Chase Sexton Penalized 7 Points at Detroit Supercross, Will Keep Main Event Win
At the 2023 Detroit Supercross, Chase Sexton claimed the 450SX main event win after Red Bull KTM’s Aaron Plessinger crashed from the lead just two turns before the white flag. Sexton inherited the race lead and completed one more lap to take the checkered flag as Plessinger got up and finished 13th, one lap down. Sexton capitalized on a last-lap crash from Plessinger a little over a year and one month after the #23 suffered a crash of his own on the second-to-last lap at the 2022 Minneapolis Supercross. That one handed the win to Jason Anderson.
However, after this race, Sexton and Honda HRC team manager Lars Lindstrom were seen talking with AMA official Tim “Toolie" McAdams, one of the members of the three-man AMA official team that works together on penalty situations. About halfway through the main event the red cross flags and the jump face safety lights were seen waving and flashing through a section of obstacles. Sexton rolled the first double where Dean Wilson had crashed, but then jumped the big booter double over the first turn. Eventually, Sexton took the race win ahead of Cooper Webb and Eli Tomac.
Once the post-race press conference had ended, Sexton received a seven-point penalty from the AMA due to jumping when the red cross flags were waving and the safety lights were flashing. The Honda HRC rider did get to keep his win though. So why is this penalty seven points?
In 2016, Ryan Dungey was stripped of a race win, but the rule was adjusted followed that season. For the start of the 2017 season, if a main event race winner jumped on a red cross flag and no positions were gained, said rider would keep the race win and would receive a points penalty instead.
This rule is Section 4, Race Rules and Procedures, 4.16 Flags and Lights, Section e. White Flag with Red Cross or Red Flashing Light, which reads:
“9. If Race Direction determines that there was a blatant violation of this rule, the penalty for non-compliance will be:
c. During a Main Event race, if no positions were gained, the penalty will be the points and purse equal to two positions in the final results for that race plus two additional points.”
While Sexton said he thought he was in the clear, the safety lights were on ahead of the jumps. Basically, if the lights are on, do not jump because you will be penalized—that part has remained clear and consistent from the AMA officials.
So Sexton gets to keep his win, but is docked seven points (points equal to two positions, which in this case would be the points difference between first and third, which is five points. He is then penalized two additional points). Sexton leaves the weekend 17 points down to Webb (225 points) and 14 points down to Tomac (222 points).
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL  | 372 |
| 2 |  Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 339 |
| 3 |  Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 304 |
| 4 |  Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany  | 304 |
| 5 |  Justin Barcia | Monroe, NY | 267 |
While some might be confused on this ruling, this call is consistent with what we have seen with recent incidents in similar situations. At both the 2018 Indianapolis Supercross with Jeremy Martin and the 2019 Seattle Supercross with Marvin Musquin, both times riders did not gain positions and kept the win, but both suffered a seven-point (and purse) penalty. Again, these came after the new rule in 2017.
Finished our post-race media scrum as this news was announced. Despite the penalty, Chase Sexton will keep the main event win, which follows exactly what the AMA rulebook states. Sexton said he thought he was in the clear. #Supercross #SX2023 #2023DetroitSX #SupercrossLIVE https://t.co/hmEOUNavQR
— Mitch Kendra (@mitch_kendra) March 19, 2023
Sexton was asked about the red flag situation in the press conference, although the penalty was not announced at the time. Following the post-race press conference, the penalty was made official. Tom Journet and I caught up with Sexton just moments after he received the penalty. Here is what he had to say:
“There’s honestly not much I can really say. They’re pretty much going to do whatever they want at this point. I feel like I’m in the right of way. Dean [Wilson] was down, was honestly on his bike and riding away. I rolled a double, the first one, and then I jumped the second one where there was nobody down. I was a little bit confused on what to do, but at the end of the day, they’re going to make their decisions on what they think is right. I feel like I was in the right of way. But, I guess we’ll see. I don't think it was going to change the outcome of the race at all. I feel like I pulled away from the guys behind me even after that. It was a good race and not going to let that put a damper on the vibe. I’m pretty happy with how tonight went and I got momentum back on my side.”
Read: Chase Sexton on 2023 Detroit SX Win, Seven-Point Penalty
Tom Journet and I were about to interview Chase Sexton about his main event race win tonight when we learned he had just received his seven-point penalty from the AMA. This was Sexton's reaction and explanation to what happened. #Supercross #SX2023 #2023DetroitSX #SupercrossLIVE pic.twitter.com/dOoG8vg4HK
— Mitch Kendra (@mitch_kendra) March 19, 2023
In a Honda HRC post-race release, Lindstrom said:
“We’ve been waiting for this night for a long time. It was really special to have our first double win in Supercross as a team. The guys kicked butt all day today, starting with finishing first in every qualifying session. Hunter put on a clinic in his race, riding perfect the entire main event. Chase had to come from a mediocre start and pass every top rider to give himself a chance. I’m super proud of him for his race craft tonight. I think he made some huge strides. Unfortunately, we got a penalty for jumping on a red cross, although that flag probably shouldn't have been out for that small of an incident, so that was frustrating. Hopefully, we can start chipping away at the points deficit.”
