Chase is one helluva rider. No question about that. His career accolades are unquestionable...and at the same time, I fear he'll go down as a bit of "missed potential". His speed is just off the charts against most everyone. Yeah, I know Jett and ET3 beat him many times, but he beat them many times as well. HOWEVER...how many championships has he lost because of tip-overs or brain farts? He has years left in him and I just wonder if we all look back and say "Without this or that happening...he'd have had several more championships and he'd be in almost the JS7/RC4/CR22 echelon of the sport". I'm sure someone will respond with a lot of stats that I'm too lazy to dig up, but watching him click through the field last night (as he's done many times before) I was struck thinking that if he'd keep it on 2 wheels consistently (ala Dungey), the guy would be an absolute legend.
anyway, happy Sunday. Good racing last night.
He reminds me a lot of Tomac. I think there's a decent chance that at some point in the next few years, he'll get himself into a mental groove and minimize the mistakes/brainfarts and win another title or two (who knows, he still has a shot this season). Remember, Tomac's SX career looked almost identical to Sexton's until he was 27 years old. Sexton is 25 and already has an SX title.
What makes Sexton's outlook a bit more pessimistic than Tomac's is the presence of Jett Lawrence. Dungey retired when Tomac was still hitting his stride, and the other guy who looked to be the next elite talent (Roczen) suffered a debilitating injury that made him very beatable. As long as Jett comes back from the ACL tear looking like his old self and doesn't have a similarly career-altering injury in the near future, he will be a HUGE roadblock to Sexton's title chances. Not only is he more consistent than Sexton when he's not injured, but he also has, at minimum, a marginal speed advantage.
agreed. We all sometimes forget about those ET3 nights when he would just crater and roll around in 9th. He had a LOT of those nights. He is another rider that probably left a LOT on the table when history judges. I would love for Chase to get his brain right and just go on a run with consistency. And yeah, Jett is always an "issue" but you gotta be in it to win it.
Yep, he’s frustrating to watch. He in an era of fast guys though. CW is showing that he’s no slouch and is very smart. Sexton is a bulldog on the bike, like Stanton was.
Great thought provoking post. I think most fans would absolutely laugh off this comparison. But like you point out Tomac still hadn't won a sx title at Chase's age. And I believe he was just winning his first mx title at the same age as Chase.
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Free shipping: VITALMX
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
He's going to Kawi, that will be the beginning of him running the table. Kawi's don't push the front end.
Yep, I want to say Tomac was 24 or 25 when he won his first MX chip in 2017, and Sexton won his first MX chip last year at age 24. Very similar careers so far overall. I do think Tomac had more race wins at this stage, though.
All timer? Not even top 20 right now. Top 30 I’d have to think about.
Should of finished 3rd the year he won SX and wouldn’t of beat Jett outdoors last year. He’s injuries away from racing 9 450 series with no title, and took Eli Jett and Hunter all crashing out for him to still be behind Webb in the points. The best riding he’s ever done was losing to Eli in outdoors.
I think Sexton can get there, but he gets a little tight leading and/or when he’s not coming through the pack. I’m not sure how to fix that.
Top 30 easy, probably just outside of top 20 all time. By the end of his career easy top 20. He is a 450 SX champion and he’s even better outdoors.
Do you ever going to get it? To finish first ,first you have to finish!!! Guy with most points at the end of last race is your champion !!!
Chase is in contention for the win every time he lines up in the premier class and has been for quite some time. One of the fastest riders on the planet
If it wasn’t for Jett he’d be in the running for the rider with the best fundamentals / technique.
Truth.
Also, any “all timer” convo that mentions Reed but not RV2 is suspect from the get go….
Too early to say…..
Agree…. The ability and talent is there, but what will the results be?
What's crazy is remember during the 2022 outdoors, everyone was comparing him and Tomac and saying how smooth Sexton was in comparison.
Now we have Jett setting the "smooth" bar and Sexton is the bulldog. How much it's changed in a few years.
Can't wait for this summer if all three are healthy.
I mean he does have all the trophies. SX, MX and MXDN. Just missing an MXGP title which I don't think we would get that lucky to see him try
Pit Row
In my opinion it's getting more difficult to compare riders from today to riders of the past. 2022 for example, 5 riders in SX with over 300 points and Chase with 292 at the end of the season. Compare that to say 2012, one rider had over 300 points, RV. You have more fast and consistent guys. If you make mistakes now, you get punished.
Well it is on his list to go the MXGP
Oh shit! He said that? I’d be pumped
Shoulda, woulda, coulda. IS a sx champion. IS an mx champion. I notice you threw Hunter in there. When he's ever gotten in the same zip code as Sexton?
Nope
Off the subject, but I’d like to see how Tim Gasjer would do in the Nats here, and some battles with Sexton.
2024 Budds Creek.
Hunta beat chase in the first moto.
Granted, chase won the overall with a 2-1 which beat Hunters 1-2. But stillll
You picked the one year there were tons of injuries and Villopoto himself missed the final few rounds when he tore his ACL.
He’s not wrong. I realize you have to be in it to win it but he was literally handed every title by someone else’s misfortune.
^^^^^^^...that is 100%. Chase is good, but not that good. If ET and Jett were there, he'd wouldn't be in second place right now.
The era of the Ryan's can still be compared to now. Bikes were fuel injected , and the riding technique still applies.
2012 had more all time riders than right now.
I'll give you Jett but everyone acts like Eli was back to prime form off his one win. He went 5-1-7-4 before his injury.
Post a reply to: Sexton - all timer?