It was the sand section in Houston that Chase Sexton pin-pointed as decisive on his way to the runner-up result behind Eli Tomac, with the points-leader able to flip the script when it counted in the main event.

Sexton blitzed the field on Saturday afternoon with a 50.320s to qualify fastest by over one full second and carried that same pace into the night show, taking a commanding win in heat two over 450SX title-rival Tomac.

The restarted main event saw Sexton close the gap to Tomac, however, the defending champion managed to gain an advantage in the sand and that was ultimately where he would go on to win his third race in four rounds this season.

“Eli [Tomac] really figured out the sand section late in the race and was going outside,” Sexton reflected. “I was going to the inside, which felt like it was not fast. I just wasn’t super-comfortable going around the outside – I almost fell there earlier in the race. So, I just stuck to taking the inside, but I felt like I could have walked through it faster [laughs].

“But, Eli really figured out the sand and I think that was where I lost a lot of time every lap. I was trying to make up time on the rest of the track, it just wasn’t really working. Other than that, I rode pretty well, I didn’t make too many mistakes, really I was just struggling in the sand section.”

Following Sexton’s second place in Houston, the Team Honda HRC rider now sits seven points behind Tomac as the series heads to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa for what will be the fifth race of the season.