Saturday’s Philadelphia Supercross round brought us exactly what we wanted to see: the championship contenders battling each other out front. First, the 250SX East/West Showdown put 250SX West Division points leader Haiden Deegan right into the mix with the top three 250SX East Division contenders Seth Hammaker, Tom Vialle, and RJ Hampshire in the top five as well. Add in Cole Davies, who eventually took the race win, but really all of the contenders were in the mix. Then in the 450SX main event, title rivals Chase Sexton and Cooper Webb tracked one another as they made their way up through the top five. Eventually, Sexton took the win as Webb came through second, slightly cutting the points gap Webb has from 15 points down to 12 points. With only four rounds remaining, it is no doubt these guys know it is crunch time.
“I mean all I can do is really win from here on out,” Sexton said. “I mean, there's not much else that I can do. So, yeah, I'd say it was good. I hadn't won a real main event since Anaheim 1, so it's been a while, and I just wanted to get that win on a normal main event again and just try and ride good the whole race. So, track was tough… But overall, the ride was good, had a really good flow going and just kind of let it come to me today, so that was that was nice.”
While Webb got hung up getting around Ken Roczen as they navigated lappers, Sexton got out front and got some clear track. When it was all said and done, Sexton took the checkered flag over Webb by about two-and-a-half seconds. Sexton gave a fist pump and then turned back and gave Webb a little finger gun point, using the #2’s move against himself. Getting beat and a cherry on top taunt did not sit well with the Yamaha rider. The two fist-bumped before Webb rode off quickly. But Webb’s post-race TV interview alluded to a fire igniting in him.
"We'll come back next weekend and kick his ass," Webbb said to NBC trackside reporter Jason Thomas on the next round in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
In the press conference later, the riders showed respect, as Webb noted Sexton’s strong ride.
“I think for me, we're just trying to keep it race by race,” Webb said. “So, there was definitely urgency. Like I was going for the win and that's why I was, I think you saw pretty, pretty mad at the podium, right? Like I got beat straight up. So, I think more for me, I'm a competitor, so I just want to go out there and do my best, which I did tonight, but get that wins and try to try to keep winning. So yeah, I think it's one of those things that it's always great to be in the lead, in my opinion, because you have a little bit of wiggle room, but with that being said, I think tonight there was an urgency just to stay with them and try to make it a head to head race at the end, and I wasn't able to get close enough to make that happen.”
Watch some highlights from the post-race press conference below.
Sexton said he could tell where Webb was as they charged forward after both getting slowed up in the first turn by the pileup with Shane McElrath and Aaron Plessinger.
“I knew exactly where he was,” Sexton said. “He was right behind me. I can hear him, that Yamaha’s pretty loud. So, I knew he was gonna be fighting all the way to the end. That's just, that's the type of racer he is. He's strong, and, yeah, so I knew I was in for a long main event, but just trying to pick off my laps and not do anything crazy. I missed the double one lap and that was really my only mistake. So, just try to kind of pick off laps. It was kind of a hard track to push on. You really had to be patient and there was some separation, but it wasn't crazy, so you really just had to inch away, inch away at a one lap at a time. So, and then once I got in the lead, I feel like maybe halfway we ran into lappers after that, so I never felt like I even led the race. I was just kind of trying to pick my way through people and, thankfully the lappers are pretty good tonight. I had a few run-ins but nothing crazy. And, yeah, just try to be smart and know when to push and no one to kind of back off a little bit.”
As we have seen lately, other riders may play a factor in slotting in between the two (last weekend in Massachusetts with Aaron Plessinger and Saturday in Philly with Ken Roczen, plus Justin Cooper and Malcolm Stewart lately as well). But really, this is going to come down to Sexton and Webb themselves. We know how good Webb is mentally down the stretch and we know Sexton has the ability to end seasons strong.
Just think back to this time last year after 13 rounds: Webb was tied with Jett Lawrence. Unfortunately, his thumb injury hindered his ability to fight off the strong 450SX rookie. This year, Webb is in the driver’s seat against a faster-than-him—but also but more inconsistent—Sexton. Will the two be right behind one another over the next four races to close out this championship? Which rider will make the big mistake?
![Chase Sexton]()
Chase Sexton Mitch Kendra ![Cooper Webb]()
Cooper Webb Mitch Kendra
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Cooper Webb | Newport, NC  | 365 |
| 2 |  Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL | 363 |
| 3 |  Justin Cooper | Cold Spring Harbor, NY | 281 |
| 4 |  Malcolm Stewart | Haines City, FL | 277 |
| 5 |  Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany  | 271 |
