MXA INTERVIEW: THE LONG-AWAITED CHASE SEXTON

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By Jim Kimball
Photos by Scott Mallonee and Kyoshi Becker

Chase Sexton was scheduled to turn Pro one year ago at Unadilla, but Coming off a fantastic amateur career Chase captured the coveted Horizon Award as the best of Loretta Lynn’s. However in the short time before his Pro debut, the Illinois native was sidelined with injury. Then, when his next his next debut came around at the 2017 Atlanta Supercross he suffered a broken femur.

Chase finally raced as an AMA Pro at round four of the 2017 outdoor nationals at High Point. He scored a solid 13th overall in the 250 class. Now, even with missing the first three rounds of the 250 National Championship Chase Sexton sits 14th in points, with his highest finish being a 9th

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DO YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT WHERE YOU ARE AT, AND WHAT YOU HAVE DONE? Yes, I feel good about my results so far. I wanted to be top 10 and I accomplished that already, so now my next goal is top five. I only have a couple more Nationals to go, and hopefully I can land in the top five in at least one of them. Honestly, I think what has been holding me back from the top five is my starts. If I can figure my starts out, I can be there. My riding is good; my fitness is good, so now I just need some starts.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IN THE PROS VERSUS AMATEURS? The team did a really good job of getting me ready for the pro ranks. They spent a lot of time letting me test everything. If you were an amateur coming in, and did not get the experience of testing like I did, then it would be a big surprise. Jjust learning the speed to run with the guys up front is a big change. But once you get that speed, it is pretty normal. I feel like my fitness is really good, and it is where it needs to be. The speed and the intensity in the first 15 minutes are the biggest difference from amateurs.

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SUPERCROSS SEASON? I broke my leg in practice at the Atlanta Supercross and had to take three months off. My first pro race was in the outdoors at High Point. I got 13th or something. I had a bad first moto but then from there on, I’ve been getting better and better. If I can limit the mistakes, and get a good start, we will be sitting well.

SEAN CANTRELL AND MICHAEL MOSIMAN ARE PRO ROOKIES THIS YEAR ALSO. IS THERE A RIVALRY BETWEEN YOU THREE? No, but I don’t think Sean and Michael get along. They lived in California together, and they have been racing each other probably every weekend. I only raced those guys at the big Amateur Nationals, so I get along with both of them. Sean and I are actually pretty close, and we have all been doing pretty well. Michael was doing very well before his injury. Sean had a couple of off races, but now he is picking it back up.

AUSTIN FORKNER MENTIONED THAT IN HIS ROOKIE YEAR SOME THE VETERANS RACED HIM HARDER THAN NORMAL; DO YOU FEEL THE SAME? Oh yes, that is 100% true. Zach Osborne is 27 years old and I am 17 years old—there is a big age gap. And honestly, if I am racing someone that its 10 years younger than I am, I’m not going to respect them as much as someone that is my age, so I think that has a lot to do with it. With the age difference they do not look at us like we are a threat to them, but once we beat them, they are like “we cannot let this kid beat us again!” I do not think they mean to do it, but I do not think they respect us as much as someone that is closer to their age. I do not think there has been anything too dirty, so far.

YOU ARE ORIGINALLY FROM ILLIONOIS, WHERE ARE YOU BASED NOW? I live in Clermont, Florida, with pretty much half of the industry. There are so many pros in Florida now, and especially in Clermont. I train at the Nest with Ken Roczen, Adam Cianciarulo, Cole Seely, R.J. Hampshire and Christian Craig. Jeremy Martin was there for a while, so it is a good group of guys. Just to be able to train with Ken, and getting to follow him around, and see what he does. He has been pretty cool, and a big influence on me so far. It is good to be able to ride with him, and all the guys every day.

CHASE, WITH 2017 WINDING DOWN, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH? I want to do as good as I can; all I want to do is get a good start and see what I actually have to give. I have not been able to put everything out there yet; I feel like I have always been trying to pass somebody. I want to get out front, be able to run the pace, and see how long I can last. I don’t know exactly how long I can run that intensity for, but I think people are going to be surprised if I get out front, and how good my speed is. Once I get one good start, I think it will all fall into place, and then I think I will be able to do it multiple times.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING AFTER THE NATIONALS ARE OVER? I am racing the USGP, and then I’ll take a couple of weeks off and relax, and do normal stuff. I like to golf and I will be doing a lot of that before boot camp for next season. We will later be in California a lot testing, and that will be a big part next year too.

THAT REMINDS ME, WHAT ABOUT THE ALL-NEW 2018 HONDA CRF250F? I went to the release in California, so I was there at the reveal. It is a really cool looking bike, and looks just like the 450, so it is going to be good. It will be a fresh start for the team. We have not had a new bike in forever. It is going to be like what the 450 guys said about the 2017; how much better it is from last year’s bike. It is going to be a big help, and motivator for the whole team, and next year will be great.