The Conversation: Chase Sexton

You touched on the red cross flag situation. You all rolled the first double and you jumped the second double right after you passed Dean.
For me in my position, Dean [Wilson] was up and riding, and I rolled the first jump where he was down. I was honestly just confused if I should jump or if I should roll, I really didn’t know what to do, just because he was already on his bike and it wasn’t even on that jump. I guess we’ll just see what they [AMA] do. It’s in their hands now.

[Sexton was ultimately penalized seven points by the AMA. Jumping when red lights are on always results in a two-positions plus two-points penalty at all AMA Supercross events.]

You had a battle with Justin Barcia and it got fairly aggressive towards the end of the whoops and the next couple of sections you hugged really tight on the inside. Were you nervous that battle would end up with someone on the ground?
Yeah I got next to him in the whoops and kind of got passed him, and I knew that 90, I wasn’t going to get through there if I stayed on the gas. So I cut back and cut under him a little bit, ran him a little bit wide in the next corner but didn’t make any contact. I just tried to shut the door in the next turn, which I did. Then after the next double, he hit me pretty hard so I was happy to stay up and keep my position. He races hard and we know that so that’s just something you have to expect.

What’s it like having to battle so many riders, there were three of you and also Justin Barcia in there, how do you approach racing so many riders at once instead of just trying to pass one rider?
It was definitely a tough battle, especially me being in the back behind these two. So, I knew I had my work cut out for me and I had to be in front of those guys at the end of the race. Just tried to take it a lap at a time and get by each guy cleanly and not make too many mistakes, obviously. It was just having those key parts on the track where I felt like I was faster, and utilizing them when I needed to.

Ultimately you [Sexton, Webb, Tomac] swept the podium for I think for the fifth time this year, but this may be the first time that you guys have battled as intensely through the middle stages. Was there anything to learn in that battle that you’re going to take through to the final races? Can you each of you discuss what that battle was like with the championship contenders?
I saw where Coop and Eli were. We race each other pretty fair, racing these guys is pretty fun, but when you have Justin [laughs], It makes it pretty interesting, because, like I said, he races hard. I had  a couple of spots, the whoops and that one rhythm were I could gain time and get to the inside. Those were my key sections for passing tonight.

You seemed really emotional after this one. Is that just because of the way the last few races have gone? Was this one more important than others.
Definitely. I’ve had a rough last five races since my win at Anaheim 2, and that’s [winning] where I expect myself to be. Being down last weekend was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I had to do something. So I did just a lot of longer motos and tried to limit the mistakes in practice. So this one was pretty emotional, been a tough couple of races, and I let it out at the finish. It’s tough to get a win, especially with how stacked the class is.

Have you learned a lot about resilience this year?
I definitely learned a lot [about resilience], there’s been some dark times, I haven’t been getting horrible results, I’ve been on the podium most of the races, but when you want to win, it’s tough, because I feel like I’ve been beating myself. Staying positive was the only way I could pull myself out of it. Just have to keep getting better and focusing on my weak points.

Aaron Plessinger had a big lead in the main and then he went down late. Was there something about that corner that made it tricky or difficult?
It wasn’t super bad…it almost reminded me exactly of what I did last weekend. Obviously he caught a foot and that ripped him off the bike. It’s the same section just going the other way, it was a right where last week it was a left. I thought he caught a peg, because that’s what I did. But I saw the replay and he just folded into the next jump, which was pretty bad. That’s a bummer. These tracks go so broken down and you’ve got to be locked in the whole time. They can bite you at any time, and that’s what I’ve found out plenty of times. Like I said, bummer for him and I hope he’s okay.

Is it crazy how racing works? You end up winning a race in the same way you’ve lost some before?
Yeah, that’s pretty ironic. Obviously not the way you want to win, I felt like I was closing the gap and I probably wasn’t going to get to him, but I was just happy with solid riding tonight, obviously.

Can you take me through what your game plan was before Aaron fell? You were obviously on the move. What were you thinking up until the point where he fell?
I was just trying to really keep pushing. like I said before, I’ve been in that position so many times where you feel like, at least in my position I had the race won and it can go south really fast, especially when you haven’t won a race like Aaron. It weighs on you the last couple laps, and stuff like that just seems to happen, especially to me. So I just kept my head down. anything can happen, especially with lapped traffic. It’s not easy. With how gnarly the whoops were, it’s just easy to make mistakes. I wasn’t going to give up and really that’s the key.

Our guys on the ground Mitch Kendra and Tom Journet caught up with Sexton moments after the penalty was handed out. Here is what Sexton had to say.

Racer X Online: Walk us through the night there. You have had the mistakes recently. This one you were able to pull it off right there at the end.
Chase Sexton: Yeah. It was definitely a different race for me. Obviously, I’m usually getting out front and pulling away early, and then I’ve had mistakes late in the race, but tonight was the opposite. I started in the back and came through, which is more how honestly when I was amateur and even in 250 class, that’s how I usually was. If I was winning races, that’s how I did it. So, it felt a little bit like similar territory, just I haven’t done it in the 450 class. It’s hard to pass guys, especially with how good everybody is. I was able to pick my spots on the track tonight and really execute.

You’ve got to feel good, especially after last weekend when you were right there and you were battling Ken Roczen and you go down. You were able to rebound here. We just learned about the penalty. I don't know a whole lot about that process. Did you talk to the AMA already?
Yeah. 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.

Obviously, Aaron Plessinger had a little bit of a lead there and you were just kind of slowly chipping away, chipping away, then you had lappers you had to go through. You got through them clean. That was a whole new experience for you, being able to get through the pack. How did you not over-ride and push it too far, but just slowly chip away and be consistent?
It was really just riding to my potential. I feel like in the past when I made a mistake, I wasn’t being aggressive enough and being a little bit lackadaisical. Tonight, I didn’t have that option. I had to be on point and had to be really locked in. So, the whoops were tough. Everyone was struggling, but I felt like I was getting through them pretty good, especially for how gnarly they were. That was key. I think my riding was good. It was definitely a tough race. Had to battle that guy a little bit. It was tough for Aaron. I’ve been in that position a lot. Tonight, it went in my favor. I was trying to get as close as I could to put a little bit of pressure on him, knowing that he hasn’t won a race before and that does weigh a lot, especially towards the end of a mean event. These aren’t easy to come by. Just never give up and keep plugging away.

Looking a little bit ahead to next week, what do you expect at Seattle? What do you anticipate with the track?
The track is weird because I think some years it’s soft, some years it’s hard pack. So, who knows what we’re going to get. I hope it’s a little more soft. This track was a little more hard pack. It’s good, but I do tend to like the softer track a little bit more. But whatever we get, we’ll roll with that. I’m looking to kind of keep on this momentum and hopefully we can click some of these wins off back-to-back.