race recap
CHASE SEXTON | GRIT-207 | 450SX
February 7, 2023 · Chase Sexton
CHASE SEXTON | GRIT-207 | 450SX
Following his excellent showing at the Triple Crown last week in Anaheim, Honda's Chase Sexton would strive to stand atop the podium in Houston as well. Knowing that if he could best both, Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb, that his momentum for the championship would ascend to a superior level before heading to the East coast. Therefore the memo for the twenty-three machine was evident in practice, where he contended for the highest of positions prior to beginning heat race action. All of his lines throughout Saturday afternoon were marvelous, and he appeared to be in total synchronization with the track beneath him at NRG stadium. The suspense would amplify as lap number one of the heat race came to fruition, and Sexton would urgently search for a way to pass Eli Tomac. The Honda competitor was exhibiting flawless race-craft throughout each lane on the circuit, hitting his turns and accompanying obstacles with the utmost precision while gaining time on Eli. He would make substantial ground in the set of jumps prior to the whoop section (with around four minutes and fifteen-seconds to go). This would lead to a daring inside line through the array of moguls to be established, where Sexton was visibly faster and attacked the left side of the trace track with furthered tenacity! Inching forward while putting Eli behind him, Sexton was then free to attack the track as he wished. And with that option, there was little that could defeat the number twenty-three...as he sprinted to the finish line with checkered flag in hand, while looking to do much the same for the main event. Though his start for the finalé wasn't identical to Eli's, where he hovered around the seventh place position to begin while immediately enacting a serious of weaves and passes on fellow member(s) of the 450cc field. The opportunity to work his way into fourth would come to fruition, prior to a red-flag being thrown and the filed forced to "re-rack" on the start straightaway. Once racing returned to action, it was Sexton who was on the move with an agenda to compete for the lead; where he passed Aaron Plessinger just after the funnel jump with roughly fifteen and a half minutes to go. Next to conquer was Jason Anderson, who he eventually passed in the whoop section (similar to his move on Tomac in the heat race) prior to beginning lap seven! It was now he and Tomac quarreling over the lead, with Chase using every tool in his arsenal to try and combat the speed that the Yamaha rider was showcasing. But Tomac would carry much more speed in areas like the sand section, which proved to be the outlying attributes that thrusted the red-plate holder to victory lane yet again. Residing in a superb second-place, it was apparent that Sexton wanted more; as he hoped to claim wins in the upcoming round on the tour, as well.