rider made it look easy as he
went untouched and made no
mistakes for the remainder of
the race, holding second-place
Hunter Lawrence at bay by more
than three seconds to take his
17th career win. The win is a
huge step for Sexton, who finally
looks confident in his equipment
again and jumps to third in the
450SX
Sexton put the doubters to rest
at round three as he won his
first race of the season and his
first aboard his new Monster
Energy Kawasaki. After chang-
ing teams during the off-season,
everyone
wondered just how
long it would take for the former
champion to get on top of the
box. The number-four had a
good pace all day, setting the
fastest qualifying time and
also leading most of his heat
race. Unfortunately for him, the
mistake-prone Sexton ended
up on the ground twice before
the main event. However, he
made up for those slip-ups and
executed when it counted most,
in the main event. He took the
lead from Jason Anderson on
lap seven and managed the race
from there on out. The Kawasaki
VOLUME 63 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 27, 2026 P61
but a few small things kept setting me
back. The crash in the heat race was
unfortunate, and then in the main,
I slid out and my arm got hit in the
mix. It didn't feel great after that, so I
pulled off, which was a bummer. The
main thing is staying healthy so I can
come back [for] Houston."
24 RJ HAMPSHIRE
9TH 450SX
RJ Hampshire qualified third and later
grabbed a top 10 finish in the main
event. "[The race] was a massive step
forward," Hampshire said. "I had my
best qualifying in P3. The team has
been working hard to get me com-
fortable, and I think we have found
something now, which we just need
to keep getting familiar with. My starts
were great today, both of them. My
heat race wasn't an ideal finish after
holeshotting, but I wasn't too down
about that, because running up front
is a big learning curve for me right
now. I know I can get there; it's just
about stacking these performances
up, and a top 10 at Anaheim 2 is a
good place to build from."
MYOWNRACE
(Left) Chase
Sexton won
his first 450SX
race aboard the
Kawasaki. (Right)
After winning
the first two
rounds, Tomac
was a little
disappointed
with "just" third.
