Honda HRC's Chase Sexton has ridden very well this season, but he's up against an all-timer in Eli Tomac, and getting wins is not easy. Tomac hung eight-straight moto victories on the board through High Point, RedBud, Southwick, Spring Creek and the first moto at Washougal. Some of the battles between the two have been classics, and that included the racing in Washington. In moto one, Tomac passed Sexton and then hung on in a wild battle, which included a tip over by Tomac, leaving Sexton with nowhere to go. The two riders were then stuck in heap, trying to get their bikes started in silence. Then the picked right back off and continued the fight right where they left off!
In moto two, Sexton got the early lead and this time was able to withstand Tomac's relentless pressure to win the moto. The 2-1 gave him his first overall win since the season opener at Fox Raceway. Sexton spoke with Kellen Braurer after the race.
Racer X: Chase, finally broke through for that win you’ve been looking for. How does it feel, at the end of the day?
Chase Sexton: That one felt really, really good. I’ve been looking for that since we had this break. My first moto win in these four races, so that was really good, and then obviously it was for the overall. Winning here last year, it was cool to come back and back it up. It couldn’t be a better way to head into the break with a little bit of momentum and kind of stop the bleeding, a little bit. Now we can focus on what we have ahead of us. That race gave me chills when I went over the finish. That was gnarly. Pace was high once again. It was an unbelievable race.
How was it trying to manage that from your position? He was right on for you a long time, but then late in the moto, he kind of backed off, then caught again and then you could maybe feel him back off. How did it feel?
It was tough. There were a few spots where I felt like I broke away, and then I had one big mistake and he stuck right back to me. Whether it was lappers, I just could never get away. I had to just keep going. I kept telling myself, “Another lap, another lap…” Just keep him behind me. Two laps to go, I just threw down the hammer and tried to get away. That’s pretty much how it went. The pace was high. I think both motos, my second-to-last lap was my fastest lap, which is hard, especially for two motos, to battle that gnarly. Good that we have a couple weeks off now. I can improve and get some rest and just focus on what we have to go.
![Sexton]()
Sexton Align Media ![Sexton and Tomac]()
Sexton and Tomac Align Media ![Sexton and Tomac]()
Sexton and Tomac Align Media ![Sexton taking the checkered flag.]()
Sexton taking the checkered flag. Align Media
Going back to that first moto, talk me through that crash that you both had together. It seemed like you guys almost didn’t rush to get up. You were trying to take your time and the bike wouldn’t start. How did it feel?
I was rushing to get back up, we couldn’t get our bikes stared. It was just sitting there in silence. It was kind of weird. I was the first one up, I just couldn’t get the bike to fire. I don't know if that has really ever happened, where you have two leaders go down and they’re sitting there for fifteen seconds. I was pressuring him, I felt like, and then he slipped up a little bit but I was already in the rut and I was already committed. So, I ran into the back of him. It was a battle. The last five laps from there was just kind of a sprint. It was something different. I rode mostly mistake-free today, which was good. In that second moto I had a lot of pressure, and to be able to withstand that and not make any mistakes was really good.
Is it hard when that happens to regroup? You got right back into the charge. You guys were right on each other again. How is to regroup from that happening?
It’s funny because my bars were bent. I actually had my fastest lap the second-to-last lap. My bars were kind of tweaked. I just kind of tried and get over that. You have to keep riding and I didn’t want to give up. I knew that these motos really do count, every moto. So, it was good to push through that. My bars were tweaked, but just kind of had to overcome it a little bit.
Confidence-wise, obviously now you go into the break riding this high. How does that set you up mind-wise going into these last four at this point?
It sets me up really good, especially going into these tracks that I really like. Unadilla, ruts. Here had ruts, but it’s still pretty slick. So, Unadilla is going to suit me even more. I love that track, and honestly the rest of these tracks – Ironman, Pala obviously and Budds Creek. I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be good to finish in four. I expect more days like this. We’re both going to fight this thing to the end, so it’s going to be fun.
Washougal - 450
July 23, 2022| Rider | Hometown | Motos | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL  | 2 - 1 | Honda CRF450R |
| 2 |  Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 1 - 2 | Yamaha YZ450F |
| 3 |  Jason Anderson | Edgewood, NM | 3 - 3 | Kawasaki KX450SR |
| 4 |  Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany  | 4 - 6 | Honda CRF450R |
| 5 |  Christian Craig | Temecula, CA | 6 - 5 | Yamaha YZ450F |
Spring Creek, you guys pushed each other all the way. You pushed each other the whole way today. At the end of this day, how do you feel? Are you actually kind of a little bit drained and taken out of it and you have to recover a little bit there?
It’s more mentally draining. Body, obviously you’re always going to be smoked. We ride a lot on race days, like an hour and 45 minutes, or something like that. So, you’re going to be sore, but mentally to go out there and battle for an hour and ten minutes, it’s pretty draining. You kind of just regroup. I was super tired at Millville. The first moto I was tired. The second moto, I pushed through obviously really good, but then I was really beat last week so I had to hone back a little bit. That’s something I’m learning. This has been a long season for me.
You’re riding two days a week and stuff.
Yeah, two days a week of riding, but I’m also just trying to cut back a little bit on the training because honestly at this point, I’m not going to lose fitness. There’s not much we can really gain during the week. I wanted to get my motos in. That was priority, but also be able to recover and kind of chill. Now we’ve got three weeks, two weekends, so it’s going to be recover and then kind of hammer a little bit and then come back a little before the race. It’s going to be good.
