After suffering a malfunction at the Nashville Supercross that resulted in a hard crash and DNF for Chase Sexton, the Red Bull KTM rider rebounded right away to finish a strong second place in Philadelphia. Sexton had a new mechanic by his side over the weekend and admitted that with his bid for the championship now all but over, he and the team threw big changes at the bike to try things out and it worked out for the better.

“That was just a freak accident,” Sexton said of his Nashville crash. “I haven’t had a throttle stick since I was on a 50cc Senior probably and it’s not fun. I still have confidence; it was just a freak accident. It wasn’t like it was anybody’s fault. It just wasn’t my night. Today we took a really big swing with the bike. Something that I haven’t ridden at all. I just told them that we’re obviously in no title fight, so I think it’s better to test and try to get better for next year. That way we can come in more comfortable and have a real offseason and actually train. I think that was kind of what we went in with the mindset and today it worked out. We swung pretty hard, and it stuck. So, we’ll keep making progress. It’s a learning year and we’re just going to try to get another win before the season is over.”

Aside from Sexton being completely okay from his crash in Nashville, it was certainly a talking point during the week about why the bike had malfunctioned. Eyebrows were raised even further when upon everyone’s arrival to Philadelphia, Sexton’s usual mechanic Brandon Zimmerman was not there working on Sexton’s number one KTM machine.

Instead, long-time mechanic Kyle Defoe had taken over the wrenches and will be alongside Sexton moving forward. Defoe had worked with Jorge Prado early in the year when Prado raced four rounds of Monster Energy Supercross on a GasGas, but Defoe went back to working in house with KTM after that in a testing role. The move to have him work with Sexton came at an odd time after the issue in Nashville, but Sexton himself explained that it was a decision between Red Bull KTM and Brandon Zimmerman to part ways.

“I have nothing but love for [Brandon Zimmerman] and he will always be a super important person to me,” said Sexton. “I want to thank him for everything, I had the best time working with him. I wanted to come out and clear the air that us not working together had nothing to do with the throttle in Nashville, that was a freak incident and no one’s fault. This was a decision made independently by the team and Brandon. Zimm is an awesome mechanic. I wish him the best on his next endeavors, and I hope to see him at the gate soon.”

This quick rebound for Sexton is huge though as it shows he does still have full trust in the 450 SX-F and now he has these final races to work on stuff for 2025 as he mentioned. While Sexton had been working through learning the bike early in the year, he clearly took big steps in the second half towards race winning speed and was close once again in Philadelphia.

While the obvious importance of preparing for AMA Pro Motocross also looms, Sexton is using these races as key tests to improve the machine. It’s a unique position to be in for the defending champion as he can really change his approach to the final rounds and throw more major changes at the bike to see what works. And while testing these changes will be a huge benefit, winning on them to close out the season would be even bigger.

“I just want to win races,” said Sexton. “Obviously we’re out of the title fight, but it still doesn’t stop me from working during the week and trying to get better. Winning is always our goal.”

Prior to the 2024 season, Sexton had made the switch to Red Bull KTM in mid-October and began testing right away. The problem, as Sexton alluded to, was that they never really stopped testing and Sexton felt his offseason suffered since he lacked ample time to physically train.

If these big changes to the KTM work out in the final three rounds, that becomes the base setting moving towards 2025. A machine in which Sexton already knows he can win on again and it changes his focus to having a complete off-season where he will be ready to go for the number one plate again.