It was a dominant performance from Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton in playoff one of the 2023 SuperMotocross World Championship Finals at ZMax Dragway, notching a 1-1 sweep in the 450SMX category to open the postseason, while Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Jo Shimoda continued on with his form that saw him victorious in the final Pro Motocross round to take the 250SMX overall win with 4-1 in the races. Both riders were available to the media after the races for this Debrief feature.

450SMX

Image: Octopi Media.

Chase, that was an incredible statement. When you did your fastest qualifying lap, you were cool, calm and collected in your interview. It looked like there was no pressure. You won moto one, then moto two you had to do a little work. Afterwards you were cool, calm, and collected again. Did you feel a lot of pressure going into this race or none at all?

I mean, I definitely had a point to prove after the outdoor season I had, I was pretty disappointed with it. But I was really happy when I got back on supercross, I felt like I found where I was in supercross this year right away, it kind of calmed my nerves a little bit, I was able to focus on my riding, was able to put good motos in with Ken [Roczen] with Tom Vialle, I just had a really good last few weeks. My preparation was good, I was confident coming into the day that I was going to be good. I know when I’m comfortable that I should be winning races and that’s what we did today, I had a big point to prove. We’re not done yet, we’ve got two more races to go and keep this thing rolling.

Kind of nice to start off the day with a supercross championship ring from Mike Muye. That helped too right?.

Yeah, not bad, now I got a trophy to take home with it. So we’re good.

Obviously, race one went well and you got the win. You switched sides to go to the other side of the starting gate, can you talk about that selection of choosing a gate and then why you switched it even after you won the first moto?

I just kind of went by what rut I thought was best. I looked at both sides, the left side I think had deeper ruts and I didn’t want to have what happened to [Haiden] Deegan happen to me, so I just went with my gut and picked the best gate I thought and I ended up not getting a great start, but I made it work. I was really nervous, the nerves mostly came from the starts today just because it was a hard track to pass on and you had to be really methodical on where you pushed and where you could make a pass at. So when I came out in sixth or seventh, I was scratching my head a little bit. But we got some good passes in early and just tried to put my head down and it worked out.

The pre-race press conference, you kind of mentioned you and Kenny riding together a little bit. Whenever you see him in front of you, do you zone out a little bit or is it like a practice day for you guys? Does that add a little bit of comfort just knowing it’s your training buddy?

Yeah, we’ve been riding together quite a bit, we have a really good relationship. When we train together, we’re always wanting the best for each other and same with the races, obviously we come here to win, but we can put that aside and still have a friendship.So when he was leading, I knew when he got out front he was going to get away pretty fast, that’s why I was trying to get to the front as quick as I could. I knew I had Jett [Lawrence] behind me, so I couldn’t back off. I had to go for the win. Obviously, still wanted to make a statement, I wanted to go for the win no matter what, but I had guys coming from behind and I just put my head down. That long rhythm section was the biggest thing on the track, it was a big rhythm, it was quad, three, quad, and then three out. So I had to get that almost every lap. But, like I said, it was fun racing with Ken. Just happy for both of us to be up here.

Can you evaluate the style of the track? Is it kind of what you thought it might be? Is it more like supercross or more like motocross than you thought it would be?

I kind of had an idea what I thought the track would be like when we were practicing, and then I was reading Twitter and Instagram and everyone was saying how deep it was. I was like, ‘Well, hopefully we did the right preparation.’ Coming here, it honestly felt like Atlanta. Obviously, there’s more outdoors to it, but it feels like an Atlanta track with the dirt being like that and those long rhythm sections, so it honestly didn’t throw me off too much. I tend to like these speedway tracks with the rough bumps and also a little bit of supercross mixed in, so I was comfortable from the get-go yesterday.

Back on September 29th of 1984 we had a supercross, David Bailey won on a Honda, now your name is going in the record books. Tell us about what this win means tonight and how you’re going to prepare for the next two rounds to bring home the big trophy?

It’s always cool to win an inaugural race, obviously starting with this playoff series. I feel like everyone kind of came in ready to go. Obviously, there’s a lot up for grabs, so today was important. Like I said, I just came in prepared, and I just wanted to feel comfortable again. I didn’t have a good outdoors series, it was tough, but I still was confident in what I could do. So coming into this race, I knew I was good. Today it was good having those two races, and then going into next week, it’s a home race for me, it’s about an hour from where I grew up. Going in with the red plate is going to be fun, so hopefully we can do this again.

Today we had a hybrid track. How do you guys figure out the suspension set up for this kind of track?

I had really similar feelings to Atlanta. I’m basically on the supercross setup that I raced at Salt Lake City, just a little bit softer. I actually felt, on the outdoor parts today, better than I felt in the outdoor series on my outdoor bike. So, it was pretty funny. But, it was just kind of a normal Atlanta race with a little more outdoors mixed in.

On the broadcast you spoke about having some hate in the last few months. Can you just elaborate a little bit with that?

Not to name any names, I have a hard time watching the broadcast sometimes. Just, I feel like what I did in supercross was discounted a bit, and I feel like my riding today proves that it shouldn’t be. I was confident in myself and still believe in myself, but it gets annoying after listening to the same thing over and over every weekend. That’s kind of all I have on that part.

