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CHASE SEXTON
250 MX / 5TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Chase Sexton has been enjoying a strong, rst full season of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross. The second-year rider from Illinois has been right in the mix every single weekend thus
far outdoors. He has had only one overall nish outside the top ten and that was due to a DNF at High Point. Other than that, he has been one of the most consistent riders in an ever inconsistent 250 class. He has one overall podium on the year and the one big thing that has held him back from having more is his poor starts. Not necessarily terrible starts but I don’t think we’ve seen him holeshot or start around the top three all season. If he can nail just one start like that, he is a threat to win or at minimum nish on the podium. Sexton looked solid in the morning qualifying practice sessions. He threw down the fourth fastest lap time in the rst session before the rain came down. In session two when the track started to feel the effects of the rain, he struggled to nail a heater lap, but he grew
up in the Midwest, so he knows how to ride the mud. He was ready to get after it when they lined up for moto one. Sexton got his day going with yet another average start.
He rounded lap one in ninth position. He didn’t waste much time moving forward as he passed three riders during laps two and three to take over sixth place. He would pick up
a spot a few laps later after Colt Nichols would go down, but he would not gain a position because Shane McElrath passed him on the same lap. Sexton stayed strong and began hunting down Michael Mosiman. Sexton spent much of the moto tracking him and nding the proper opportunity to pass and it nally came with two laps to go. He made the move on Mosiman for fth and would hold it to the checkered ag. A nice rst moto from Sexton. In moto two, Sexton started in seventh but quickly inherited sixth after Jordon Smith would go down. He held it down for a few laps before he would run into issues. Sexton would
go down and not remount until he was back in eleventh position. The rest of the moto would be a struggle trying to climb back forward. The track started to dry up which made the track very one lined as the rest of the track out of the main line was still very much a sloppy mess. When it was all said and done, Sexton crossed the line in eighth position. His 5-8 moto scores earned him a solid fth overall. Another good day for Sexton but he would like to have a great one before the season comes to a close.
20 GRITMOTO • AUGUST 12, 2018