Page 30 - Issue_78

CHASE SEXTON
250 MX / 9TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> With nine outdoor races under his belt from a year ago, Chase Sexton is technically no longer a rookie. He has a lot of valuable experience and proved last year that he can run with the front riders. He doubled down and proved it during his rookie Supercross earlier this year by consistently challenging the title contenders and even nishing on the podium on three different occasions. He entered this outdoor season ready to completely establish himself as a weekly contender. Sexton got the ball rolling at the season opener at Hangtown where, after a tough eleventh in the rst moto, he nished the day on a positive note with a strong fth place nish. He showed that with a good start, he can run right with the best of them.
Sexton struggled to nd his rhythm in the morning qualifying practice sessions. The young rider hailing from Illinois only set the eleventh fastest lap time of the day. He seemed to be lacking a little extra juice and he would need to nd it by the time the gate drops for moto one.
Sexton started the rst moto of the day in tragic fashion. He was way outside the top twenty rounding the rst turn but managed to turn that into a nineteenth place by the con- clusion of lap one. He sliced and diced his way forward and was able to make a plethora of moves. He found himself up to eleventh at the halfway point and would be able to pass Sean Cantrell a few laps later for tenth. He would ride hard the rest of the moto and come up short of getting Shane McElrath for ninth. The tenth for moto one was not what he wanted but he had a chance to make up for it in moto two.
Sexton got a better start in the second moto, this time emerging from lap one in tenth place. Once again, he did not waste much time making moves and passed Cantrell and Jordan Bailey to take over eighth. There he locked in behind Justin Cooper, but nothing would materialize for the remainder of the moto. He just logged smooth, consistent laps on a brutal, everchanging track. Sexton would bring home his Geico Honda in eighth place. His 10-8 moto scores earned him ninth overall for the day. A good result but Sex- ton has to be itching to get closer to that top ve overall.
30 GRITMOTO • MAY 27, 2018