Chase Sexton on: Aggressive Pass, Respect | Transcript

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Chase Sexton had no options left but to win and let the cards fall where they may. Sexton set his sights on the lead when the gate dropped in Denver, Colorado, for the Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450 main event. Early in the opening lap, rival Cooper Webb cross-jumped the KTM pilot, which incensed Sexton and brought on an aggressive pass. From there, the number four made a point to utterly dominate every lap and show he's not just rolling over. 

In the Denver Supercross post-race press conference, Chase Sexton discussed the opening lap, why he was angry, and his respect for his rival. With one round to go, we can be sure Sexton will not concede the championship but will race with intent and a drive to prove he is the fastest man on the track. 

Press Conference: Tonight was a dominating performance. Did you have a point to prove?

Chase Sexton: I felt really good in the whoops and just felt on today. You have to win on those days.

Can we get your perspective on the early pass during the race? For you, Chase, it seems like you sniped quickly. I don’t know if you were even considering setting up the pass there.

I was really fired up from the first lap. I feel it was a little dangerous. I think he got cross-jumped by the guy in the front (Malcolm Stewart), and then I was in third and got the worst of it. Luckily, I saw it and didn’t crash, but I was just seeing red at that point. I wanted to get to the lead. I knew I could run some good laps, so getting out front and breaking away was my goal.

We saw some sparks in the 250 main event. You are only nine points down, so are you willing to bar-bang to win this championship?

It is for a championship, but I won’t do anything dumb. Even tonight, for me, was pretty aggressive. I’ve also definitely cross-jumped Coop a few times, so it’s not like I haven’t done it. I was just fired up. We all get emotional in the moment. We’ve all had it done to us, and that’s why I was emotional at that moment. I’m not a dirty rider. I try to do what I can and see what happens. Tonight was about as aggressive as it gets for me. 

People are trying to create drama between you two with anything that happens on the track, but I feel the mutual respect is there. You both want to win the championship, but is the rivalry what the media is trying to make it?

I have a lot of respect for Coop. I grew up riding Yamahas, so we’d always park together at Loretta’s and stuff. I was on 85s, and he was in the B class, and I looked up to him for my whole racing career. It is cool to battle him. We’ve had some run-ins, but there is nothing but respect. When going for a championship, you have to be rivals and want to win, but you aren’t going to do anything blatant or stupid. It’s cool to see where we came from. 

You guys have been having some fun with your finish-line celebrations. The camera caught yours tonight, and you had what looked like a two-move gesture. Can you tell us what that was?

I pulled a little grenade move. I did it twice, actually. I kind of messed up the first time. It’s funny. My buddies and I were sitting at the coffee shop this week, and they were telling me, “You should do this or that.” I said, “I have to focus on winning the race first.” So, on the last lap I was thinking about what I would do. Coop seems to have a new one every week, so I have to follow that up, but yeah, that was the grenade.