CHASE SEXTON - GRIT 253 450SX

GRIT-253 | 450 SX

June 5th, 2024 3:30 pm

Residing at the front of the pack, but not necessarily in contention for the lead, Sexton could see championship rival crash to the ground on the opening lap. Sexton proceeded to move forward despite the Honda rider now out of contention for the moto victory, and immediately strove for further positioning on the leaderboard...putting his machine definitively ahead of Aaron Plessinger, Phil Nicoletti, and Dylan Ferrandis. He would reside around the fourth-place standing with roughly seven and a half minutes gone by - before overtaking Justin Cooper in the downhill sequence (for third) which forced Cooper to the fourth-place position. Jason Anderson was now ahead, and with the fifteen-minute mark approaching, Sexton knew that he would have to be urgent - and the Illinois native began to pressure the Kawasaki rider extensively, with Anderson actually washing-out just after the twenty-minute mark of the moto had passed. Making the move on the Kawasaki rider when charging across the switchback hillside, Sexton was now determined to overtake the Honda athlete...and would eventually do so, after propelling forward with unstoppable intensity. With a brilliant, zig-zagging switchback sequence, Sexton's ability to stand up and weight the outside foot-peg while putting as much power to the ground as possible, was the eventual move that toppled Honda's Hunter Lawrence. Landing from the initial tabletop on the circuit, just to the left of the Australian (with less than two minutes on the clock) Sexton definitively took the lead on the uphill thereafter. From that point onward, there was nothing that could stand in Sexton's way - and in regard to the championship fight, the Illinois native certainly took full advantage of Jett's misfortune...earning the moto victory, without question at the finish line. His second moto start, was much less than desired...where he would crash on the initial uphill and appear to be in the very back of the pack. He had worked his way into eighteenth though, after five minutes of action. But that position was quickly erased, passing riders in bundles...which eventually led to a brief seventh place battle with Justin Barcia around the halfway point of the moto! But Barcia couldn't deny the pace of the Illinois native, and Sexton was able to overtake him, while then aiming for the Kawasaki (in fifth) of Jason Anderson. He would pass both, Anderson and a fading Jett Lawrence with only minutes separating him from the checkered flag...but the charge of Sexton would stop there either, even now that fourth place was occupied! He was running lap-times that were nearly four-seconds faster than anyone else on the track, which led to a move being made on Hunter Lawrence (amongst one of the latter downhill sections), where he and the number ninety-six would nearly come together! Luckily both were upright, and Sexton had now obtained third. He then looked to move around Justin Cooper - and would do so in the mechanic's area with just over three laps to go. He nullified Cooper's counter charge and decisively took over the second-place standing. Aaron Plessinger, at that point, seemed too far out of reach...but the willingness for Sexton to lay it all on the line would prevail - as Chase passed his teammate with only a few corners remaining, to take the moto win and overall victory...surging from last to first, in a heroic effort!

More from GRIT