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Poor Chase Sexton. Not literally. Chase is drawing a healthy seven-figure salary, and the bonuses from the Pro Motocross Championship and six-straight 450MX overall wins added another seven figures to that haul. Heck, his SMX World Championship campaign couldn’t have ended much worse, with him getting landed on by Justin Barcia on the first lap of the race. He drifted back to seventh in the final standings, but that still paid $120,000. Add in podium finishes at the first two rounds and he probably made 200k for what could only be described as a heartbreaking SMX run. 

 Yes, Chase makes money, but money can’t buy you happiness. No one has rolled through the emotional ups and downs of racing more than Sexton this year. Much of that is by his own admission. Where so many athletes try to live by the “not too high, not too low” credo of stripping feelings from results, Sexton is the opposite. He thrives on emotion, and that kind of heart and desire is what has led him from La Moille, Illinois (population 1000) to AMA 450 Supercross and Motocross Championships and the millions of dollars that come with such accolades. This approach leads to unforgettable worst-to-first charges like the epic one at Hangtown, but also extreme frustration when such success doesn’t come.