CONCORD, North Carolina: Chase Sexton hopes the third time will be the charm.
Sexton entered the 2023 and 2024 SuperMotocross League playoffs as the No. 1 seed, full of hope and confidence.
He won the inaugural race in 2023 after winning both motos. Sexton finished third overall the following week with results of second in Moto 1 and third in Moto 2, but when when it came to the finale at the Los Angeles Coliseum, a disastrous second race denied him a shot at the championship. He finished third in Moto 1 and 20th in the second race for 10th overall in the Olympic-style scoring employed by the series.
Sexton finished third in the championship.
“I didn’t really have a plan going into them before,” Sexton said in the pre-race news conference at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. “If I have a good result in front of me, I’m going to take it. It just hasn’t worked out at the last race for me yet. For me, I will have the same plan.”
Sexton was the No. 1 seed again in 2024 and once more got off to a strong start with overall results of third and second in the first two rounds.
In the third round, Sexton stumbled again. He was involved in a crash that was not of his making in the finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the first race. He failed to mount up for the second race and finished seventh overall in championship points.
in 2025, a pair of injuries derailed Sexton’s ambition of capturing the No. 1 seed a third time. But that might not be such a bad thing. Despite his intention of not altering his game plan, coming in as the sixth seed forces him to take a different approach to the second and third races, when points are double and triple that of a standard race.
“I’ve had the luxury of coming in with the No. 1 seed the last couple of years, and this year I don’t,” Sexton said. “I’m a little bit behind, but those double point and triple point races are so important – especially the last one, but I need to capitalize on it this year and maximize points.”
Sexton has as much confidence in 2025 as in the past. He battled Cooper Webb until the final round of the Monster Energy Supercross season and finished second in the championship.
A bizarre crash in the Pro Motocross opener at Fox Raceway in Pala, California. kept Sexton off the bike for much of the outdoor season.
When he returned to racing, it was with a vengeance.
Sexton took one round to find his rhythm — well, by Sexton’s standards anyway. He was destined for a sixth-place overall finish until another rider’s incident late in Moto 2 elevated him to fifth. He finished third in the next round and then outpaced Jett Lawrence in his third race back to stop the eventual Motocross champion’s perfect season.
Sexton was victorious at Washougal and then won Moto 1 the following week at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Another hard crash in Moto 2 that weekend sent him to the couch for the final two rounds. With fewer races off this time around, Sexton expects to get up to speed quickly, but even if he fails to podium in Round 1, he knows the importance of the second and third rounds of the playoffs.
The third effort may force into making certain that his third round is charmed.
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