A dramatic round 10 of the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Championship saw Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton grab his second win of the season, later having seven points deducted for jumping on a red cross flag. In 250SX East, Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) took his fifth win of the season in Detroit. Both riders were available to the media following the races for this Debrief feature.

450SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Chase, huge win for you. We’ve spoken about it in the past with you having troubles in late-race situations. Have you turned a corner in your season with this win tonight?

I just went to work this week, I did pretty much all motos instead of any sprints, really just focusing on the main event has been my biggest thing. So tonight, being in the back at the start really helped me lock in and focus on just pushing forward and not worrying about the race, so like I said I started in the back and made a lot of passes so overall, it’s the best riding I’ve done in a main in a while. Unfortunately for Aaron [Plessigner], I’ve been in that position a lot of times, so I feel for him. I was just trying to tick off my laps and get as close as I possibly could and he ended up obviously going down which is a bummer, but for me, I rode solid and was really happy with how it went down.

The battle with Justin Barcia, you guys got fairly aggressive there. Were you worried that battle was going to end with one of you on the ground?

Yeah, I got up next to him in the whoops then passed him, then I knew in that 90, I wasn’t getting through that if I stayed on the gas, so I cut under him and ran him a little high in the next turn, we didn’t make any contact. Then just tried to shut the door in the next turn, which I did, then got to the next section and he hit me pretty hard, so I was happy that I stayed up and kept my position, he races hard and we all know that, so that’s something you have to expect.

You guys were tied into a four-rider battle early in the race. What do you focus on there when you’re battling three guys instead of one?

We all race each other really fair, so racing these guys is fine. Obviously, when you have Justin [Barcia] in there, it gets a little interesting, like I said he races hard and you just have to make your passes in the right spot. For me, I had a few spots on the track with the whoops and that one rhythm section where I could gain time and get to the inside, so they were really my key passing points tonight.

You were very emotional and very excited getting this win. Was this win the most important of the season with how the last few weeks have gone?

Definitely, like I said it’s been a bit of a rough last five races, I’ve been on the podium a lot but I haven’t won a race since A2 and that’s where I expect myself to be, so being down last weekend was kind of like the straw that broke the camels back, I knew I had to change something and what I was doing was not working. So, like I said, we did a lot of longer motos and tried to limit the mistakes in practice in hope that’d carry over to the race and it did, so I was very emotional. it’s been a tough few races so I kind of let it out after the finish line. It’s just a good feeling.

That corner where Aaron [Plessinger] went down, was that corner tricky?

It wasn’t super bad, it almost reminded me of exactly what I did last week. Obviously, he caught his foot and it ripped him off the bike, but it’s the same section it’s just a right-hand turn instead of a left, so I honestly thought he dragged a peg like what I did but I saw the replay and it like folded him into the next jump which is pretty bad, like I said it’s a bummer. These tracks get so broken down they can bite you at any moment and you have to be locked in the whole time, I’ve found that out plenty of times.

Is it crazy to think that’s the way you’ve lost so many races, now you’ve won with someone else throwing it away?

Yeah it’s ironic [laughs], obviously not the way that you want to win, but I feel like I was closing the gap but maybe wasn’t going to get to him, but I was just happy with solid riding tonight.

You’ve had a lot of adversity but always remained positive. Have you learned a lot about yourself this year?

Definitely, there’s been some dark times, like I said I’ve been on the podium most of the races, but when you want to win and you keep making these mistakes that are holding you back from winning, it’s tough cause I’m beating myself most of the time. It’s hard, it’s definitely frustrating but you have to keep grinding and stay positive is the only what I could go about it, we’ve just continued working.

Take us through what you were thinking up until the moment Aaron fell and how that changed your thinking.

I was just trying to keep pushing, cause like I said before, I’ve been in that position many times and thrown it away, it can go south very quick, especially if you’ve never won a race before. You start to ease off and thing like that seem to happen, it’s happened to me, so I kept my head down and knew anything could happen. So I wasn’t going to give up and that was really the key.

250SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Hunter, you’ve tied your brother Jett for 10 wins in just as many races. How does it feel to be considered one of the greats in the 250 class?

It’s a big title, I haven’t won a championship yet, so I don’t think you can say that yet. Jett’s, touch-wood, is on his way to his second title and there are a lot of past guys that have won two championships in the 250 class, so I personally don’t think I’ve earned my spot on that list yet. That’d be a bit disrespectful to the other guys that have won championships.

Your race looked flawless again. Did it feel like that or were there tricky parts that we didn’t see?

One thing that stood out to me the most was just lappers, you can’t pick what race track the lappers are going to be tough on, I feel like the lappers last week were a little easier to navigate. I shut it down a lot coming into the whoops cause there’d just be guys everywhere and I just didn’t want to take the risk not knowing where they’re going. But yeah, I’d say that was most tricky thing this weekend.

If you’re checking up before the whoops, do you worry that changing your entry speed before them was going to lead to a problem further down that section?

Yeah, that and the fact that you’re constantly changing your line. Normally when the whoops are really tough, consistency is the key, you know? So you always try to pick a line that you feel comfortable, then kind of stay there for the main in a perfect world, but you couldn’t do that tonight, you’re constantly adapting and adjusting then you just don’t know what the other guys are going to do, because they’re so edgy and stuff you don’t know where they’re going to get kicked.

Do you feel like this is the best you’ve ever been in your career?

Yeah, I think it’s safe to say. It’s probably because I’ve had two healthy years of compounding work, which is cool cause I hadn’t really had that, or it’s been a long time since I have so it’s cool, this is my third supercross season. There’s days where you think it’s like a lifetime away to have what they call ‘it’. You know, have the flow, have the mojo, all that stuff, so it’s pretty cool.

Obviously, you have a good points lead right now, but all season it’s been blue right behind you. How do you prepare for them mentally each week?

Yeah Max [Anstie] didn’t have as good of a night tonight, so the Honda flag wasn’t as strong. But yeah, they have some good guys, but there’s not really anything different to prepare during the week to race a different color manufacturer.