With 12 months of experience since arriving at Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Chase Sexton enters the 2025 Monster Energy Supercross Championship in a refreshed frame of mind. Benefiting from race mileage throughout this past season, the 25-year-old former 450SX champion appears to have newfound confidence and energy in his bid to challenge for a second crown. Here are Five Questions that Sexton answered leading into Anaheim 1.

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Chase, year two with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. Obviously, you would like to get that 450SX number one plate back, so what’s the mindset like five weeks out from Anaheim 1?

Honestly, really good right now. I would say from last year to this year, I feel like a different guy riding. I’ve been riding for three weeks now and it’s been a lot better than last year. We’ve made a lot of improvements with the bike and also myself. It’s an everlasting evolution for me. So yeah, I feel good on the bike. Had a really good day riding yesterday and honestly every day that I’ve ridden, I’ve gotten better. Vibes are good right now, positive and looking forward to this year.

Do you feel like you’re different as a person versus last off-season? Do you feel like you’re not sweating the small stuff as much?

Yeah, I’ve been told that I seem more positive this year a few times already. Last year, there was a lot of pressure and when you make a change, you want to be better, and I feel like I wasn’t better last year than I was in previous years, so that was tough to overcome mentally. This year, I’ve got that weight off my back and I feel like I’ve evolved as a person, as a rider, and I’m just ready to go out there and strike this year. I would normally say I’m a pretty positive person, if you’re talking to me, I’m pretty goofy. But last year, it was tough because if you’re not succeeding in what you’re doing, it’s hard to mask that, especially for a full year. When you come to a race, you have people listening to what you’re saying at all times, so you can’t fake that for the whole year. You have to show what you’re feeling, and I feel like I’ve always done that, whether it’s good or bad. I’ve gotten in trouble a few times, but I think this year I’m in a better spot mentally. I’m more experienced and more mature. Every year you get better, so yeah, I’m in a good spot. I’m happy.

Have you been able to apply lessons learned during Pro Motocross and SMX, and bring those into play for 2025?

Yeah, I think the biggest thing right now for me is getting my 2023 speed back, and then also my starts. Like, in SMX and outdoors, I would start in the back and make my life a lot harder, so this year we’ve put a big emphasis on starts. The speed thing is not the hardest thing to get back – I feel like that comes naturally. But the biggest thing is just starts, getting out front, and being in a position to make stuff happen early. It’s easier to manage the race when you’re out front, so just getting good starts and getting some of that spark back.

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Last year, it seemed as though you were focusing a lot on settings. Do you feel like you’ve narrowed that down quite a bit, and it’s closer to where you need it to be?

I think we’ve definitely narrowed it down. Last year, we were [testing] everything, motor, forks, shock, gearing, it was everything. We didn’t really know. But this year, we have very few things that we actually need to work on. We’ve got most of it out of the way, which is nice, and it’s allowed me to pinpoint stuff on the bike that I need to work on, but also now I can focus on myself and be able to ride and do the stuff that I need to do during the week to prepare for Anaheim 1 because last year I think I might’ve done three or four full main event time motos before the season started. So this year, I’ve already done that, and I’ve only been riding for two weeks.

Do you think you’re in a better position to beat Jett [Lawrence] next year?

Yeah, 100 percent. I don’t know what it is, honestly. I feel like I’ve gained confidence in the time off of the bike, and I feel like since I’ve been back on the bike, the stuff that I’ve been doing on the track is more like I was in 2023. I have a little bit more flair and flash, so I think that’s going to be a big help for me this year.