Chase Sexton out until SuperMotocross playoffs with shoulder injury

By
Dan Beaver,

By
Dan Beaver

Published August 12, 2025 06:42 PM

After a violent crash in the Ironman National last week in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Chase Sexton has chosen to sit out the final two rounds of the Pro Motocross season, so he can enter the 2025 SuperMotocross World Championship in the best shape.

“Good day going at Ironman until it wasn’t,” Sexton posted on social media. "[G]oing 1-DNF on the day. [B]rake malfunction [in the] second moto was out of [my] and [Jade Dungey’s] control, and for me, I was just a passenger at that point, and I tried all I could do to save it. With that being said, I’m still encouraged by my riding and am happy with how it was going up until that point.

“As far as my body goes, my right shoulder is weak from the crash and [I] am getting it looked at this week. With that being said, it’s in my best interest to get ready for SMX and come in at 100%. Just want to say thank you to the fans for always having my back, and I can’t wait to see y’all in Charlotte.”

Sexton sat out four rounds after experiencing a hard crash in the season opener at Fox Raceway in Pala, California, also complaining of shoulder pain at the time.

MX 2025 Rd 08 Washougal Chase Sexton 03.JPG

Chase Sexton fends off Hunter Lawrence, races Jett Lawrence aggressively to Ironman Moto 1 win

Chase Sexton moved Jett Lawrence out of the groove twice and chased Hunter Lawrence down on his way to the victory.

Dan Beaver
,

Dan Beaver
,

Sexton won Moto 1 at Ironman and was in position to score the overall victory when the crash occurred.

Red Bull KTM’s Ian Harrison identified the bike problem experienced by Sexton as debris in the rear brakes.

“After inspecting the bike Saturday evening, and reviewing the bike data, we now have a clearer understanding of what led up to Chase’s crash in moto two at Ironman, and I want to clarify that it was neither rider nor mechanic error,” Harrison said in a statement. “Initially, we thought it was a front brake issue, but we now know that debris got into the rear brake system, preventing Chase from activating the rear brake. This forced him to reduce all his speed using only the front brake. We can also see from the bike data that he left the jump on this lap at a much higher rate of speed than at any other lap during the day.

“This issue, in turn, caused Chase to crash. The bike landed on the right side first, which then caused the front brake lever to get packed with mud and activate. Chase was unable to continue because of this. We will actively look for a solution to prevent this from happening again, but as we know, in racing, motocross is tough on the equipment, and when you add the speed and intensity that our riders race at, this exaggerates everything. This was disappointing for both Chase and our team, as well as the fans.”

Sexton returned in Round 6 at RedBud MX Park in Buchanan, Michigan, in Round 6 of the outdoor series, to secure the best seeding for the SuperMotocross World Championship playoffs, which begin on September 6 at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. He finished fifth in his first round back.

His results improved quickly with a third-place finish in Millville, Minnesota, the following week and a victory in the Washougal (Wash.) National. That victory marked the first time a rider had beaten a healthy Jett Lawrence.

Sexton finished third last year at zMax Dragway and was second the following week at Texas Motor Speedway in the first two playoff rounds. An incident during Moto 1 of the season finale caused him to finish 24th overall of 24 riders. Sexton finished seventh in last year’s SMX standings after his third-round problems.

The highlight of his SuperMotocross playoff career came in 2023, when Sexton won the series opener and ended Jett Lawrence’s perfect winning streak on a 450 bike.

Teammate Aaron Plessinger announced last week that he would sit out until the SMX playoffs.