Panic Button for Chase/Kawi?

Motofinne
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2/22/2026 1:47am

41% of the season is done by now and he is on pace to score 2.42 wins/podiums in a 17 round series. Lets round it off in his favor, he is on pace to score 3 podiums/wins this season. Those numbers are crazy.
 

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2/22/2026 2:39am

Pretty rough to see arguably the most talented guy on the track with Jett out (sorry Eli and Ken) at this point in his career tucking the front or riding around in 7th most of the time for years now.  What a bummer.  

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Nystrom
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2/22/2026 2:43am
I absolutely love stew and love his insight, but at times he seems like he is talking for the sake of talking.Or maybe I just don’t...

I absolutely love stew and love his insight, but at times he seems like he is talking for the sake of talking.

Or maybe I just don’t get it.. 

I do think James sees things we can’t, Chase is just a very unique rider and definitely more picky than most when it comes to setup.

Timo wrote:
James saying Chase doesn't look ahead enough, Chase saying he looks plenty far ahead, then watching him plow into someone in a corner was pretty good...

James saying Chase doesn't look ahead enough, Chase saying he looks plenty far ahead, then watching him plow into someone in a corner was pretty good. I don't think anyone really believed James until that incident. 

Juck wrote:
If you're talking about Harrison that was 100% Harrison's fault. Pulled out onto the track right in front of Chase without looking first.Also Chase has mentioned...

If you're talking about Harrison that was 100% Harrison's fault. Pulled out onto the track right in front of Chase without looking first.

Also Chase has mentioned that when his head is pointing down he's looking out ahead with his eyes, and the perception that he looks down is partially to do with the way he wears his helmet

I also first thought Harrison was coming from the mechanics area when I saw it on RDL but when they showed the replay of it during the night show it showed Harrison didn’t come from the mechanics area, he was just rolling slow on the track. 

2/22/2026 2:50am

Makes you wonder if AC’s career would have gone a little differently had he went to another brand. 

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The Shop

Juck
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2/22/2026 2:56am
Timo wrote:
James saying Chase doesn't look ahead enough, Chase saying he looks plenty far ahead, then watching him plow into someone in a corner was pretty good...

James saying Chase doesn't look ahead enough, Chase saying he looks plenty far ahead, then watching him plow into someone in a corner was pretty good. I don't think anyone really believed James until that incident. 

Juck wrote:
If you're talking about Harrison that was 100% Harrison's fault. Pulled out onto the track right in front of Chase without looking first.Also Chase has mentioned...

If you're talking about Harrison that was 100% Harrison's fault. Pulled out onto the track right in front of Chase without looking first.

Also Chase has mentioned that when his head is pointing down he's looking out ahead with his eyes, and the perception that he looks down is partially to do with the way he wears his helmet

Nystrom wrote:
I also first thought Harrison was coming from the mechanics area when I saw it on RDL but when they showed the replay of it during...

I also first thought Harrison was coming from the mechanics area when I saw it on RDL but when they showed the replay of it during the night show it showed Harrison didn’t come from the mechanics area, he was just rolling slow on the track. 

I went looking for the clip you're describing and couldn't find it, but I re-watched the clip on social media and if that's the case it makes even less sense and is still on Harrison because he should've either been on the very top of the berm, or preferably the very inside, not rolling around at 3mph halfway up the bowl corner where's he's blocking the entrance of all the ruts with his bike that is travelling perpendicular to the track

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Juck
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2/22/2026 2:57am

Makes you wonder if AC’s career would have gone a little differently had he went to another brand. 

People say this but I don't think it would've. He was always a crasher

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Motodude
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2/22/2026 3:07am
Pretty rough to see arguably the most talented guy on the track with Jett out (sorry Eli and Ken) at this point in his career tucking...

Pretty rough to see arguably the most talented guy on the track with Jett out (sorry Eli and Ken) at this point in his career tucking the front or riding around in 7th most of the time for years now.  What a bummer.  

Yeah, better say sorry to Hunter too

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KurtJ99
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2/22/2026 3:27am Edited Date/Time 2/22/2026 3:27am
Moto Nomad wrote:
He's five races in and everyone talking about him leaving the team already. He's in fifth place with one win and close to top 5 every...

He's five races in and everyone talking about him leaving the team already. He's in fifth place with one win and close to top 5 every week. That's not a panic button situation.

He’s finished behind and is just 10 points ahead of Justin Cooper, who similarly had several bad races and a podium. But Justin was neither a recent SX champ or runner up last year. I don’t know how you can couch it as anything but a disaster. 

