Since switching to Monster Energy Kawasaki for the 2026 season, Chase Sexton has struggled to find his rhythm. Other than winning the third round at Anaheim 2, Chase had yet to land on the podium at any other round. Then he bruised his sacrum in a practice crash before Daytona and took three rounds off to recover. Coming back for Detroit, many questioned if we would see more of the same from Sexton, or if perhaps he took the time to find something in his time off. But Chase looked much closer to his old self, by winning his heat race and then finishing second in the main behind Ken Roczen. Chase spoke on his race, and his belief in his riding at the post-race press conference:
“If anyone's seen my season, it's been very unlike me. I just haven't had very good speed, haven't had good starts, haven't really been up in the front. Minus one race [A2]. So, I mean I believe in myself and how I can ride, but I've just been either not comfortable or just not getting the starts. I needed to be up front and in the off weeks, I mean, actually before Daytona, I was riding probably the best I had ridden all season. And then I had that crash, which was just a freak accident. And then yeah, kind of feel like I started back from zero. Came back, I still felt pretty good on the bike, but how did I just build back up and get back to where I could go back racing? So yeah, starts are better tonight, which played a big role. Winning the heat race felt like a main event win for me because it's been a struggle this year. So hopefully this is what we need to get back on the right path. And just trying to get some more wins before the season's over. The guys are riding really awesome. I knew Ken was going to be strong especially with the start. I knew he was going to be really, really tough. And I was trying, I was trying to skim [the whoops], but I was like “I'm getting a little hairy.” And I'm like “It's just not really worth it for me.” That time on the couch really started to kind of come at me about ten minutes into that race. So come back next weekend and try and make some improvements.”
Knowing when to push it and when to play it safe has not always been Sexton’s strong suit. There have been many times in the past where Chase has pushed for a win and thrown it away. Also, Sexton is still working to find his form on the Kawasaki. For this comeback now, he's decided to just settle for doing the best he can.
“I told myself when I came back up, I'm going to come back and I'm just going to do the best that I can and try and overcome the things I feel like I'm not very comfortable with. And I know that I'm good enough to be able to do that. So, I just had to really have some tough mental days and weeks kind of pulling myself out of it. But I'm like, “You have to go out there and race your dirt bike and be the best you can.” So, the team's been working hard. It's not from a lack of effort. It's just yeah, sometimes things just don't go your way. So, it's been like I said, a tough year, but I think this is the kind of the turning point that we needed to get this thing going on track.”
Chase spoke further about getting things back on track, and for him things started to go south not this season, but after the 2025 Supercross season when he lost the championship to Cooper Webb by only two points.
“Yeah, I mean last year in supercross, I won like seven races I think, and came up short on the championship, which it hurt me a lot to lose by that little points and knowing that it was it was my doing. I pretty much threw that away. So, outdoors wasn't great and then SMX wasn't that good, obviously. It's just been a tough year or so, but I would say I'm [normally] one of the happier guys that you'll meet. It's just, when you're not having that much fun on the dirt bike it does bleed over into your life. And I've had to kind of battle that and just try and enjoy the days at the track and try and be grateful for it because it is what I love to do. And it's hard to see it when you're in it, but racing your bike for a living is really cool, and I know a lot of the fans were criticizing me and stuff for staying at home, but I think people just thought I was kind of just taking time off just to take time off. But I did have a crash. Obviously, I would have loved to be at the races, so it's nice to be back. And yeah, when I get back to my normal self, it's all going to be for the better because it's going to make me stronger.”
So, for Chase, Detroit is a building block to get back to where he wants to be, the front.
“Obviously supercross hasn't gone my way, but hopefully outdoors we can come in strong. It's going to be a stacked field. So that's honestly why I came back this early is just to get ready for outdoors, because I know it's going to be tough and going to have some good competition. So, I need to sharpen myself and kind of polish myself before we get there.”
So, was this is a turning point in Sexton’s season? Will we see him back on the podium and fighting for wins again in the weeks to come?
