5 Things We Learned at San Diego: Chase Sexton is Now Gumby

Five Things We Learned…is a new-ish installment to the Vurb line of race coverage. It’s a quick hitting piece where I break down five trending topics from the weekend. We’ll put facts behind what happened and break down how it will play out. As always, please feel free to give your thoughts on these topics in the comment section. If you’d like to discuss any of these topics further or have a question for me you can reach me at [email protected]. 

Enzo

The growth of Enzo Lopes over the past three seasons has been quite impressive. Not only was his fifth overall in the 250SX East Region points very respectable last year, but in 2023 he has already found himself at the front. His fourth place finish in San Diego was a career high for him. He’s gone 6-4 to start the season. A podium finish is coming and what a battle that will be between McAdoo and Hampshire? With the amount of improvement that he’s had so far, what’s the ceiling for Lopes in the long run? Does he one day have a chance to become a champion in the sport? He’s only 23 years old. Do you think Lopes will get a win this season? 

Anderson

The now infamous deleted tweet of Anderson’s will now go down as one big mystery. Sure, a lot of riders are tired of the aggressive riding style of Barcia. Why did Anderson takeout Barcia and angrily tweet about it? I don’t know, but I’m here for it. Also, during the press conference, Barcia was asked about the incident and he gave his normal response of not knowing what it was about. Sure, that could be true, but is Barcia really giving us the right response? Does he actually know? Either way, the drama was great. I truly enjoyed watching Webb and Tomac react to the news about what Anderson called Barcia. This crew of riders have raced one another for the longest time and they know one another better than they think they do. Let’s see how this one goes in the coming weeks. 

Webb

In T-Dog’s Takes last week I wrote about how Webb was for real this season and how he’s going to give it everything that he’s got to win another 450SX championship. Well, I’m looking good on that take. Not only did Webb finish second again in San Diego, but when he got passed by Tomac he studied his lines and kept him within three seconds the entire race. Webb is a gamer and even shrunk that lead towards the last couple of laps. With a couple more weeks of studying Tomac, I believe that Webb will just continue to shrink the gap on the defending champ as the season wears on. 

McAdoo

Cam McAdoo isn’t happy with seconds and thirds anymore. I mean, he is, but he also isn’t. I find this quite incredible with how far he’s come in his career. He wants to beat Jett and RJ in the worst way and he’s going to work himself until he does it. I feel like McAdoo can show next week and pop off a win. His best races are coming and he’s more determined than ever to win this championship.

Sexton

Apparently Chase Sexton is now Gumby. If you don’t understand who Gumby is, well then I’ve got nothing for ya. He’s made out of clay and molds into all kinds of different ish. Anyway, Sexton had a gnarly crash, AP sent his gas tank into Narnia, and CS23 had to go to the LCQ. So, Chase survives all of that and a bad gate pick, just to get taken out by Barcia in the main. He regrouped and finished fifth on the night and still holds third in the standings after two rounds. He’s going to be wanting a win here soon and that’s going to make the series even more interesting. Great round for Sexton considering what he had to go through. That crash was bad. 

Main image: Jessica Reed