CS1…

If I told you you wouldn't even believe it 

Jett’s back so the excuses and bike issues are back 

Alright, I skipped in and out of the program today. James was saying he threw his goggles because he may have had dirt bouncing around in them, but did Chase ever say that was the case?

Chase tossed his goggles as he got dirt in them and a few laps later looks like he landed off a jump in neutral or hit his rear brake and it sent him off the bike. Bike landed on him, looked like he got the wind knocked out of him and IIRC injured his shoulder. 

Sat out all of moto 2

He caught a rock in the goggles and had to toss them early in moto one. Then a few laps later crashed and got hurt. 
Unfortunately a lot of sad little people have taken the opportunity to pile on. I just hope he’s not hurt bad, having one of the top contenders out of the points this early is disappointing enough.

Chase was 11 seconds out front and a deer ran across the track- he nailed it head on. Lost his visor and stuff..

I suspect his lens exploded and he had no choice but to toss the goggles. Hanging in there for a few laps to let the field spread out before coming in also makes sense. The crash seems like he hit false neutral and had nothing to do with the goggles. Bike's fault.... 

As a seasoned chase fan, I'm pretty good at coping.......

That's what i was thinking too, only reasonable explanation for why he tossed them.  Otherwise I'd think he'd try his best to shake them out in the air or grit it out.  OR he just panicked and tossed them because was in them.  In the crash he definitely dragged the rear brake.  On the right side view you can see how far forward his foot is and you can see his foot press down and it coincides with him going OTB.  He'll likely say he hit neutral tho.

Boxhead strikes again. The gift that keeps on giving. 

I just hope he can line up next weekend at Hangtown. 

I think he should've stopped for fresh goggles at the first chance after tossing the damaged goggles.  Why wait until possibly catching a rock in the eye without goggles?  He probably could've gotten back to 5th or so and had a fresh start for Moto 2.  

Yea, he’s way faster than most of the field. Idk why he didn’t. 

I think you tuned into a mxdn rerun of Albertyn by mistake.

Was not expecting that at all. Would pulling in a lap earlier for goggles have made a difference or would frantic riding to make up spots bite him regardless? 

 

I don't believe the goggles and the crash had anything to do with each other. Ol' boy had some bad luck yesterday.

Airbrakes are shootgun bulletproof (you can look them up). That's not very likely.

Tend to suspect rear brake vs neutral. It’s almost impossible to even find the “real” neutral with the engine running on the newer KTM’s (which I read is on purpose), and I’ve never hit a false neutral on mine in several years of owning it. By contrast, I have hit false neutrals from time to time on both Hondas and Kawasaki’s. Yes, his is a factory bike, but I’d suspect they’d be even more resistant if anything. 

Regardless, hope he’s ok. 

I say this as a fan of his; that was the most Chase Sexton series of events I’ve ever seen. Ditching the goggles and then making a small mental error resulting in a complete pile drive is somehow so on brand for him at this point. It sucks. 

Bad day to be a goggle guy. 

First Chase tossed his Airbrakes,  then he hit the brake in the air and the bike tossed him.

I suspect his mind was wandering which led to the crash perhaps. “Should I pull in or not pull in for goggles..” “Maybe I can go another lap” & “Why is this happening!?”

He went from 40th to first 12 months ago so really a few second pit stop shouldn’t have impacted him, a top 5 most likely still. However damage to eyes or having a crash due to vision issues… well we now know what that looks like.

Another poor decision by CS likely to cost him a shot at challenging for another title.. (I’m a fan of Chase so it sucks to see).

Before casting judgement, I’d like to know just how bad the goggles were before tossing. 

You don't think you can actually shoot them with a shotgun and they don't break, do you? 

Here's a guy throwing a rock with far less force than a 450 would and shooting target load at them. Rock breaks the frame. It does decent at stopping most of the target load except for the flattened out lens, multiple cracks, and dime sized hole in the middle. No idea how or why they think the shotgun marketing thing is a good idea.

Bottom line is it's entirely plausible a rock destroyed the goggles to the point where they couldn't stay on. Whether they did or not and everything after that is still up for debate. 

https://youtu.be/cbEgYuQG5r4?feature=shared

My take is that his bike setup looked awful.  The rear end was bouncing like a spooked rabbit.  Then he had to toss his goggles( no rider would this early in the race unless there was no other choice).  He was likely dragging the rear brake to settle the rear end.  And with the goggle predicament occupying his mind,  he inadvertently landed on the rear brake,  as i believe he was setting up to drag it.  Looked like he might have taken a peg to upper body,  hard to tell.    Some bad luck and another glimpse at choke sexton.  However,  historically he has excelled when not in the points,  so we may get a great season after all.