“I think, yeah, I had a little bit more of my normal speed,” Chase Sexton said in the post-race press conference after the Philadelphia Supercross. “I haven't really had it all year.”
This checks out. Sexton was hindered by a crash in turn two of his heat race, but he fought back from about third from last to finish sixth. Come the main event, Sexton was getting pinched off on the far inside until he maneuvered a slick move to come through the holeshot stripe around eighth. Then he got to work and, man, did he make up a lot of ground. On a tough to pass track, the #1 made it up to a podium position and then made a pass on Webb before the finish line to take over second place. The KTM rider shut the door on the two-time 450SX champion and started to charge at the #18 machine out front.
With about five and a half minutes left on the clock, Sexton had a six-second deficit to Jett Lawrence. He cut the gap down some to about three seconds, but ultimately Lawrence was perfect out front, and Sexton could not close up the gap anymore. Sexton did have the fastest lap of the main event though, a 51.795 on the fourth lap (of an eventual 24 laps), as the #1 seemed back to his old, blistering speed for really the first time this year. With a better start, maybe he battles Lawrence for the race win.
“I was on the very inside, I'm like, ‘I just need to get a good start and I'll be fine,’ and didn't get a great start,” he said. “I was able to make my way through the pack and had some really good laps.”
Time figuring out the KTM 450 SX-F set him back as earlier this year he admitted to underestimated how big of a change it would be from the aluminum frame to the steel frame. Plus, the hand injury thrown in in the second month of the championship added another rough patch in the road. Still, Sexton kept showing up each weekend fighting. And that is what he will do to finish out the Monster Energy AMA Supercross season.
“It's pretty simple: I just wanna win races,” he said. “And obviously we're out of a title fight, but it still doesn't stop me from working during the week and trying to get better. And winning is always our goal.”
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In a crazy stat, Sexton has yet to top an official qualifying session this season. Since moving to the 450SX Class for the start of 2021, Sexton has brought blistering speed to qualifying, heat races, and main events. Also came the mistakes. But this year we have not seen the speed, nor the mistakes that cost him race wins the last few years. It is fair to say that only one win though, was not what anyone had envisioned for the 2023 450SX Champion, 15 rounds into his title defense season. He has eight podiums and only one double-digit finish: a 22nd last weekend at the Nashville SX after what he claimed was a “freak accident.” Aside from that DNF, an eighth, ninth, and sixth are his only non-top five finishes. Has the lowered speed resulted in a more consistent version of himself? It took longer than expected, but his speed is back.
“I feel like I'm kind of coming into form and it's been a trying year,” he said. “It's been a lot of learning. And, yeah, I feel like I've grown a lot, and it's made me better.”
| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jett Lawrence | 24 Laps | 52.252 | Landsborough, Australia  | Honda CRF450R | |
| 2 |  Chase Sexton | +5.031 | 51.795 | La Moille, IL  | KTM 450 SX-F | |
| 3 |  Jason Anderson | +7.623 | 52.338 | Edgewood, NM | Kawasaki KX450SR | |
| 4 |  Cooper Webb | +11.499 | 52.515 | Newport, NC | Yamaha YZ450F | |
| 5 |  Eli Tomac | +14.798 | 52.688 | Cortez, CO | Yamaha YZ450F |
What was the difference in Pennsylvania? Sexton admitted entering the day fourth in the standings and 40 points down, he took a chance on new settings.
“I think, today we took a really big swing with the bike, something I haven't ridden at all,” he said in the post-race press conference. “I just told them that we're obviously, in no title fight, so I think it's better to test and try and get better for next year. So that way we can come in more comfortable and have a real off-season and actually train. So, I think that was what we kind of went in with the mindset and today it worked out. We swung pretty hard and it kind of stuck. So, we'll keep making progress. And like I said, it's just been a learning year and trying to get another win before the season's over.”
He is testing his new KTM for the upcoming AMA Pro Motocross Championship—only a month away at this point—but watch for the #1 to come out swinging these last two supercross rounds. With nothing to lose, this new setup could help him finish the season strong and gain some confidence heading into Pro Motocross this summer. Plus, maybe a strong finish to this season could even set up him for a better start to supercross in 2025.
