"I would have definitely liked to have battled for this championship, but I also felt like I needed some time off," Chase Sexton told us on Friday before RedBud. "After a crashed at Pala [round one] I thought, "I might be out for the rest of the year." Not because I had to be, but because I just felt super flat and wasn't having any fun riding after supercross. That's not where you want to be mentally. But after I watched one race from the couch, I was like, "Okay, we've got to come back.
"I took some time off for my head. I got some blood work done and all that stuff is taken care of now. I think supercross is was taxing, mentally, and those crashes really added up. The end of the season was, obviously, great, but middle of the season was super taxing on me, and it paid forward into the outdoor series. I guess in a way you could call this the supercross hangover. I guess I ended up crashing my way into it!"
It hasn’t exactly been a summer to remember for Chase Sexton. After winning the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, Sexton was coming into AMA Pro Motocross with a full head of steam and ready to contend for his second major championship of the year. Unfortunately, he never quite felt ready. Sexton still rode okay at round one, chasing close behind Jett Lawrence at the first race. Then Sexton had a big crash and took a shot to the head during the week before Hangtown. Just like that, he was riding the couch instead of his race bike at the next three rounds.
Fortunately that seems to be behind him now, as the Honda HRC rider was back in action at RedBud, his home race. He did pretty well too, going 2-3 for third overall. Afterward he spoke to members of the media and the post race press conference.
Chase, first race in a while, come back, get on the podium. To do 2-3 as you did, I’m sure you’re a little disappointed. You would have liked to have gotten a little better start. Of course you’d like to do a little better, but overall, your fitness, your feeling on the bike, how do you feel?
Sexton: It’s definitely good to be back. This race is super special for me, just being only two hours from this place. The fans were yelling the whole track, no matter what position I was in. That was awesome. Obviously it wasn’t the result that I wanted today. I didn’t get great starts and then ended up falling over in the second moto, which is on me. Just got to be better than what I was today. I knew coming in that I’ve got to build back to where I was in supercross and try and get back to that point. That’s the reason I came back, and hopefully we can get there by the end of the year.
One of the fans asked if each one of you riders, do you have a pre-race ritual or any sort of superstition? Silly as it sounds, I remember a rider back in my era, if he won a certain race he would wash but wear the same underwear the next race, and do it over and over until he lost. Do you have any sort of rituals or superstitions that you have with your races?
I think when I was younger maybe a little bit more, but now we race so much it’s hard to have one. So, not really.
Chase, the old, new start. You as a youth had to have raced the old start quite a few times. What’s your thought about the two starts?
I didn’t like the new start that they put in [in 2018], that straight. It’s obviously I think it's safer, but for me I grew up racing on this one [the old start] and it feels more at home. I think besides the second 250 moto, I think it was pretty good all day. I’ve definitely seen some big crashes, even in amateur races. It’s a pretty fast, high-speed start. Also at that little left-hand chicane, they used to I think go up a little bit and then down, which was even worse, but I like it. It feels a little bit more like the old RedBud. I don’t really have a preference, but it’s nice to see it back.
You expressed disappointment with your starts, but is there a silver lining in how well you were able to come through the field? Is that encouraging for the next couple of rounds?
Yeah, it wasn’t really just my starts today that were sub-par. I think moto one my riding was not good. Then even moto two, I was riding better but still not at my expectations and where I know I can be. Just got to get back on the horse and try and build a little bit. I didn’t obviously get to ride for a few weeks, and then last week I actually had a good week. Leading up to this I felt good and more like myself, but racing is a lot different. It’s going to be uphill the rest of the season, but I know I have what it takes to run up front and challenge Jett. So it’s going to be an interesting finish to this outdoors series.
We talked about the starting, the first turn with all three of you guys, but how does the metal grate change your approach? What have you learned through the first couple rounds starting on the grates compared to now?
For me, I personally like the grates. It just makes it a little bit more consistent. My starts were not ideal today, but I still would take the grates over dirt any day.
You missed a couple rounds with your injuries and everything. I think you’re back in the SuperMotocross World Championship lead. What’s your mindset there and moving forward how do you approach that?
It’s obviously good to be back in the lead, but to be honest, being at home kind of makes you pissed off. I just wanted to come back and get back to where I was.
Motocross of Nations was here last year. If you were to be picked again for Motocross of Nations, what would that mean to you?
For me, it’s a really special race. Last year was awesome racing here. This year will be obviously in France, so it would be fun. Obviously, we don’t really know until later in the season until the talks start going around, but I guess we’ll see.