2/22/2026 3:49am

A bad start is a bad start but it's the lack of forward progress and just reaching a point where he's stuck (far too early) that's concerning.

There's something happening (sometimes) between practice and the evening races. He at times looks very good in practice but then as soon as the track inevitably starts going away then so does whatever setting Chase and Kawasaki think they've found in week... 

Whether it be Prado, Hunter, Chase etc we all (unless you're insane) want him to do well and be up there where he belongs. As fans we can only benefit from that.

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dirtcan
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2/22/2026 3:52am Edited Date/Time 2/22/2026 6:33am
I absolutely love stew and love his insight, but at times he seems like he is talking for the sake of talking.Or maybe I just don’t...

I absolutely love stew and love his insight, but at times he seems like he is talking for the sake of talking.

Or maybe I just don’t get it.. 

I do think James sees things we can’t, Chase is just a very unique rider and definitely more picky than most when it comes to setup.

Timo wrote:
James saying Chase doesn't look ahead enough, Chase saying he looks plenty far ahead, then watching him plow into someone in a corner was pretty good...

James saying Chase doesn't look ahead enough, Chase saying he looks plenty far ahead, then watching him plow into someone in a corner was pretty good. I don't think anyone really believed James until that incident. 

Juck wrote:
If you're talking about Harrison that was 100% Harrison's fault. Pulled out onto the track right in front of Chase without looking first.Also Chase has mentioned...

If you're talking about Harrison that was 100% Harrison's fault. Pulled out onto the track right in front of Chase without looking first.

Also Chase has mentioned that when his head is pointing down he's looking out ahead with his eyes, and the perception that he looks down is partially to do with the way he wears his helmet

There was also the time at washougal (I think) where he did an entire extra lap racing because he didn’t see the checkered flag.


Put your helmet on, tilt your head forward and look ahead. Then, put your head straight and look ahead.


Even if what Chase is saying is true about him looking up, you will realize that his field of view is quite a bit smaller then if he was just looking up.

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Spoonguy
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2/22/2026 4:05am
Motofinne wrote:
41% of the season is done by now and he is on pace to score 2.42 wins/podiums in a 17 round series. Lets round it off...

41% of the season is done by now and he is on pace to score 2.42 wins/podiums in a 17 round series. Lets round it off in his favor, he is on pace to score 3 podiums/wins this season. Those numbers are crazy.
 

For Aaron Plessinger or Malcolm Stewart maybe, but Chase is expected to be at the sharp end of the class, not battling with Justin Cooper and Joey Savatgy every week. Every week this continues the WTF factor grows exponentially. This is an embarrassment for a brand that has a strong racing pedigree. I wonder if the rest of the field, Hunta, Eli, Webb, Kenny, even guys like Savatgy and Justin Cooper have taken a significant step forward in speed and Chase was caught out?

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Sidewinder 1
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2/22/2026 4:07am
Pretty rough to see arguably the most talented guy on the track with Jett out (sorry Eli and Ken) at this point in his career tucking...

Pretty rough to see arguably the most talented guy on the track with Jett out (sorry Eli and Ken) at this point in his career tucking the front or riding around in 7th most of the time for years now.  What a bummer.  

I just want to be clear, your position is that Chase Sexton has more talent than Eli Tomac? 

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ti473
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2/22/2026 4:25am

My theory is that starts are 80% of his problem. He is consistently out jumped by whoever is next to him and is around 12-15th after the first corner. Once that happens he has to... mmm maybe override is a strong word, but certainly has to take more risks and spend more energy to get to the front, and that's how the crashes can happen. Maybe he's at a point where he's made the decision to back it down a notch, and combined with how bad his starts are and how stacked the field is that results in mediocrity. 

Once he got passed AP yesterday, I believe in 6th, there was a big gap to 5th. At that point his gap to the leaders stayed consistent around 14-15 seconds until the end where the guys out front are still battling hard and the mid pack settles down a bit. So it's not like he doesn't have the speed. 

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BS12
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2/22/2026 4:30am Edited Date/Time 2/22/2026 4:30am

I know its only 7 races into a 3 year contract, but I'd be intrigued to know how we would do on a Quad Lock Honda. Joey's killing it currently. 

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aees
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2/22/2026 4:32am Edited Date/Time 2/22/2026 4:32am

Chase was 1 sec off from the top lap times.

