It was a statement ride from Chase Sexton in East Rutherford, charging to victory by 14.645s over title rival Cooper Webb and closing the 450SX points gap to just nine. Meanwhile, Seth Hammaker kept the momentum rolling with his second 250SX East win of the season, taking over the red plate in the process. Both riders spoke to the media following the main events for this Debrief feature.

450SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Chase, that was a masterclass. Where are you at mentally now heading into the final three rounds?

I think since the break, I’ve been really building and building every weekend. Obviously, the mud race wasn’t great, but even Seattle when Coop [Webb] and I battled, I felt like I was riding well, then last weekend helped a lot. Overall, I feel like during the week I’ve been riding really well and feeling really connected with the bike. I go more off feel than anything, so I’ve just been trying to keep getting better. So we’ll keep building, there are three races left, so we know what we have to do and we’ll just try and go after the next few.

The suspense between you and Cooper has been incredible, and today was really fun to watch. Can you talk to us about what it’s like going blow for blow with your main title rival?

It’s fun. You train all year to get yourself to this spot. I’ve raced Eli [Tomac] very closely, and now Cooper in Supercross. He’s very tough, they’re two complete opposites, but they both have their strengths. It’s fun, each week racing these guys, it makes me better. I’m just trying to have fun with it, trying to stay loose and not get too serious. I want to win, obviously that’s the goal, but I think in the past I’ve wanted to, or gotten too locked down. So having fun and staying loose is the aim for me. When I’m having fun riding, that’s how I ride. Like I said, Coop is a great competitor and it’s been fun so far.

What did you do tonight to come out and be able to win this main event by about 14 seconds after being virtually tied with Coop earlier in the day?

It was nice, I kind of felt like I left something out there in practice, so that gave me something to chase when I was out there in the race. Even in the heat race, I think Kenny [Roczen] had a really good pace behind me and I had to pick it up, so that was the kickstart to my night. I hadn’t gotten a great start all day, I saved it for the main event [laughs]. It was good to get out front, the track was really tough so I was really focusing on the two whoop sections, I knew if I could get through them fast I’d be in a good spot. I found some good lines in there, I knew they were going to be gnarly, but they were the toughest whoops of the year, and they were back-to-back.

You kind of backed off at the end of the race there. Was it the whoops where you backed off because they were getting gnarly, or did you back your entire flow down?

I knew if I could get through the whoops good that I was going to have a good shot at winning, just because they were really gnarly and there was a lot of time to be made. When I had the big gap, I don’t know if I saw 24 or 20 seconds, but I knew I had to back it down and get to the finish line. So yeah, the whoops were gnarly, I found the faster I hit them, the better it was, which is hard to get yourself to do. Once I stopped hitting them fully committed, I just went back to jumping and trying to get through them.

Right after you got off the track I think I heard you say to one of the mechanics that those last 10 laps were easy. From an outsider looking in, that sounds crazy. Can you walk us through that?

I wouldn’t say they were super easy, but when I saw it was easy I was going about turtle pace. It was easier when I was going faster, to be honest. Then when I slowed down the track actually became harder. I rode pretty hard until about four or five minutes to go, then when I got into lappers, I think Grant Harlan crashed in front of me in the whoops and I didn’t know where his bike was going to go. I was splitting lappers through the whoops and changing lines, so I backed it down and didn’t want to risk anything stupid trying to get on top of them, so the last 10 laps, I was kind of just riding around.

250SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Seth, an ideal day from start to finish. Take us through that and also how it feels to have sole command of the red plate.

Yeah, good day for me. Felt good from on the track in the practices and the heat race was pretty good, Nate [Thrasher] was riding well, so I wasn’t really worried about not getting that win – besides the gate pick. But other than that I was pretty happy with the riding still, cause I got sick this week, but then doing just a couple laps in the qualifier I felt pretty good. I knew the main was going to be a pretty long one, just physically.But I got off to a good start in the main event, it felt like the heat race, Nate was right in front of me again and knew I had to make a quick pass. I got him right before the supercross triple at the end of that long rhythm lane, so it was good to get him get him early. Then he was putting pressure on me those first couple laps, he was riding well tonight. From halfway on I was definitely feeling it physically tonight, but I just put my head down and tried to ride smart consistent laps. The track was really challenging, two whoop sections like that were pretty treacherous, but it was nice just kind of trying to manage the gap, but RJ [Hampshire] and Tom [Vialle] were riding really well, so yeah it was a tough race – but happy to get the win!

I feel like you’ve been able to get the starts now when it’s crunch time. Is that a mindset thing, or can you talk us through that knowing now that it do or die at this point in the season?

Starts are definitely super crucial, especially at this point in the championship, but I feel like my starts have been pretty solid this season, so far. So I’m just trying to execute like we have been and try not to change anything major. Good gate pick is important as I mentioned earlier, just setting yourself up with good qualifying sessions and good heat races. I think that plays a big part.

A win and sole possession of the points lead. What’s it like to get that win, be in the championship fight, and just to do it in front of your home crowd?

It’s been super cool.I’ve had a lot of races that had so many friends and family coming to, even last week, Philly is technically my hometown race, but with this whole East Coast swing, I feel like the same people who were at Philly are also at this one and then Pittsburgh next weekend. So it’s really cool to have everyone here, it fires me up a little bit more to be in the championship fight and having these good results. I’ve been wanting to win in front of them for a while now, so it feels really cool. Tonight I’m going to go home to my parents house and spent Easter Sunday with the family tomorrow, so that’ll be really cool. I’m just grateful.

After finishing 17th in Detroit when you had food poisoning, you fast forward to here and you’ve got two wins and the red plate. Thinking back, did you ever expect to be in this position?

It runs through your head, you know being early in the seasons and already being that far back in the points. But you never want to cut yourself out, you have to keep that determination and fight that you always need to claw your way back, and as we see in this championship fight, anything can happen. You have to put yourself in the right position at the right time and keep plugging away. Every race you do, take it for what it is and learn from it and move onto the next. I’m super grateful to be in the championship lead, but there’s two to go with the East/West Showdown at the last one, so we have to keep doing what we’re doing.