CHASE SEXTON: THE MOVE TO KAWASAKI

The 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship 450SX champion and 2024 AMA Pro Motocross Championship 450cc champion, Chase Sexton, recently sent the global motocross world spinning on its axis when word came down on November 3, 2025, that the 26-year-old racer out of La Moille, Illinois, would be turning in the KTM 450SX-F Factory Edition that he scored 36 podium finishes upon during the 2024 and 2025 racing seasons in favour of a Monster Energy Kawasaki KX450SR (Special Racer). Sexton put pen to paper on a new three-year deal, which will see him line up in the 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, the Pro Motocross Championship and the SMX World Championship.

“The team has already made me feel very supported with anything I need, and they’re here to give me all the tools I need to win. I believe this is the next step I need to compete for championships.”

“Joining Monster Energy Kawasaki is an amazing opportunity, and I’m really looking forward to this new chapter in my career,” stated Sexton in the announcement. “The team has already made me feel very supported with anything I need, and they’re here to give me all the tools I need to win. I believe this is the next step I need to compete for championships, and I am motivated for the 2026 season.”

True to his motivational speaking, Chase Sexton is now posted up in Florida and fast at work in sorting out and coming to terms with his new Candy Lime Green Monster Energy Kawasaki KX450SR. Preparing for his premiere race date set for Saturday, January 10, 2026, at 2000 E Gene Autry Way in Anaheim, California (Angel Stadium), Sexton took a quick training breather to get us up to speed on his new world.

“I am in Florida right now and getting ready to start Boot Camp on Monday,” explained Sexton. “I’m just getting ready. I got a new track built. I’m excited. It’s just a lot of training and a lot of riding all in one. It’s the only time of the year that we kind of get a chance to really train a lot and also ride a lot. Because, I mean, otherwise you’re trying to recover and whatnot for the season. I’m just trying to do as much training as I can and get a base built prior to the season. I also want to try and work on the things that you need to work on with the bike. It’s really the only time that you get the chance to do that.”

“I’m happy to be back on an aluminum frame, to say the least. It feels a lot like my Honda did. Honestly, the first time I got on it, it took me a while to get used to it because I’ve been riding such a different bike for the last few years.”

The 2016 Pro Motocross 250 Class Rookie of the Year, as well as the 2018 250SX Rookie of the Year, Sexton believes he is still learning as he goes in such a fierce and demanding form of motorsport.

“Yes, always learning,” he said, “Always. I mean, I’m 26 years old, but I still feel super-young, so I don’t know… I feel like I’m learning every time I get on the track, which is cool. I’m kind of on my own just as far as the training part. I have Levi Kitchen here with me. It’s just Levi and I training. I do all the riding stuff kind of by myself. I like it that way. I’ve always been that way since I was young. I always rode and trained by myself. That’s just kind of how I like it. It’s fun. The team will be down here occasionally, but for the most part, it’s kind of on me in trying to figure out a new bike and that’s pretty much it. It’s the part that people don’t get to see, but for me, it’s the most fun part of the year because I do get to work on my weaknesses and try to just become better for the year ahead. It’s what we get paid to do and this is the fun part of the year for me, at least. It’s fun to learn new stuff and try new things. Like I said, it’s the only part of the year that we get to do that.”

“I want to be here at Kawasaki for a while and make it here. It’s kind of a different mindset for me. I just want to find a home and work around really good people, and I feel like I’ve found that.”

And the work for Sexton and the Monster Energy Kawasaki race effort has now truly begun.

“Yeah, new bike, new team, and I’m back on Monster Energy, which is cool. Yes, it’s a whole new thing. I’m happy to be back on an aluminum frame, to say the least. It’s been fun so far. I’ve had probably had about two and a half weeks or so of riding on the bike. It’s really refreshing. It feels a lot like my Honda did. Honestly, the first time I got on it, it took me a while to get used to it because I’ve been riding such a different bike for the last few years. It’s completely different, so I kind of had to bring back some of the old memories on the Honda and work from there.”

Sexton went on to speak about the on-bike research and development he feels in adjusting to the aluminum frame of the Kawasaki KX450SR.

“I mean, I’m 26 years old, but I still feel super-young, so … I feel like I’m learning every time I get on the track.”

“I mean… It’s just different because every rider is different and every rider likes different stuff. For me, it [the KTM’s steel frame] was just so polar opposite of what I’m used to. It took me so long to get used to it. I kind of had to change how I rode for the bike, which is kind of a normal thing. It was just very different from what I grew up on and what I always rode. I really had to kind of hone-in and just kind of fix some of my riding for the bike. Like I said, getting back on an aluminum frame, I had to go back to how I did stuff before. It’s definitely different. So, getting back on an aluminum frame, it feels like more high performance. I feel like it’s easier to go faster on an aluminum frame, which is good for me.”

Thus far, Sexton is quite pleased with his new home and Candy Lime Green surroundings.

“I want to be here at Kawasaki for a while and make it here. It’s kind of a different mindset for me. I just want to find a home and work around really good people, and I feel like I’ve found that. It’s still early, obviously. It’s still the honeymoon stage, but I think for me, it’s off to a really good start. It’s been fun so far. We’ll see at Anaheim. So far, so good. The team is really cool. They’ve been around for a while. They have a lot of knowledge and that’s something I kind of lean on and trust in. I have Theo Lockwood as my crew chief and then Rango [Jason Motoya] as my mechanic. They came to Hawaii with the bike and stuff for the team photo shoot, so I got to spend some time with them there, away from the track. They’re really good people and trustworthy, so I’m really excited. It’s a good change. I think everyone loves change. You see the same guys on the same bikes for so long. I think everyone likes the KTM I raced, but for the most part, it seems like everyone wants to see me get back on a Japanese bike. That’s kind of the same for me. Everyone is stoked on it and how it all looks. For the little part of time that I’ve ridden the Kawasaki, I feel looser on the bike and just kind of open. I can move around more on the bike, which for me allows me to go faster. That’s something that I didn’t really ever find at KTM. I felt like I was pretty stiff on it. I kind of want to get a little more open and looser on the bike.

“I do all the riding by myself. I like it that way. I’ve always been that way since I was young. I always rode and trained by myself.”

“Getting back on an aluminum frame … it feels like more high performance. I feel like it’s easier to go faster on an aluminum frame, which is good for me.”

“I really want to work on the stuff that I need to work on, and come back stronger for next year and kind of re-establish myself as a winner. That’s the mindset. I think me and Kawasaki both have that mindset. They haven’t won in a while. They had a rough year last year. We’re both looking to improve this coming year. I think that’s a cool atmosphere to be in. I have one goal and that’s to win. Like I said, Kawasaki hasn’t won a championship or even a lot of races in the last few years, so it’s an all or nothing kind of thing. We also want to do it smart and to not be too aggressive at the beginning. We want to kind of let it come to us; to do the work in the off-season and come into Anaheim prepared.”