He was running with free track, 6sec, not held up by anyone besides lappers that everyone has to deal with. He was 2 sec of Prado 2 weeks go in practise. If this was a KTM year, he would have been 0.5 faster than everyone or at least within 1-2 tenths of fastest lap during a race, even with a bad start.

Sure, it's one setting or part away to turn It around, but, it's way to much off to go back to 0.5 ahead even if they got him comfortable.

Then add in that he hasn't raced in that place for half a season soon. That will have an effect also with probably no 20min sessions during weeks.

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wvumounty
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2/22/2026 4:36am

I like how she reported that kawi has identified the problem with the bike but they have only been able to fix it 50%. Is kawi just saying shit to get her to leave the truck? 

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wvumounty
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2/22/2026 4:37am
ti473 wrote:
My theory is that starts are 80% of his problem. He is consistently out jumped by whoever is next to him and is around 12-15th after...

My theory is that starts are 80% of his problem. He is consistently out jumped by whoever is next to him and is around 12-15th after the first corner. Once that happens he has to... mmm maybe override is a strong word, but certainly has to take more risks and spend more energy to get to the front, and that's how the crashes can happen. Maybe he's at a point where he's made the decision to back it down a notch, and combined with how bad his starts are and how stacked the field is that results in mediocrity. 

Once he got passed AP yesterday, I believe in 6th, there was a big gap to 5th. At that point his gap to the leaders stayed consistent around 14-15 seconds until the end where the guys out front are still battling hard and the mid pack settles down a bit. So it's not like he doesn't have the speed. 

He was 20+ sec off the leader

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ti473
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2/22/2026 4:41am
ti473 wrote:
My theory is that starts are 80% of his problem. He is consistently out jumped by whoever is next to him and is around 12-15th after...

My theory is that starts are 80% of his problem. He is consistently out jumped by whoever is next to him and is around 12-15th after the first corner. Once that happens he has to... mmm maybe override is a strong word, but certainly has to take more risks and spend more energy to get to the front, and that's how the crashes can happen. Maybe he's at a point where he's made the decision to back it down a notch, and combined with how bad his starts are and how stacked the field is that results in mediocrity. 

Once he got passed AP yesterday, I believe in 6th, there was a big gap to 5th. At that point his gap to the leaders stayed consistent around 14-15 seconds until the end where the guys out front are still battling hard and the mid pack settles down a bit. So it's not like he doesn't have the speed. 

wvumounty wrote:

He was 20+ sec off the leader

Like I said, at the end he dropped off another 5 seconds because the front is going for the win while those back a bit settle down, but from the time he got to 6th to a few laps from the end he was running about the same laptimes

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Motofinne
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2/22/2026 5:20am
ti473 wrote:
My theory is that starts are 80% of his problem. He is consistently out jumped by whoever is next to him and is around 12-15th after...

My theory is that starts are 80% of his problem. He is consistently out jumped by whoever is next to him and is around 12-15th after the first corner. Once that happens he has to... mmm maybe override is a strong word, but certainly has to take more risks and spend more energy to get to the front, and that's how the crashes can happen. Maybe he's at a point where he's made the decision to back it down a notch, and combined with how bad his starts are and how stacked the field is that results in mediocrity. 

Once he got passed AP yesterday, I believe in 6th, there was a big gap to 5th. At that point his gap to the leaders stayed consistent around 14-15 seconds until the end where the guys out front are still battling hard and the mid pack settles down a bit. So it's not like he doesn't have the speed. 

wvumounty wrote:

He was 20+ sec off the leader

ti473 wrote:
Like I said, at the end he dropped off another 5 seconds because the front is going for the win while those back a bit settle...

Like I said, at the end he dropped off another 5 seconds because the front is going for the win while those back a bit settle down, but from the time he got to 6th to a few laps from the end he was running about the same laptimes

That was at a point of the race where the top guys were scrapping with each other and most likely were going a bit slower each lap because of defensive riding.

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2/22/2026 5:29am
Timo wrote:
James saying Chase doesn't look ahead enough, Chase saying he looks plenty far ahead, then watching him plow into someone in a corner was pretty good...

James saying Chase doesn't look ahead enough, Chase saying he looks plenty far ahead, then watching him plow into someone in a corner was pretty good. I don't think anyone really believed James until that incident. 

Juck wrote:
If you're talking about Harrison that was 100% Harrison's fault. Pulled out onto the track right in front of Chase without looking first.Also Chase has mentioned...

If you're talking about Harrison that was 100% Harrison's fault. Pulled out onto the track right in front of Chase without looking first.

