Chase Sexton’s move to Monster Energy Kawasaki was the most anticipated move of the off-season. The news officially dropped yesterday, and the team rolled out the red carpet, even doing a photoshoot in Hawaii! Steve Matthes had Chase on the PulpMX Show last night to talk about his new bike, feeling at home on the aluminum frame, how important winning is to him and the team, and more.
Steve Matthes: Well, the news dropped and dude, it hit me a little a little weird. You on green? You know?
Chase Sexton: Yeah. I mean, I think everyone kind of knew that it was happening, but it took a while to kind of get it out. So, so far, so good. I think everyone I mean, I don't know, from what I've seen, everyone kind of likes it, and I like how it looks. So, yeah. We'll see you in a few months.
Listen how's the bike? Don't give us the usual bullshit. How's the bike? How are we feeling?
It's been really good so far. It definitely brings back memories from when I was on Honda. Going back, I haven't ridden a steel frame since I was on little bikes, but growing up, I always rode Japanese bikes and then Yamahas when I got on the 250 and then I went to Honda. So, I was always on an aluminum frame and then now getting back on it after riding a steel frame, it kind of just brings back a lot of memories. It feels good. It feels really playful and I can move around on it. I feel a lot more like, I don't know, one with the bike. I guess you could say that. So, I've only ridden it probably eight or nine times, but it's been really fun. The team's been great. Really good group of people to work around. And yeah, I think it's been good working with Broc [Tickle] and stuff. So, I'm having fun.
Yeah, I was going to ask you, Chase, like obviously going back to the aluminum frame, did you have to change much? Like, might be dumb to ask, but even bar set up or anything like that. Very similar to how you were on Honda?
Well, on the KTM, I started running this lower bar because I always felt like the bar was in my face. Now we’re back on the 821, whatever it was when I was on a Honda, and it feels normal. It feels kind of how it should. When I first got on outdoors, like, it’s just crazy, I mean, I rode a KTM for two years, but you forget, I guess. What felt normal to me before kind of became foreign, which it's kind of cool. It actually was really refreshing to kind of get back on something that feels like home. Like the bar stuff, I kind of just went back to what I was running on Honda and then suspension back on Showa. So, it's good stuff. And I don't know, I don't really have any negatives right now to say but yeah, it's just kind of the start right now. So, I'm right now it's super fresh and fun and I couldn't be happier.
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Kawasaki ![]()
Kawasaki ![]()
Kawasaki
Two-year deal. Do we know?
Three years. I mean, this move for me, I wanted this to be a long-term thing. I really don't want to switch teams anymore. I wanted to be confident in my decision, so I went with three and yeah, I'm excited. I think I moved teams so much, with Honda and KTM. So, I'd like to really find a home. And like I said, it's been good working with these guys.
Now the Hawaii thing, like okay, so we know you love Hawaii. Did Kawi just fly a bike there or ship a like how did this thing come together? There's a supercross track on the island?
Yeah, it was super cool. I so I got to test right before I came here. They shipped a bike over here prior to that, I think whatever Jason [Anderson] was racing on. So, they shipped that over here because it takes a while. If you ship it by boat, it takes a couple of weeks. I didn't really expect to have like a full race bike, but I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. I didn't know what kind of track they were going to build or whatever. But the Monster guys went all out. They built the track here, it's a motocross track, obviously, but they took half of it and built it into a supercross track. So, it was really cool and I think it all kind of tied together really well, and I think everyone's pretty stoked on it. You guys haven't even seen all of it yet. There's still some more to come. I'm really thankful that there's been no leaked pictures, because there's been a lot of people here that have seen me ride it that could have easily taken a picture and posted it. It's a special place and I always come here.
Listen to Chase's entire interview starting at the 2:30:33 mark:
Could you set up like a little boot camp there or is it still not practical?
You could but thankfully Monster flipped the bill on the track and stuff like that, because that would be super expensive. It would be doable, but very, very, hard to do. I just started training actually. Today was my first day kind of back training. That stuff's easy because you can train and do whatever you want here, but the riding aspect is a little bit tough with the team and getting stuff sent over here. It was hard enough sending one bike and Theo and Rango came out. So, it's not easy, but you could definitely pull it off. I think my goal is one year before I'm done racing, like my last year, I would like to do it over here and just build a little track and try it out. But until then, I'll just keep it keep it in California and Florida!
Yeah. No, listen, kudos to Monster and Kawi and everybody. I don't know how they let you have a bike on the beach in Hawaii.
I was scared, I was. I don't like to bend the rules or break the rules. I had my eyes peeled because I was like, I don't want to get like this bike taken and put into like [impound]. I don't know, I was all nervous, but it turned out really good.
Theo is your crew chief, and Rango [Jason Montoya] is your mechanic. And then Marchbanks - do you know Garrett at all? Have you interacted with him at all?
Yeah, I know Garrett. Not great, but I mean, we grew up racing together sometimes. He was like a year younger than me, but we actually raced at Loretta's I think in 2014? I think on 85’s he actually beat me. So yeah, we grew up racing a little bit, but I know him just from seeing him at the races, but nothing too crazy. I'm happy to have a have a good teammate, and he's awesome. So, I'm glad they got a guy and somebody we can kind of go back and forth on settings, stuff like that. So, it's better than just being by yourself.
I think Garrett's got a lot of potential. He's a really good rider.
I think he can do really good. He's so big on the 250, and I know that from experience, it's really hard, especially outdoors, to make that work. Having a factory ride and a team to kind of have behind you, I think he's going to be really good.
Yeah, I think so too. Like he passed, I don't know, 140 riders or something this summer because he just couldn't get starts. Right?
