Honda HRC's Chase Sexton didn't give up his red plate and points lead in the 450 class of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship without a fight. It looked like he might have had Eli Tomac covered in moto one after passing him for the lead, but he tipped over. In moto two Tomac got by him, but Sexton latched on and applied relentless pressure all the way to the finish. It was a great battle of wills between two riders who want it badly.
Sexton talked about it in the post race press conference.
Chase, let’s talk about the motos of the day. You guys based up in the front, the 1-2, 2-1 position. It was sort of breathtaking how far you guys had pulled away from the rest of the pack. Were you running or chasing in his space? Were you trying to get some gain and put the sprint in?
Chase Sexton: Yeah. I think the first and second moto, we kind of flip-flopped. Our first moto, I felt like I had really good pace. I got onto the back of Eli, made a pass and tried to break away. Made just a really small mistake. I missed the rut by a little bit. Washed the front end. My bike kind of flipped over and tagged me in the back. It ripped my jersey. Luckily I’m tall, because that was not a good spot to go down. I kind of high-sided into the middle of that downhill, basically. So, it was a little bit of a tricky situation to get out of there. Then I just rode in for second that first moto. Then second moto, a good start. I didn’t have great lines. Eli had better lines than I did. He obviously got around me. It was just who could go faster the rest of the moto. I think we had dropping lap times. I want to say one of my best laps was two laps to go. It’s going to be a battle. I’m bummed obviously to lose the red plate, but we’ve still got a lot of racing left. I’ve got to get better. That’s kind of the bottom line.
Moto two, at one point, you were within 1.1 seconds of Eli. You knew you had to make that happen in the last couple laps. Talk through the mental process there.
Yeah. I think I needed to make it sooner. I kind of waited a little bit too long. When the lappers come, that’s when I think it’s easiest to strike. The first guy is always the hardest guy, to go through the lappers. So, waited through there and then I knew as the race went on, it was going to get tougher and tougher. We saw the two-lap board come out, and it was drop the hammer and go as fast as you could the last two laps. So, I tried my best. It was a good effort. I think that’s fastest I’ve gone for 35 minutes since I’ve been pro. It was fun. It was not great to get beat, but I’m happy to have a good battle. I think just got to get a little bit better. I need to get better in the first couple laps and not get passed, and then kind of settle into a pace. It overall was good riding. It’s overall just fun battling with him. I hope to do that more and more.
![Chase Sexton]()
Chase Sexton Align Media ![Sexton's jersey after his crash in the first moto.]()
Sexton's jersey after his crash in the first moto. Align Media ![Sexton and Tomac.]()
Sexton and Tomac. Align Media ![Sexton and Tomac.]()
Sexton and Tomac. Align Media ![Sexton and Tomac.]()
Sexton and Tomac. Align Media ![Tomac and Sexton.]()
Tomac and Sexton. Align Media
If you had to give your race weekend a scoring number between one and ten on how you personally felt out there, what would you give yourself? Ten being the highest.
Maybe like a seven. Maybe a high six, low seven. I didn’t win, so it definitely wasn’t great. It’s why we do this. The road is never easy. You’ve got to always strive to get better. Eli is on one right now. It’s going to be tough to stop him, but I think like I said, it’s just going to be a journey. I’m looking forward to it.
At your level, the percentage you guys can get better is very, very small. So, what do you work on? Is it something you're chasing still with the bike, or something within yourself that you feel like you can get a little more out of?Nothing with the bike, honestly. I haven’t touched it, besides clickers. It’s been pretty good this year, which is actually refreshing. I can leave here and I can go work on myself instead of years prior I’ve always been chasing the bike and trying to get comfortable. But now it’s all on me. So, it can be a good and a bad thing, because when you aren’t good, it’s on you. For me, I just need to go back and I got to get a little bit not faster, but consistently faster, at least both motos. I think that’s going to be my goal and just to try and go back to work. It’s been fun riding at Rattray’s. I think I’ve learned a lot there. The track is more like a GP-style track. It’s rough. It’s got a lot of sand on it. It’s put me in a better position on the bike, and I think that’s something that I keep improving every week. This is the best I’ve felt in the sandy conditions, and here there’s a little bit of both. I’m actually looking forward to going to Washougal. It gets ruts and it’s tacky. From here on out, we’re on clay. That’s my strong point, and I’m looking forward to it. I think for me, just get a little bit more consistent, work on my starts. I did a lot of work on starts last week and I think it paid off. I didn’t get great starts, but they were good enough to win. So, it’s progress.
Back-to-back gnarly Southwick and then a hard battle today. Do you feel that more when you get a load like that?
Yeah. I think like Eli said, Southwick is more muscles. Your legs are smoked after a race like that. I stand up a lot, so my legs are for me the first thing I think that I get sore on. But at Southwick, I don't think you can not stand up. So, that one is tough. Then today actually the first one, I got more tired in the first moto. I don't know if it’s because I fell and kind of spiked my heart rate to get up. It was kind of a mess. Second moto, it was definitely a higher heart rate. It was like, who can push it down farther and keep going? I know Eli is in great shape, so I knew it was going to be all the way down to the end. But, I think it’s just a little bit different. Here, you can flow a little bit more and jump the bumps. Southwick is more of a bulldog style track. I think they did a good job on prepping it a little bit. They cut back the first turn a little. So, it was a good racetrack. I think it was just a little bit different from Southwick. Just higher heart race and more mental.
How about for you physically? I think you missed some time in supercross last year, so this year you’re getting the full thing. You’re in it to try to win it, so you're pushing as hard as you can. What is that experience like?
It’s a little bit different! Last year I missed six supercrosses and then I missed the last two outdoors. So, I haven’t been through a full season. Like I said last week, I think this year I’ve only been riding Tuesdays and Thursday. Normally, I’d do Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. That kind of beats you down, especially this late in the season. So, I’m trying to manage it. It’s really my first go-around in a long season like this. So, I’m learning, but less is better I think at this point. We’re not going to get into any better shape, it’s just who can be the most recovered on Saturday? That’s something I’m learning. Last year I was coming in more smoked. This year I feel pretty on race day and it seems to be working. I’m going to try to keep that going and adjust accordingly.
Alex Martin retiring from professional motocross last time here in Millville. If you have a Troll Train story, I’d like to hear it.
I’ve actually gotten to know A-Mart pretty well. I came up here when I was probably 15 and rode with him and Jeremy for a little bit on some gnarly sand tracks. That was when A Mart was I think on Star, so both of them were really good that year. I think it was maybe 2016, 2015. From there on, he lived in Claremont for a while. I think he’s moving back now. I spent a lot of time with him, going over his house. He’s pretty wise. He’s got a lot of years under him. For me, that’s something I can take and learn. So, I just set myself around with those kind of people. It’s only going to help me. I think A-Mart has been really good for the sport. He’s a true underdog, he came from privateer and last week when he announced he was retiring, I sent him a pretty sappy text. It was pretty heart-felt. It’s just cool to see that. He just raced the 450 this year and got to experience that, so I’m stoked for him. It’s a little bit sad to know this is the last Spring Creek.
Watch the full 450 Class post-race press conference below:
