Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton nailed it at the SMX opener in Charlotte last weekend and hoped to carry that form into his home race in Chicagoland Speedway. It didn’t materialize, as Sexton was never comfortable on the track and wasn’t able to keep up with Jett Lawrence in moto 1, and Lawrence and Ken Roczen in moto 2.
Sexton held a 12-point lead heading into round 2 thanks to his “regular season” points seeding, and the Charlotte win. But Chicago paid double points, so his lead is just two over Lawrence and 10 over Roczen heading into the finale. That makes it winner-take-all this weekend in Los Angeles.
Here’s what Sexton had to say after the race.
Chase, you still have the points lead. You’re going to next week and it’s going to be winner takes all. How are you thinking about next week?
[Laughs] Yeah. It was nice to come home and race, but from yesterday through today, I didn’t have much speed. I don’t really know what it was I was changing bike setup a lot, every session. I don’t know what it is, I was just straight up slower today. I don’t want to say I was happy to just get on the podium, but I just wasn’t really comfortable, and these guys walked away from me. Jett first moto and both of them second moto. Definitely have another fire lit under me. I had a good weekend last weekend, but, like Jett said, you’re only as good as your last race. Next weekend, going back to supercross, so I’m excited about that. It’s also my birthday weekend, so it will be fun. I’m very excited, very motivated.
Chase, last week to this week. Were you surprised how different it was coming into this week, or did you expect that?
Yeah, I made a mistake on running supercross suspension and softening it. I should have went to motocross suspension and stiffened it. That’s on me. I didn’t know what to expect, and you only get four real sessions to get a shot at it. I didn’t know which way to go. I made way too many changes this weekend. First moto, I thought the bike was super stiff and second moto it was a little better. I should run more outdoor setups and stuck with that. But that’s in the past now. It’s going to come down to winner take all next weekend, which is probably the way it would have been no matter what. So, it’s exciting and good for the sport.
Chase, Jett on the podium mentioned letting Kenny go by and maybe padding the gap between you and him. Do you have any thoughts on that.
Yeah, it didn’t really matter if Kenny was in first or second, I would have been third overall. They were obviously going fast. Kenny was able to close the gap and put the pressure on. It didn’t matter for me. I was going to get third no matter what, I was going to get third overall. I was trying my but off but just going really slow today. I was doing what I could, and obviously today was not enough.
Can you talk about how next weekend’s race will probably be more supercrossy, and also what it would be like to win at the OG Supercross venue.
Yeah, I think, for me, we don’t know how the track is going to be. It’s going to have a little bit of both, but it’s a stadium and it’s going to be a little bit tighter. I wouldn’t say I’m more of a supercross specialist, last year I was better on outdoors and this year I was better in supercross. That all depends on if you’re comfortable on your setup. I found something that I liked in supercross, and obviously next week is a more supercross-like track. But, like I said, you gotta go out and race the track you’re given and today, we didn’t do that! [Laughs]
This race was kind of local for you. Seemed like 95% of the spectators had Sexton shirts on. Is that a good thing or does it create more pressure.
It’s super cool. This is an hour from where I grew up, so it’s really special to have such a good turnout of people here. People that I know and people I grew up racing, and it’s probably the best fan reaction that I had since I’ve been pro. It was cool, I wish I could have given them a better showing today. I hope we come back here next year or at least somewhere in Illinois. I was pumped to be here and be home for a few days.