Yeah. His starts weren't ideal, but I don't think it's all him. It's more just how big he is.
So, Motocross of Nations, have you talked to them about it?
I definitely talked to them before I signed, and I told them that it's a race that I want to do. I mean, as of right now, they're willing to support it, so we'll see. And I think if you have somebody that's willing and really gung-ho about going, they'll support it. So, I guess we'll see.
And then you're going to be at Jack Chambers’ House?
Yeah. Chambers, we're back there [at his track]. Got the track actually built last week. The first one, first supercross track. And then we're going to get another one built probably in a month or so. So, everything's kind of coming together and we got a shop built and everything, so I'm stoked. I'm stoked to be back there and back where I was in 2023.
Yeah, it sounds like you're going back to your old program. Look, you won on a KTM. You almost won the supercross title. You won an outdoor title. So, no one can look at your KTM thing and be like, “Oh, it didn't work,” but it does sound like you want to get back to where you were.
Yeah, I'd like to get back to where I was in ‘23 and around there. I just felt like I was more comfortable. Not that I wasn't comfortable at KTM, but I felt like I was happier, and I was just able to kind of do more what I wanted back then. So that's kind of where I'm at now and kind of my mindset and get back to like having some freedom and being able to do what I want and just yeah, it's kind of my mindset. So, it's falling together good.
Yeah, let's talk KTM a little bit. Obviously, you did that video with Troy Adamitis a little bit for people who didn't watch it or whatever you got into a little bit there. You were back with Jade, so you knew him well. And Ian Harrison means well and but they're a different company, aren't they, than sort of what you were used to at Honda and maybe even the Factory Connection days. Is it right to say Chase, that, as nothing personal, but you maybe didn't gel with the people around KTM?
Yeah. I mean, you could say that, I don't really want to get into it. I've kind of moved on and I’ve changed my mind set to looking forward, but yeah, I just I feel like I didn't really just fit in well there. Yeah, personalities, I don't think, it didn’t really mesh that well. So that's kind of all I'm going to say.
Did you have any relationship with Dan Fahey at all before you started talking to Kawi?
No, I didn't. Honestly, I hadn't really talked to them a lot until this whole thing went down, and Bruce and Dan and all those guys are really cool. And it's funny because when I was on 65’s I always wanted to ride for Team Green, and I was always kind of on the bubble between being, like, just average and not the standout guy. So, I could never get Ryan Holliday to give me a ride. I always wanted to be on Team Green because they had like the best amateur setup and everything. So, it's kind of funny now to come full circle and be on the main team.
Yeah. I was going to ask obviously this summer wasn't great, a few injuries here and there and this Kawi deal. I mean, of course, today was day one of the announcement, but I think it's been out there in the kind of public eye that that's the direction that you were going. How do you keep focused knowing that the direction is going a completely different way with new people, new everything for 2026.
Yeah, it's not easy but when I go racing, like, my goal is to win. And at the end of the day, it's an individual sport. And like, stats stay with you forever. So, when you go racing, you want to go out there and win and put your best foot forward, no matter who you're racing for and what the future holds. So that was kind of my mindset. I just wanted to go out there and I owe it to myself to, if I work this hard to go out there and try and win. It was a trying outdoor year and SMX obviously, but every time I line up, I just want to win. So that's kind of where my head was at.
I don't put Jorge Prado in the same level as you, but he's really great rider. And you know what team he’s on. You know the media are going to be watching this all year long. Like Chase on a Kawi and Jorge back at KTM, you know. I do feel like I know the guys at Kawasaki pretty well, Bruce, I've known well for forever. And Dan's Canadian, by the way. So, we get along great. But I think they feel beat up from this summer for all the things that happened and everything else. They also haven't won in a long time. A title. It's been a bit of a break for those guys. Do you sense with the team like, “Hey, we're hungry to also like erase the summer.” You know, sort of change public perception?
Yeah, I think it's actually from both parties, my side and their side. Like I think the tail end of this year was rough and supercross, I didn't get what I wanted. So, my goal was obviously to get back to the top and come out a better version of myself. And I think they're also in a position where we kind of both have no option but to win, and that's the only goal and to get back to winning. So, I think it's kind of the perfect storm. I mean, that's what I'm hoping! And so far, they've been super, super open with my ideas and everything that I wanted to change. They've made the changes, and it's made it better. So, I think right now we kind of both have the same mindset of getting back to winning and getting back to the top.
Can anything transfer over from your Honda days?
Yeah, we haven't really got that far. Like, the first thing was just to get the bike, like all the cockpit, everything, all the stuff that's easy to fix. Get that out of the way and then kind of work on. We worked a little bit on suspension, but to be honest, even if I didn't like the suspension, the bike still worked pretty well, which I was kind of like, mind blown. I haven't really felt that in a while. I ran the BFR shock when I was at Honda and now that thing is kind of like gone, so we can’t really use that. Honestly, I learned a lot when I was at KTM about how I like my bike and what I wanted from the thing and how I wanted it to act. And I learned a lot about testing because pretty much all I did at KTM was test and test and test and try and make it better and try and make it better. That's something I can take into this and try to build a bike around me. I was just talking to Broc [Tickle] the other day. Like, it's funny because Jason and Jorge had the bike set up, not really how I like my bike. It's cool because I feel like you can ride the bike even if you don't like it, but you can ride it so many different ways and it still feels okay. If you want the rear lower, rear high, like you can ride it both ways. You want the rebound fast, rebound slow? Like you kind of make it and morph it into something that you like and kind of tailor it to you. On the Honda, I always wanted my rear lower, and it never really worked. And then I went to KTM and like I always put my rear high because I only could get it to turn that way. So, I feel like now it’s really neutral and in the middle, at least so far.
