Hangtown was one for the ages as Chase Sexton (450 class) had an all-time comeback ride to win both motos while Haiden Deegan (250 class) flipped through the air from the lead and still won the overall. Both of them spoke with the media after the race in this Debrief feature.

450MX

Image: Octopi Media.

Chase, Moto 2, you come into the third corner and end up on the ground and you’re in 40^th place. What at that moment is going through your head?

That I’m an idiot. That was pretty much all I was saying. I was like, “This is the dumbest thing I could have done,” and I just slid out all by myself which made it even worse. So, I just said, “I’m going to go as fast as I can for as long as I can and see where I get to.” That was just my mentality and it worked out. You don’t get to do that very much, especially in this class. I’ll take it. It was pretty exciting.

You hear about athletes having big games or performances like you had in that second moto and you talk to them later and you ask them about the game or the race and at times they say they can’t remember. Is this a situation where you were unconscious out there or do you have a pretty vivid memory?

Like I said, it was one of the best races I’ve ever had, and I was pretty conscious of what was going on. I knew I really had to send it to get back to where I needed to be. I really only had a few hairy moments down the hills, probably like two. Those kind of get you back into realization of what’s going on. I think for me today, I was just really comfortable with my bike. Even though my starts are still pretty bad, we got the bike working really well and I was able to push to my limit which I haven’t really gotten that in the last year. I was happy with that. Obviously, I was bummed to see Jett go down, it’s not how you want to beat somebody, and his crash was really gnarly. I’ve had a few of those. He’ll be back though, and the boys were riding good all day. It was a tough race, but like I said, I was just really comfortable and able to push my limit.

It was carnage on that first lap. How was that first lap for you and how are you able to shut your brain off on the first lap when the track is pretty rough and gnarly like that?

I feel like I was very aware of what was going on. I didn’t jump a few jumps on the first lap just because I already put myself on the ground, it’s not worth going down again. When you have that many guys, it can get pretty sketchy. I really took my time and picked my places where my wheels were on the ground where I could make passes, I didn’t want to risk it if someone didn’t jump. If they did jump, I was just going to double it. I didn’t want to risk landing on somebody. Once you get through the first couple of packs, then you can be like, ‘Okay, now we can push forward and start being aggressive.’ But the first two laps, I was just on my toes and trying to pick around people. In my mind, I never thought I was going to get back to first. If I can just salvage a podium after being dumb on the first lap, that would be awesome. So, I feel like I was just being pretty smart.

You said you did some testing this week. Did you feel like it was a breakthrough level or was this a minor thing?

It was a big change. We went back to the drawing board last week. Even the second moto when I was behind Jett, I didn’t feel like I was riding that great. And I feel like my bike was just beating the crap out of me. So, I was like, ‘I’m not going to be able to do this for 11 rounds.’ It’s not fun when your bike is beating the crap out of you. We tested Tuesday at Pala and made some changes, but then went to this track in the hills on Thursday and they ripped it super deep, and the hills were pretty good for testing. Also, the ruts were good, so the team found good changes in the shock, and we changed the fork a little bit. It was way better. I was really able to accelerate out of the turns better today. Last week, I was losing a lot to Hunter and Jett out of the turns, and I was just losing overall comfort. I was really having to send it and not be precise to my level. I feel like when I’m precise but also can send it, it’s really the best of both worlds. Trying to find the middle ground is hard. Today, I feel like we found it.

250MX

Image: Octopi Media.

Haiden, we haven’t seen a helicopter like that in a long time. You stuck the landing there. That would have been a 10 in the Olympics. What was going through your head at that moment?

Oh yeah, I haven’t had one of those since Mini O’s. I did that same thing but had a way harder hit than what I just did today, I landed on my feet. I grew up on trampolines and stuff so when I get in the air, I kind of know where I’m at. But yeah, I came out of it safe. All I could think about was getting back to the bike because I knew we had a little bit of a gap over Levi, but I knew he was coming. I was like, ‘I’ve got to get back to my bike so I can get this overall.’

You put in a fantastic charge in that first moto. I just kind of wanted to know what your mindset is when you’re trying to charge like that because you looked like you were just trying any line available. Were you thinking out lines or were you just like, ‘I’ve got to go now?’

I mean yeah, coming from the back, I think I was in 10^th on the first lap. I obviously had to make some passes. Coming from the back in this 250 class, everyone’s pretty frisky. They’re going pretty fast so it’s quite hard to get through the pack. I found a good line where I could make passes every lap and stuck to my lines where I could pass people and just slowly picked them off. By the end, I was in the lead.

We’re going to a track that has elevation next week. The air is a lot thinner; the bike rides a lot different. Will you come in early to acclimate to it, or do you feel like you’re ready to go?

I’m excited. At elevation, my bike is pretty fast. It does well in the elevation, and I won the last round in elevation, so I got some confidence up there.