With the AMA Pro Motocross Championship finally wrapped up, everyone is talking about Jett Lawrence and his perfect season. Only the third rider to ever do so, the difference with Lawrence’s season compared to Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart’s perfect seasons is Jett did not win by minutes or lap the entire field like RC did. Except for the few rounds that Chase Sexton missed, Lawrence had to deal with constant pressure from his Honda HRC teammate.
It can be frustrating finishing second place over and over, and Sexton, the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Champion, does not like to lose. Unfortunately, the record books will not show just how close the racing was or how close Sexton was to stopping Lawrence in multiple motos this summer. Chase, the constant professional, talked with the press at length after the Ironman National, about his frustration with getting second, and his motivation for SMX and beyond.
It seemed like it was close today. The second moto you tried very, very hard. You pushed all the way to the very end. Tell us about your day and kind of what was going through your head. I mean, I'm sure you wanted to stop that streak just like somebody would want to stop a no-hitter when you’re batting against them, so, talk a little bit about that.
Looking back, is there anything you felt like, “What could I have done different” even let's just talk about today? Your start the first moto wasn't very good. That was rule one. What happened on that start? Were you just a little bit behind on the drop?
I mean, Chase, phenomenal season with the supercross championship coming your way. Probably one of the, I don't want to call it the worst kept secrets in the pits, but you're moving to a different team next year. And are you going to be starting to train, practice, when you get to start riding the new bike, and you guys [Aaron Plessinger] can be teammates?
Chase, frustration is obviously one emotion, but if you could pick a second emotion that describes your motocross season, what would it be, and then elaborate on it?
On the whole, probably the strongest rider this season. It's hard to put it in perspective given what Jett's done in motocross, but with the supercross championship and all the podiums that you've had up until here. Can you take encouragement from that, heading into the SuperMotocross rounds?
In the middle of the supercross season, when you had those few unlucky races, you stepped away, blocked out the hate and stuff going on online and came back and won a championship. So, how can you mirror that mindset to come into SuperMotocross and do the same thing?
I was gonna ask you the same thing, Chase, about being the underdog throughout your career. Another thing you had to do this year is you had to be professional in the good moments and the bad. Obviously, you had highs in supercross, but every time you went down leading, you did your interviews, you went to the podium, you came to the press conference, you're doing the same thing all year here. Just talk about carrying yourself like a professional in the good and the bad.
The second moto was better than the first. What was the difference there? Was it just straight up wanting it that much worse or did something change? Because you hung in there much closer moto two.
It's honestly been fun, even though I’ve been getting second, I think the pace we've been having in these motos has been very high. People like to compare it to last year, but it's not really comparable, I think, every year the game elevates. It's made me a better rider, and like I said, it's been fun learning some new things, and I think my form's always been good, and I think this year it’s gotten better. Like I said, I can't hang my hat on too much, it's got to get better, and I'll look forward to these next few races and next year.
You got really close at one point, then once you start lapping guys in the points, it gets hard. You got held up a little bit. I mean, you look back at that, and you say, hey man, I had 35 minutes, it is what it is.
