GRIT 302 — 450SX — 5th — Chase Sexton

The talent of Chase Sexton was undeniable. Though he had encountered a bit of trouble at various rounds so far this year, the native of Illinois was undoubtedly a fan-favorite as racers sped onto the raceway for Saturday's competition. In practice, Chase was undoubtedly a standout performer. His line selection would propel him through corners and rhythm lanes alike. He was steadfast in his pursuit of faster lap-times. And throughout each practice round, rivalries within the premier classification continued to boil. Though he was ready for whatever was thrown his way as heat number two transpired. Once obtaining a position of, third, he seemed to be comfortable running that pace...before an early race tip-over, prior to the finish-line, would deter him to that of approximately ninth! From there, he would have to fight forward. Lap by lap, he steadily

advanced...eventually making passes on opponents including Dylan Ferrandis, nearing the end of the contest. He would also speed away from Ty Masterpool, Shane McElrath, and Grant Harlan, en route to going bar-to-bar (with Joey Savatgy) at the line, to take fifth! For the main event, he would contend inside of the top-five... though Ken Roczen definitively took the fourth-place residency, rather quickly. Thus, Chase was fifth, while being pressured from Hunter Lawrence. A mistake by the Australian rider would give Chase a bit of breathing room, before a bit of lessened pace (by Sexton) would enable Justin Cooper, to work his way past! He was then fifth..but Hunter Lawrence surpassed him not long thereafter — forcing Chase to sixth, and his line of skimming the whoops, didn't seem very efficient (as many began to jump through the moguls). He would reside sixth for a significant amount of time, until an unexpected crash (between Hunter Lawrence and Ken Roczen) would force the Suzuki athlete outside of the top-five. Sexton, who could see that in the foreground, did his best to attack the situation with a hard-charging effort. Thus, as Roczen attempted to restart his machine, Sexton made his way past. Thus fifth, place was his on the twenty-second circuit. From there, he did his best to keep his machine ahead of Malcolm Stewart.

Sexton's effort was commendable, and with the checkered flag eventually being thrown, the Illinois

native vaulted to a fifth-place result... where he remains within the championship fight, for the 2026 season