Troy Dog
It has to be one of the best feelings to stand on the podium at RedBud, with all of the patriotic fans absolutely losing their mind after going 1-1.
That’s exactly what Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton did AND at his home track! Sexton has been racing at RedBud his entire life and he claims it as his home track as he grew up about two hours away in Illinois.
“This is one of the most special races in the series,” Sexton said in the press conference. “It get’s the best turnouts and it’s Fourth of July weekend, so the vibes are always good and the fans are crazy. It is a special race for everybody, but for me specifically it’s special.”
Sexton stayed close to HRC Honda’s Hunter Lawrence in the first Moto keeping the pressure on him until Lawrence had that late race crash. He then went out in the second Moto and completed the sweep taking over the red plate in the process.
Coming into RedBud, Sexton admitted that he felt a lot of pressure to perform, but he didn’t know if that was because he had never won at this track as a pro. He even said that he felt like an idiot because ehe was looking at the crowd and not saying anything.
Chase, it was a surreal moment for you, we forgive you. You’ve been dreaming of that since you were six standing in that same crowd.
“I grew up racing here a lot and like I said, I’ve never had good results here,” Sexton said. “So, this year I was like I’ve got to make something happen. It was cool.”
Sexton said that RedBud track owner Tim Ritchie had talked to him prior to the race and they spoke about how camping sold out and Ritchie also told him that if he went 1-1 that he was going to spray him with the water hose after the finish. Ritchie did just that and Sexton said it was a special moment for him. The entire weekend was.
“I had a lot of people that I haven’t seen in a while,” Sexton said. “It’s kind of chaotic and I try to stay even keel, but it’s hard. This one is hard to top, aside from winning championships, I don’t think this will ever be topped. This is one of the biggest RedBud’s I’ve ever seen.”
Main Image: Octopi Media