How difficult was it for you to see Jett take over the limelight in outdoors, and what makes you so much more comfortable on supercross that you could go 1-1 against Jett and all these other guys today?

It wasn’t so much that he took over, I mean, obviously he did, but it wasn’t really that part, it was just more getting beat by him every weekend was really, really tough. I knew deep down that I wasn’t super comfortable and I had more in the tank to give. I just, was kind of held back a little bit by the bike setup I chose for outdoors. If I had to go back, I would have probably done something different, but you can’t change the past, only the future. So, coming into this, I felt comfortable right away. Last year in supercross I really reeled off some good races the last five or so rounds of supercross. I was confident that I had a good bike setup. When I first got on it this week leading up to the race, I really clicked into something that I haven’t since the beginning of this year. It’s hard to explain, when you feel good on a bike you can do stuff that you can’t do when you’re not. So, it’s just a feeling thing.

You’ve talked about it so far in this press conference, the way outdoors went and things that had been said on TV. Does this win take a little bit of personal pressure off you, or feel like a little bit of a relief? You already knew you could do this obviously, but I know there was still a bit of stress, or whatever, the way things went.

To be honest, it’s nice to win again. I feel like I haven’t won in a year. So honestly, it just motivates me more to keep that ball rolling. There’s a lot of good guys on the gate, and as Ken said, it’s hard to win races. You’ve got to take these as you get them, and I know I’m capable of winning more, so we just have to put ourselves in a good position and go back and do good training and have some fun with Ken and Tom and get ready for next weekend.

250SMX

Image: Octopi Media.

Jo, excellent run. Tough season in supercross, until the last round of motocross, kind of a hard season there. You were facing some injuries and didn’t get a lot of rounds in. Nice redemption here to go 1-1 at the final Pro Motocross round and then take the first overall here. You said on the podium you didn’t even know you had the overall. So, how exciting was it to figure that out? When did they tell you?

Yeah, it’s hard to do 4-1 for a good overall, so I was thinking maybe second or third, but just heard I got the overall, so I was super stoked. We only have three rounds, so it’s really nice to start the first race really good. That’s what I was looking for, so thanks to the people behind me.

Talk about the gate selection. I believe you went into the right hand first turn both times. Talk about your approach and why you picked that gate.

I just felt a little more comfortable on the left side of the gate, just simply that.

The split lane, taking the outside or the inside over the under bridge, obviously was an advantage at some points. The track seemed like it was hard to pass. How much of an advantage was that, being behind one of you guys and being able to take that split lane, to just try and hit some clean air to make a pass?

I think the split lane was pretty equal to me. Even the first moto, they started adding these little bumps on the lip on the right side. I was just taking under the tunnel in both motos. I felt a little bit more comfortable there. So, I felt they were equal, so I just took the line where I felt a little more comfortable to charge on.

The second moto you were behind Tom Vialle. What change did you make? We know that the track was too tight, hard to pass, but what did you do to win this second race?

Actually me and Tom were talking about this after the race. The track is so fast you kind of want to make an aggressive move, but at the same time everybody has an equal pace, so you don’t want to take a chance to take both riders out where you make that mistake and lose second place. So I tried to be patient, the race is long. So, find where I’m better at, and maybe if I can get closer and make a move. I tried to consciously think about that while racing.

Can you evaluate the style of the track? Is it kind of what you thought it might be? Is it more like supercross, more like motocross? What are you looking forward to for the next two weeks?

Definitely the second track looks more outdoors and longer. But yeah, I did expect it to be fast, and there was going to be a lot of check-up jumps. But yeah, I think we all had fun.

Now three moto wins in the last four races. Can you start to think of yourself as the rider to beat, or just going to take it one week at a time?

I’m going to take it one race at a time or even one session. I think, obviously it’s neat to get those points, but the first thing is to bring your full potential to the race, so I think that’s the focus.

You single-handedly stepped up at the last round of the outdoor nationals and prevented Kawasaki from going winless. You’ve got a lot of momentum now, tell us your plans for this week going into Chicago.

It definitely feels good. If I can bring this flow nicely into the next race, it’ll be awesome. But I’m just super stoked on today because you want to start your season on a good note, but I’ve been struggling to do that. So, next race is the next race.

Toward the second half of the Pro Motocross Championship, Mitch Payton mentioned big progression with the motorcycle. Has that been something you’ve noticed and been able to take with you in the last few weeks?

Yeah, we changed something right before the outdoors season. We struggled halfway through, we just needed to go through a lot of things, but halfway through it got better and better. Honestly, I felt really good the last two rounds of the outdoors. Now, I feel like Pro Circuit are getting good starts and the guys are running up more toward the front more, so there’s some good improvements we made.

Obviously you had a good line in that long sweeper before the supercross turn in the second race. That’s where you were getting really close to Tom, a couple of times you almost had the pass made. Were there other sections of the track that you were thinking about eyeing a pass, or did you know that’s where you were gaining on him and that’s where you were going to make the pass? He would kind of separate from you a little bit in the back section of the track. So just explain, did you know that was where you were going to pass him at? And talk about the line selection there.

Yes, I knew I had a good line there, but like I said, I try to avoid conflict with other riders. Cause everybody is so close. I just don’t want to get passed trying to make moves. I guess that was the right place to do it. So yeah, it was good.