CHASE SEXTON - GRIT 249 450SX

GRIT-249 | 450 SX

June 3rd, 2024 12:00 pm

Despite undergoing a significant crash last weekend in Nashville, the tenacity of Chase Sexton was on full display as the event of Philadelphia came to fruition. He put the troubles of Music City behind him, and rolled through practice with a confident style while aiming for the highest possible position amid heat two. Though unfortunately crashing as the second heat race began with Justin Cooper (in the turn before the opening "SX" triple) Sexton managed to chip away at the top-ten after remounting near last. He was staying patient, while also demonstrating raw speed aboard the KTM 450cc machine - surging into single digits as time progressed. He knew there wasn't going to be much time remaining, however, therefore he put his all into climbing as high into the standings as possible. Revving the KTM while flying over the wall-jump, he began to close-in on the rider aboard the number twenty-seven machine with the checkered flag nearing. And in his final run through the whoop section, Sexton nearly overtook Malcolm Stewart - but the Husqvarna rider defended the fifth-place position, for Sexton to earn sixth, respectively. For the main event, the field would funnel into a condensed opening bend. There was little room for error, but Chase appeared to occupy a position of fifth, as the timer began to tick. Kawasaki's Jason Anderson was just in front of him...and Sexton knew that the former SX champion would be difficult to work around. However, he put his head down, and eventually overtook the New Mexico native on the third circuit. Now fourth after the aforementioned battle, Sexton was on pace with Eli Tomac in the next sequence of stages...while Tomac occupied third. A mistake by Tomac in the longest rhythm section, after around nine minutes of action, enabled Sexton to leap by the outside and overtake third. With just over five minutes on the clock, Sexton's attrition propelled him to make a pass on Webb, near the finish line...with the two briefly colliding, upon landing from the double! Remaining upright, Sexton now was in second with the North Carolina native in third. He did everything possible to nullify the lead, at that point, in which Jett Lawrence had created. His times (where he displayed some of the fastest circuits of all in the race's entirety) were notable - and shortened the distance between he and the Australian. But when it mattered most, Jett managed to extend the gap to a margin that couldn't be overcome. Therefore Illinois Sexton was finalized in second, to conclude the main event in Philly.

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