Image: Octopi Media.

A come-from-behind race was on the cards for Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton in Detroit after misjudging the gate-drop, with the current 450SX class points-leader recounting his charge from last position on the opening lap to a third-place finish.

Sexton posted the fastest qualifying time, followed by a convincing heat race win and appeared to be in form to collect a 12th-career 450SX main event victory, however, he hit the gate as the 30-second board went sideways, placing him right at the rear of the field.

From there, shades of Hangtown’s second 450 moto in 2024 were on display, as Sexton carved his way through the field for the 20 minute plus one lap duration, climbing all the way up into third on the podium.

Despite the mishap, which conceded five valuable points to title rival Cooper Webb (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), Sexton preferred a positive spin on the night, describing those types of rides as the ones that can mean the most.

“It wasn’t a win tonight, although sometimes these are the ones that stick with you more because you put so much heart and fight into it,” commented Sexton post-race.“These types of rides mean a lot, even though it wasn’t a win, it was the best that I could do tonight, and I thought my riding was really good. I don’t really like doing that, but it kind of reminded me of Hangtown a little bit last year.

“Obviously, I didn’t win the race, but when I get in that mode, it just kind of fires something up in me, and I just sent it and went for it – I had a really good flow going. It was hard because there was so many guys I had to pass and I had to take different lines, but also I was really on the mark with hitting my marks and just doing consistent laps.

“I was kind of keeping track of where these guys were just so I can kind of base my pace off of them and know that I’m going fast. I had good whoop speed, good section after the start straight, and yeah, just put a lot of fight into that race.”

Despite the positivity, Sexton has come under heavy fire in recent weeks with the focus point being his unforced errors, with five-time Monster Energy Supercross Champion and NBC Sports color analyst Ricky Carmichael noting the woes.

“I can’t believe I can see a guy of that caliber run into the starting gate,” Carmichael mentioned on the broadcast. “These are the things we have seen time and time again from Sexton, and this mistake is really going to sting.

“These types of mistakes are going to be a real problem when you’re going up against a guy like Cooper Webb, who is so mentally astute.”

That’s two weeks in a row Sexton has conceded points in unforced errors, with a late race fall while leading Tampa’s main event resulting in a P5 finish, and Detroit’s dramas ending in P3.

In those mistakes, Sexton has allowed Webb to gain 11 championship points, and they now share the coveted 450SX red plate heading into Arlington, which has been a happy hunting ground for Webb in the past.