike setup on the track? Did you feel comfortable enough on it?
I felt good, but only on those flat turns. I was just not flowing as good as I was in A1, so maybe we need to work on it.
So, what are you going to try to work on? Do you think you’re going to do low corners training during the week and stuff?
It’s hard to replicate race conditions, but I think we need to try. The way the bike was set up tonight, we need to try it in practice and see how I feel. Maybe make some small changes.
Looking forward to A2, it’s a Triple Crown so a little bit of the shorter races. How do you prepare for that? Are you going to work on more starts this week, maybe just to get up there a little bit?
Not really. We always work on starts and the race and everything, so not much different for me. A Triple Crown is never easy. You can really destroy your night with one mistake. So, it’s not something I really like, but it’s the same for everyone.
Alex Ray | 21st
Just short at Anaheim 1 but finally put it in the main today. How did it feel?
Alex Ray: Man, it felt good. I dodged a bullet there just going straight out of the heat ran and not having to go to the LCQ, thankfully. I got a blessing from old Shane McElrath.
In the heat race, you got caught by [Aaron] Plessinger and then you saw Shane stall ahead. Did you know where you were the whole time?
Yeah, I knew I was sort of there, eighth, ninth. Then whenever I saw Shane, I knew we had like two laps to go after he had stalled it there. I looked back over the finish line, and he was pretty far back. So, I just put it in cruise control, tried not to have many sketchy moments, and pull her on through.
So, putting it into the main event this time around, did you find some stuff this week that you learned, that you wish you could have had at A1 maybe coming into this weekend?
Yeah. We were a bit off in the shock setting at Anaheim 1. We were a bit soft. So, we got a new shock actually this morning. The first practice was the first time I rode with it, and I immediately gelled with it. We definitely went a step in the right direction and that helped me a little bit. Changed up some stuff with my starts, too. Granted, they weren’t great tonight, but they were better than they were at Anaheim. I still need to work on them, but we changed some stuff up and it worked out for the better.
How happy are you with the performance tonight? I guess setting a bit of a tone for trying to make main events consistently?
Yeah. I feel like the first two rounds, yeah, I was just short the first round, but I was still one spot out. This one, I made it through the heat race. I feel like I’ve been a little consistent, more consistent than in years past. I feel like I have a lot of credit to the bike. The new Yamaha, the new Blue Crew. The thing’s amazing. With a new bike, you never know going in what you’re going to expect, but these guys over at Yamaha, they really hit the nail on the head with this thing, man. It’s an amazing motorcycle. I would say bike of the year.
Looking forward to Anaheim 2, Triple Crown?
You know what? I’m getting older. I’m trying not to stress about it. I’m a head case on race day, but we’ll just take it one day at a time.