Image: Octopi Media.

Six points is enough for Chase Sexton ‘to lose sleep over this week’, 250SX East title challenger Shane McElrath has declared following his untimely defeat at SLC6.

Monster Energy Star Yamaha’s Shane McElrath was left disappointed after finishing runner-up at the hands of Sexton in Wednesday’s penultimate round.

Now, Geico Honda-mounted defending champion Sexton will carry a six-point lead into the Monster Energy Supercross finals this Sunday, which will see the 250SX regions go head-to-head in the traditional Showdown to cap-off the season when both titles will be decided.

McElrath will effectively enter the final round in a must-win situation if he’s to take the 250SX East crown from Sexton, who won convincingly as the series resumed yesterday at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

“We’re gonna be ready to go on Sunday,” McElrath said. “I mean, six points is more than we wanted, but six points is enough for him to lose sleep over this week, so we’re going to be ready.

“My plan is to go and win. I believe I can win and everybody behind me is gonna be fast also and Chase is going to have his hands full. It’s gonna be good.”

After leading the early laps in the penultimate race, McElrath was passed by Sexton on lap five and was unable to counter in a bid to tighten the standings with a single round remaining this weekend.

“I could hear him behind me, but I didn’t know that he was that close and really able to make the pass there,” added McElrath. “It was a bummer that it happened then, especially early on because I was kinda finding my flow.

“I was like, ‘alright, Chase is behind me’ and I was ready to keep going, really. There were a few places where he was a little better and he made a good pass on me, then was able to pull away.

“It was a little bit of a disappointment because I felt like I should’ve caught him back and passed him back, so I was a little disappointed in that.”