Ahead of the Detroit SX round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, we caught up with both Chase Sexton and Jorge Prado during press day.
A practice crash during the week leading into the Daytona SX kept Sexton sidelined for three straight rounds but he is returning to racing this weekend. He has finishes of 8-4-1-5-7-5-6 in his seven main events starts in his first year with Kawasaki.
Sexton explained he was banged up after his crash and mentioned he does not want to impact the championship battles but does want to be “up towards the front.”
Here is his full quote:
“Well, the past few weeks I've been sitting on the couch watching races. It hasn't been ideal. But, yeah, I had a crash before Daytona, ended up bruising my sacrum, which is like basically like your butt, like hip area, and, yeah, I was really sore. I could, barely walk for probably a week. Just, it was like when I tightened my core, my hips and everything would radiate like really bad and it was just tough to do anything, so I obviously couldn't race. And then, after about a week or so I started easing back into training and then been riding for I think two weeks now, so I feel good. I feel, I mean, my body and everything else is good. Just happy to be back at the races and trying to get some gate drops in, get back up towards the front and mix it up with the boys.
Obviously, Eli and Hunter and Kenny, everyone's been riding really well. And my plan is to obviously not inflict on any championship battles, but I'll race hard and try and be up towards the front obviously and I'm just happy to be back.”
![Chase Sexton]()
Chase Sexton Align Media ![Chase Sexton]()
Chase Sexton Align Media
| Position | Race | Class | Date | Bike |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Supercross Arlington | 450SX | February 21, 2026 | Kawasaki KX450SR |
| 5 | Supercross Seattle | 450SX | February 14, 2026 | Kawasaki KX450SR |
| 7 | Supercross Glendale | 450SX | February 7, 2026 | Kawasaki KX450SR |
| 5 | Supercross Houston | 450SX | January 31, 2026 | Kawasaki KX450SR |
| 1 | Supercross Anaheim 2 | 450SX | January 24, 2026 | Kawasaki KX450SR |
| 4 | Supercross San Diego | 450SX | January 17, 2026 | Kawasaki KX450SR |
| 8 | Supercross Anaheim 1 | 450SX | January 10, 2026 | Kawasaki KX450SR |
The two were even going back and forth a little during Friday's press day riding session on the track, putting in a few fast sections in a row on the condensed track before letting the other go by and repeating.
As for Prado, he also has seven main event starts to his name this season, with finishes of 3-13-7-7-5-6-7. He has shown speed and significant improvements from last season’s limited look at him in SX due to his shoulder injury. Even if you would not count his podium at the season-opener, the first half of the season would have to be considered a success. Prado would agree, although knows he still has room to improve.
“I would say I'm pretty happy. I'm pretty happy with my riding,” Prado said. “I'm learning a lot, so I think, yeah, I've got to be happy with my level. I think I can improve, obviously a lot of margin to do that, and I still think I can improve this season. So, we still have a few more races and hopefully we take advantage with the with the races I did and use that experience to, you know, be a little bit better every weekend. But pretty happy with my level, yeah.”
Has he started to shift his focus towards the upcoming AMA Pro Motocross Championship yet, or is he still focused on SX?
“My focus is on supercross because I need to take this…for me, this is a big opportunity to be every weekend at the races and to learn," he said. "If I want to be real competitive next year, I need to take this and get a lot of experience this year and learn and be better. So, I know I'm good outdoors, I just need to focus on getting better in supercross, and for sure I will be ready to go when the gate drops for Pro Motocross.”
He wants to finish the SX season strong and come into Pro Motocross swinging.
“I think I just improved in everything,” he said compared to last year. “I would say turning, rhythms, whoops, I think I improved everything, and that's why I'm riding better. And maybe, I'm more safe on track. I feel like I'm hitting everything with more safe, and that's huge for me. It was always a big stress before just to ride on a supercross track. So, now I feel like I can relax more, but still, I have a lot of margin to improve. So, yeah, hopefully we take these races and we make good steps.”
![Jorge Prado]()
Jorge Prado Align Media ![Jorge Prado]()
Jorge Prado Align Media
Watch our full press day recap video from Friday:
