The final round of the 2024 Pro Motocross Championship at Ironman Raceway was a near-perfect day for Red Bull KTM, as Chase Sexton dominated with a perfect 1-1 scorecard – clinching his first 450MX title – and Tom Vialle’s 1-4 secured the Frenchman his first 250MX overall win of the season. Both riders were available to the media after the final motos for this Debrief feature.

450MX

Image: Octopi Media.

Chase, officially the 2024 champion and doing so in front of the hometown crowd. That’s got to be special for you, and on top of that, a little bit of redemption as well.

Yeah, this outdoor series has been really good for me. After supercross, being down and struggling, I needed this outdoor series, and I knew when I got on the bike to get ready for outdoors that I could win on this bike. Automatically I felt comfortable, and I think that I hit a new level this year, which I definitely needed, because the competition is really stiff and I want to win championships. I expect myself to be in this position, but it’s not easy, these outdoors series’ are really hard to win, cause there are so many motos and so many opportunities to do good, and bad, so you have to be on your game. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty nervous today even though I had a 28-point lead, I was more worried about things I couldn’t control, so I’m glad to go 1-1 today.

You’ve mentioned the 2022 season, battling with Eli Tomac and how big that was for your career. I don’t think it’s been noted enough how you’ve taken such a big step in Pro Motocross. In your 250 days, I think you had five overall podiums, one moto win, then you had heat exhaustion that same day. How did you get so good in Pro Motocross, what did you do to improve so much?

I honestly don’t know. As you said, I won one moto on 250, my best overall was a second going 7-2 I think. Yeah, I was never really that great, I always felt like it was just a flow thing. Then in 2022, I found something on the bike and battled with Eli head-to-head all summer, and that was the kickstart of my outdoor career, I think. Last year, I obviously wasn’t 100 percent, I was struggling, then this year was kind of the icing on the cake for me, I felt really good. I took my riding to a whole new level, and it was needed because I want to win championships.

Yesterday you mentioned that some of the weaknesses on the bike for supercross had turned into strengths for motocross, have you been riding or testing for SMX at all, and how do you expect your bike to adapt to those styles of tracks?

Like I said, I think the bike is stable. Compared to what I got off, it was like two polar opposites, so it took me a lot to adjust. But, the bike outdoors feels completely different to how it does in supercross, so I think having this full outdoors series under my belt, I can go and turn that into a supercross bike, that’s what I’m hoping for. But, I think with SMX being more outdoor style, I think we’re going to be pretty good, K haven’t ridden SMX at all, but I messed around with it last week on my outdoors suspension and I was actually able to do some of the rhythm sections, which I wouldn’t have been able to do last year. I’m looking forward to it, [Tom Vialle and Aaron Plessinger] were both really good at SMX last year, so I think the bike is pretty good. AP hunted me down at Chicago in both motos, so I think we’re going to be good, I’m looking forward to it.

Your two championships look a lot similar, with very strong endings to the season with a sweep of victories both in the 2023 supercross and now here. Is that a trait that you knew you had?

I normally end seasons well, even in the 250 class. I wasn’t winning, but I was getting on the podium. I like it when it gets harder and people start to get weaker, I think that’s when I strive. In supercross, I think I won four out of the last six races, and in this series, I think it was six or seven in a row. I feel like towards the end I excel, and this year I really emphasized trying to fix the middle part of the season, because that’s where I struggled. I usually start pretty good, then the middle is not the greatest, and then I end strong. But, I needed that middle part of the season to be better, and I was able to do that this year. I think I was a lot better in the middle than I have been in recent years.

Your first motos in the last few rounds have been where you’ve struggled and Hunter [Lawrence] has been better, did you have a different approach this weekend? Walk us through it, because right off the bat you started much better this weekend.

I think today I was running off adrenaline and I wanted to clinch it in the first moto. I didn’t want to take that risk going into the second race. I think this track really suits me, it has those long ruts and it’s pretty technical, but you can be really creative on the track with your line choice. I’ve always liked this race, so I just really wanted to go out and put a stamp on this year. The first moto was really good, we had a good pace going. I think we had more in the tank though, because in moto two we went like two seconds a lap faster, but it was good. It was awesome racing AP today, I knew when I got up this morning, he was already talking crap, so I knew he was feeling himself today.

Being close to home, did you have a lot of family and friends here today? What was it like being able to stamp it here with a 1-1 at a place that is kind of familiar?

I had a lot of friends and family here, that adds to the pressure. If you come here and you suck, it’s not good, you feel guilty for all these people coming here if you don’t perform. So, a lot of added pressure, but it was good, I love having them here, I don’t get to see a lot of people from home a lot, because I train in Florida. So, it was pretty special, I love coming back here. RedBud is obviously my home race, cause I grew up riding there, but I rode a few GNCC’s here, so it’s cool to come back and race, the track here is really one of a kind.

250MX

Image: Octopi Media.

Tom, sensational first moto there for you and good challenge in moto two. Reflecting on the season, you had glimpses of greatness but it never really came to fruition for you, but today was a different story.

Yeah, I felt great today on the track. Obviously, the start is huge, especially on a 250, there are a lot of guys that can win motos. I’ve been close to winning a few times this year, but I made a lot of mistakes and had some small crashes. It was pretty stressful, I needed at least one win and I made it happen today, so it was nice.

Last week you said you were pissed off that you hadn’t won an overall yet, so is it kind of bittersweet winning this final round and knowing there aren’t any more Pro Motocross races this year?

Yeah, last week I was riding good, but my starts were really bad in both motos. We changed some things with the clutch this week with the team, and my starts today were way better, I think I got both holeshots. So it’s a big help when you start in front, so it was nice. I was a bit stressed, I wanted to win at least one overall, I’ve been close all year, but couldn’t make it happen. Today was the day.

Talk about the second moto battle with Haiden Deegan. I don’t know if you guys made contact or not, but it seemed like you guys were close battling back and forth, it was a lot of fun to watch.

Yeah, it was pretty cool actually. We did like two or three laps together, he passed me right after the mechanic’s area and I passed him back in the next turn, it was a nice battle. The track is good for that, you can change your lines. I got a little bit tired in the last 10 minutes, I wanted to try and keep up with Haiden, but I got a little tired.

That second moto was probably the most aggressive I’ve seen you ride, maybe ever. How hungry were you to get that win when Haiden came up against you?

Yeah, I definitely wanted to win, the goal was to go 1-1. I felt great for the first five laps, but I didn’t really change my lines from the first moto, I had some struggles in a few sections of the track in moto two. Haiden was faster in some spots, and I was faster in others, it was tough. Haiden finished 11th in the first moto, so I don’t think he really pushed the whole moto and he was maybe a little bit more fresh coming into the second one. Obviously, when you do the first moto in front and push for the win, it’s a little bit different than when you’re 11th. But, it was a good fight, Haiden is the guy to beat and I was trying to hold him off, but I got a bit tired at the end. It was nice to finish outdoors with a win, and now we’re going to go to SMX and hopefully, we can fight for the win there.