After the only weekend off since January’s start to the season, Monster Energy AMA Supercross was back for tonight’s tenth round, the Birmingham Supercross. Officially the halfway mark, there is still a lot of racing left to happen in the 17-round championship. Riders were back behind the starting gates, fans were back cheering for their favorite riders, and the action on track was electric—thanks in part to it being the third and final Triple Crown event of the ’25 season.
And Chase Sexton was back on form tonight as well. After topping the 450SX overall qualifying, Sexton started in the top five in the first Triple Crown race. The KTM rider was able to make a pass on Jason Anderson to take over second and then he charged after his teammate out front, Aaron Plessinger (Note: Sexton said the contact with Anderson was not intentional, saying: “I didn't really want to make contact”). Sexton made a pass stick on Plessinger and checked out for the race win.
Come race two, it was more of the same: Plessinger out front, Sexton ran him down and took the race win. For all three Triple Crown events this season, Sexton entered the final race not having to win the race to win the overall.
In the February 1 Glendale SX, Sexton finished second behind Eli Tomac in race three, but the #4’s 3-3-2 finishes gave him the overall win. In the February 22 Arlington SX, Sexton was setup for 3-2-1 finishes for the overall win again until he got passed by Webb, then he forced a last race, last-lap pass attempt on Webb, which cost him the overall win. Instead of winning, he finished third that night behind Webb and Ken Roczen. After two straight tough races (crashing out of the lead and finishing fifth in Tampa and then hitting the gate and crashing on the opening lap of Detroit, although he charged to finish third) the Arlington SX was a bit of a head-scratcher. Sexton said afterwards he wants to win every time he is on the track. That night, it cost him valuable points. Add in the two previous rounds and then a tough night in Daytona and a somewhat toned-down day in Indianapolis, the last few rounds have been rough for the Illinois native. How would he handle it this time around?
This time around, Sexton knew the situation: you don’t have to win the individual race to win the overall. He was eyeing a 1-1-1 while leading the final race. Cooper Webb had a costly mistake in the first race, and he was eyeing 7-4-2 finishes—not enough to land him on the overall podium tonight.
![Sexton started the night with a win in race one....]()
Sexton started the night with a win in race one.... Align Media ![...and got the win in race two...]()
...and got the win in race two... Align Media ![...and played it smart in race three, earning the overall win on the night.]()
...and played it smart in race three, earning the overall win on the night. Align Media
When Sexton made a mistake in race three and Webb capitalized and pulled away, Sexton played it safe and smart, taking the second place ahead of a charging Malcolm Stewart. That sealed the deal for Sexton’s first win since that first Triple Crown race in Arizona the first day in February.
“Yeah, it was just nice to finally like get the monkey off my back,” Sexton said on standing at the center of the podium again. “I hadn't won in I feel like forever. So, it was nice to just get good starts and get those first two races out of the way, get the win in both of those. But it quickly reminded me when RJ [Hampshire] went down in the third race that like anything can happen. I got to execute my start and get out front. So, once I did that, it just kind of try to ride my own race and not do anything stupid. So, I try to learn from my mistakes from Dallas.”
Learn from his mistakes in Dallas, he did. He scored the overall win—his third of the season and the 12th of his 450SX career (and the third career 450SX Triple Crown overall win)—and cut Webb’s points lead down from 15 to just eight points.
If this version of Chase Sexton shows up at the remaining rounds of supercross, this thing is far from over. Good starts, fast, consistent, and capitalizing on Webb’s miscues. Sexton has always had the speed. He has always had the heart and effort. Can he nail down the consistency with the first two factors? It will not be an easy task to dethrone Webb late in this championship, but you know better than to expect Sexton to give anything less than 100 percent.
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Cooper Webb | Newport, NC  | 211 |
| 2 |  Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL | 203 |
| 3 |  Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany  | 184 |
| 4 |  Malcolm Stewart | Haines City, FL | 162 |
| 5 |  Justin Cooper | Cold Spring Harbor, NY | 160 |
Hear from a much happier Chase Sexton tonight! 👊 #SupercrossLIVE #SMX #KTM pic.twitter.com/kzMpJtseAw
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) March 23, 2025
Key quotes from the press conference from Sexton:
Sexton on the day in general:
“It was good, and I don't know what it is about these last eight races, but I seem to just…I really start good and I have that little rut and then I seem to end pretty well. So, hopefully we can go on a run. And Coop's riding really well, so are these guys [Stewart and Plessinger] and it's just gonna be a fight to the end.”
Sexton on approach when Webb passed him in race three:
“Well, it really just came down to the three-in after the start rhythm. I just wasn't doing it in the third main. I'm like, it ain't worth it. It was a big three-in and you make one little mistake, you get off the track pretty easily. So, I just stuck to the easy line and just hit that. I felt like I was actually riding pretty well, just how I was losing a lot of time in that section, so I let him go and then I started to reel him back in. Malcolm was closing, so I was just riding good laps and trying to stay in my lane. But it was good and like I said, I just try and learn from what I did in Dallas and, yeah, we're always learning, so it was a good night. And like I said, I feel like my riding was really good today and these last few tracks or seven tracks we have, they seem a little be a little more hard-pack, more open, and that seems to fit my style. Open up the turns and carry roll speed. So, that may have something to do with it.”
Sexton on the previous weekend off:
“Well, I actually, I planned to like an off weekend with my boys to the beach and I woke up Friday not feeling great. I rode and then I woke up Saturday, didn't feel really good. Went to the beach and then I threw up all Saturday, Sunday. So, I don't know if I got like a stomach bug or what it was, food poisoning. We never really put a finger on it, but it was bad. So, I wasn't feeling good until about Thursday and, yeah, this is how it goes sometimes, but maybe it's what I needed.”
Sexton on making a few passes in turn after finish line:
“It was just hard to pass in general everywhere else, I think with all the 90 degree turns like on the edges of the stadium. And then also the rhythm sections you couldn't really push through to gain a lot of time to get next to into the turns. So, I was really, I mean, I think the best part for me on the track was after the triple, I would jump that single and hit miss the wall, at least for the first two mains, and then I would just open up that turn and I carry a lot of momentum. And then get to the left of the guy in front of me. And the first pass on Jason, I didn't really want to make contact, but I showed a wheel the lap before kind of knowing like, ‘I'm gonna try and pass you here.’ And then the next lap I went for the pass and he obviously, I don't know if he knew I was coming but cut down and came together with him. So then, made the same pass on Aaron, but yeah, it was just kind of my only passing spot on the track. The whoops weren't really big enough to make any ground up in. They were pretty small, and everyone was getting through it pretty well, so. The sand section, weren't really making any passes there, but uh it was just kind of hard to pass, but we had a really good flow to it, so like I said, it's a give and take.”