Also Chase has mentioned that when his head is pointing down he's looking out ahead with his eyes, and the perception that he looks down is partially to do with the way he wears his helmet

dirtcan wrote:
There was also the time at washougal (I think) where he did an entire extra lap racing because he didn’t see the checkered flag.Put your helmet...

There was also the time at washougal (I think) where he did an entire extra lap racing because he didn’t see the checkered flag.


Put your helmet on, tilt your head forward and look ahead. Then, put your head straight and look ahead.


Even if what Chase is saying is true about him looking up, you will realize that his field of view is quite a bit smaller then if he was just looking up.

Wasn’t that because the flagger thought AP was Chase and didn’t get the checker out until Chase had already flown by?

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wvumounty
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2/22/2026 5:31am

Each week the TV coverage of chase will decrease unfortunately. He has been assumed that second tier type guy like AP, malcom, rj and Joey.

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2/22/2026 5:50am Edited Date/Time 2/22/2026 5:58am
I absolutely love stew and love his insight, but at times he seems like he is talking for the sake of talking.Or maybe I just don’t...

I absolutely love stew and love his insight, but at times he seems like he is talking for the sake of talking.

Or maybe I just don’t get it.. 

I do think James sees things we can’t, Chase is just a very unique rider and definitely more picky than most when it comes to setup.

Timo wrote:
James saying Chase doesn't look ahead enough, Chase saying he looks plenty far ahead, then watching him plow into someone in a corner was pretty good...

James saying Chase doesn't look ahead enough, Chase saying he looks plenty far ahead, then watching him plow into someone in a corner was pretty good. I don't think anyone really believed James until that incident. 

Juck wrote:
If you're talking about Harrison that was 100% Harrison's fault. Pulled out onto the track right in front of Chase without looking first.Also Chase has mentioned...

If you're talking about Harrison that was 100% Harrison's fault. Pulled out onto the track right in front of Chase without looking first.

Also Chase has mentioned that when his head is pointing down he's looking out ahead with his eyes, and the perception that he looks down is partially to do with the way he wears his helmet

No he didn’t. The view from behind showed he came down the straight the same as Chase. Bonehead move by Chase

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RACING
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2/22/2026 5:53am

That very productive week of testing paid great dividends.

😄

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vdrsnk04
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2/22/2026 6:03am Edited Date/Time 2/22/2026 6:26am
Pretty rough to see arguably the most talented guy on the track with Jett out (sorry Eli and Ken) at this point in his career tucking...

Pretty rough to see arguably the most talented guy on the track with Jett out (sorry Eli and Ken) at this point in his career tucking the front or riding around in 7th most of the time for years now.  What a bummer.  

“For years now” seems like an odd take? 

He has two titles (almost 3) an SX and an MX. Plus he is 15th on all time win list for SX so far. 

But I would agree for it this current season.

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matze
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2/22/2026 6:18am Edited Date/Time 2/22/2026 6:32am

The bike is plenty capable, its the rider not the bike. Hell did this retard not test ride before signing the contract!11??111

And if so that makes ALL complaints he may have invalid and he is not allowed to speak up cause he knew exactly what bike he is gonna ride!!111

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Press516
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2/22/2026 7:00am

They dug the Ol’ panic button out of the vault and it’s sitting on the table in the meeting room…. If Daytona goes like the last 3 they are mashing it over and over again.

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soggy
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2/22/2026 7:20am
Zacka 161 wrote:
I’m very interested in what Tickle has to say… But Maybe just maybe Tickle is not a great test rider… Roczen has Chiz and HRC has Trey...

I’m very interested in what Tickle has to say… But Maybe just maybe Tickle is not a great test rider… 


Roczen has Chiz and HRC has Trey — when those teams were struggling these test riders came in clutch.   Tickle not so much… 

Chiz is helping sexton with set up. 

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soggy
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2/22/2026 7:22am
matze wrote:
The bike is plenty capable, its the rider not the bike. Hell did this retard not test ride before signing the contract!11??111And if so that makes...

The bike is plenty capable, its the rider not the bike. Hell did this retard not test ride before signing the contract!11??111

And if so that makes ALL complaints he may have invalid and he is not allowed to speak up cause he knew exactly what bike he is gonna ride!!111

Last year I would have agreed with you. But seeing how Jorge was doing and chase’s results so far in starting to think Kawi is pretty lost right now. Which my be exacerbated because sexton has never been great at bike setup

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