Chase Sexton Interview: Anaheim II Press Day
January 26, 2024
First off, initial thoughts on the track?
Track looks fun. Think this one looks like it has more options than tracks in the past. It's always nice racing here in Anaheim because the tracks are more open and it's a bigger stadium; makes for longer lanes and we have two whoop sections, so that’ll be fun. A lot more chances for separation and for us that's exciting.Is there a different attitude or mentality coming into a Triple Crown as opposed to a regular race?
I don't think so. I think for me, the, the game plan stays the same. I think it puts more of a emphasis on starts, but other than that, the, the plan stays the same. Go out there and put myself in a good position and execute. Obviously it's more times on the gate. Heat races matter, but usually care really about the main event , so one time versus three times you have to execute, which makes it a little bit more difficult. But that's what we train for.You mentioned at the press conference in San Francisco that you made good progress on the bike and you're excited for dry conditions that you still haven't seen until this weekend. Can you talk a little bit more about the progress and where you are? Is that still a work in progress or are you happy?
I mean, it's always a work in progress. The bike's never perfect, but I think last week having that dry practice gave us a little bit more of a benchmark on where we're at and we still needed to make a few more adjustments. So thankful we had that last week and now I think we're ready to go racing on a dry track and looks like we have a good one here.How do you feel like the bike is compared to your Honda last year? What's the biggest difference?
I would say obviously the biggest difference is aluminum frame to steel frame. They feel completely different. I don't have any of the same problems as I had on the Honda, but I also have new problems that I have on the KTM. So it's a give and take and it's like I've said in the past: it's who you wanna work with and the team I have around me is awesome and we've made huge progress on the bike which is is cool. I hope we continue that in the future.Next week's the first East Coast round; typically that comes with softer soil. How much experience do you have on the KTM in that type of condition?
Yeah, I have a lot of experience on it. I rode in Florida for a few weeks, got some softer dirt practice, but honestly Detroit is normally a little bit more hard packed. So I'm gonna stay in California I think for another two weeks until Phoenix and then go home. But yeah, Detroit: it’s an east coast race, but we normally get hard dirt there, so, we'll see. I mean, it always could be different if it's wet there; it could be soft. If it hasn't gotten any rain or anything, it could be really hard pack; I guess we'll see!
