Chase Sexton wins Salt Lake City Supercross finale, secures championship with an exclamation point

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Chase Sexton was determined there would be no asterisk attached to his championship and ended the 2023 season and Monster Energy Supercross finale in Salt Lake City, with the win and an exclamation point instead. Sexton snapped a 20-year championship losing streak for Honda to become the first rider since Ricky Carmichael in 2003 to win for the manufacturer.

With Hunter Lawrence clinching the 250 East title in Nashville and Jett Lawrence clinching the West in Denver, Honda had a clean sweep of the Supercross championships.

Sexton’s Salt Lake City win was his third consecutive and fourth in the last five rounds and in each race, he rode flawlessly.

While it is true that two of his closest competitors fell to injury in the past two rounds, Sexton did everything in his control by winning the Nashville race and taking over second in the points when Cooper Webb was injured. He won and took the points’ lead from Eli Tomac in Denver when that rider ruptured his Achilles tendon.

Championships come in all shapes and sizes.

Sexton dominated the night by grabbing the holeshot and riding away from the field. When the checkers waved, he had an 18-second lead over Aaron Plessinger and had lapped his way up to fifth-place.

“I worked my whole life for this exact moment since I was four years old,” Sexton told NBC Sports’ Will Christien. “My dad and I traveled the world to go to races and it paid off. The season has been up and down.

“But they have 17 races for a reason and you have to stay strong. I’m so proud of how I’ve bounced back this year. It goes to show I can make the whole race. I’ve made strides this year and it paid off.”

Sexton’s charge to the points’ lead began six rounds ago with a second-place