When Jett Lawrence finally made the big mistake he had avoided in 24 previous motos—and his entire 450MX experience, thus far—the door opened for someone else to finally get a race win. Chase Sexton rumbled through the pack to win that moto and will appear in the record book as the rider that broke Jett’s streak. But it was actually the second moto, for Sexton, that really stamped Hangtown as unforgettable. Sexton fell in the second turn, got up in last…and then passed every single rider on the track to win. It was a ride for the ages.
“I was really bummed to see Jett go down, that’s not how you want to beat somebody, and his crash was really gnarly,” said Sexton. “I’ve had a few of those! [Laughs] Yeah, the track was really gnarly today, and I was just really able to push to my limit. The boys were riding good all day, it was a tough race, but I was really able to push my limit.”
The limit is what he needed in that epic second moto where he found himself making up nearly 30 seconds on the leaders during the race. What did he think after he crashed?
“That I was an idiot!” he said. “Probably the dumbest thing I could have done. I just slid out all by myself, which made it even worse. I was like “I’m gonna go as fast as I can for as long as I can” and see where I get. That was basically my mentality and it worked out. You don’t get to do that very much, especially in this class.”
After the race few could remember such a performance. It’s hard to keep exact records on these things, but Jeffrey Herlings’ incredible one-off appearance at Ironman in 2017 would probably be closest, as he fell early and came all the way back to win the second moto, last to first as well. If there are some other performances like this in the premier class, well, there can’t be many others.
Aaron Plessinger led most of the race. Did he even think Sexton was going to get him?
“Not until like two laps to go, because two laps to go I think I had like six seconds on him!” said Plessinger. “I went out for the last lap, and I knew he was getting close but I just tried to do everything I could do to hold him off, but he rode really, really good. I rode really good, too, but he was riding that much better.”
Plessinger’s body was letting him down at the end, and he even cramped up when Sexton was trying to pass him, making it impossible to fight back. But he was not alone. On the last lap, Sexton ran a 2:02 lap time, and Plessinger ran a 2:06, as did third-place Justin Cooper. Hunter Lawrence went 2:12, Jason Anderson ran a 2:17! Sexton was four seconds faster than anyone on that last lap. He didn’t even look tired when it was over!
Was this some out-of-body or “in the zone” flow state experience? Sexton doesn’t really think so.
“That was one of the best races I’ve ever had, but I was pretty conscious of what I had going on,” said Sexton. “I really had to send it to get back to where I needed to be. I had a few hairy moments down the hills, maybe like two, and that gets you back into realization of what’s going on. I think for me, today, I was just really comfortable with my bike. We got it working really well. I was able to push to my limit and I haven’t really gotten that, in the last year.”
This really was a reflection of Sexton’s long journey to get the KTM to his liking. He made another big breakthrough this week when the team went to a gnarly, deep track in the hills. If you’re Sexton, you’d rather Hangtown be a reflection of major bike changes that can carry through the rest of the season, instead of some one-off out-of-body experience.
“It was a big change, we went back to the drawing board last week,” Sexton said. “Even when I was in second [the previous weekend] behind Jett I felt like the bike was beating the crap out of me. I was like, “I’m not going to be able to do this for 11 rounds, for one, and it’s not fun when the bike is beating the crap out of you.” We tested Tuesday at Pala and made some changes. Then we went to this track in the hills on Thursday, and they tilled it super deep, and the ruts were good. The team found some good changes in the shock, and we changed the fork a little bit. My bike really accelerated out of the turns good today, last week I was losing a lot to Hunter and Jett coming out of the turns, and also overall comfort [was better]. I wasn’t having to just send it. I was precise. I feel like when I can be precise and also send it, that’s hard to find that middle ground but today I feel like we found it.”
When Sexton first showed up to that Thursday test day, the team tried a few things and he felt slightly better. Then they made a big change, and Sexton says he could feel it right away, and was a second a lap faster, immediately.
Sexton, finally, had a machine he could push to his limit, and he’s strong enough to do it for 30 plus two. But, last to first?
“I didn’t really think I could win until, my whole goal was just, I passed Hunter [to lock up the overall win] when I saw they were close enough, but I didn’t think that was realistic when I went down. When I got past those guys, I saw AP, and I was like “I already got this far I might as well keep going.” I kind of took a little breather, then I just went all in on the last lap. I knew I was fast on this side of the track with the rollers, that’s where I made most of my passes. I sent it down the hill, and my bike was fairly straight for most of the moto so I was pretty confident I could get in there. Then AP saw me, and he twisted the gas a little more! But that corner after that, by the mechanic’s area, that was my favorite corner all day. So, once we got there, I knew we were good.
“I wouldn’t say I’m an emotionless guy on TV or after races or whatever, but I feel like I showed quite a bit of emotion after I crossed the finish line. I had chills. You don’t get to do that a lot in your career, and I feel like that’s pretty special. Yeah, when you get in the flow, we’ve seen Eli do it, Jeffrey… it’s not impossible, but I was just glad I was able to do it, so I was pretty emotional when I crossed the finish line.”
A year ago, Sexton suffered a concussion and didn’t even race Hangtown. What followed was a long spiral of Jett Lawrence domination and Sexton frustration. A team switch didn’t do him any better, as his Monster Energy AMA Supercross title defense featured just two wins, although it’s worth noting he did win the Salt Lake City finale, which gives him two wins in the last three races. He had the fastest lap time in the second moto at Fox Raceway. He’s clearly climbing out of a hole.
“Yeah, I was in a pretty dark spot in the middle of supercross and even during the pre-season,” he says. “I’m pretty proud of what me and the team have done. I really had to learn to persevere through the hard times. Racing wise, I’m a pretty emotional person, so when it’s not going my way, I will get down. I was able to claw my way out of it. Yeah, the never give up mentality is something that will always be with me and it’s something I’m really proud of.”
