MXP: Hey Newf! It should be announced soon, but where do you think Chase Sexton will land?
RL: I would suspect we will hear where he’s going pretty quick. From what I hear, it’s looking like Quad Lock Honda at the top of the list as well as HEP Suzuki. Honestly, none of it makes sense to me for many reasons, but the biggest one that sticks out to me is that neither one of those teams do outdoors, and are Supercross only teams. I find it hard to believe that Chase would want to go to a Supercross only contract this early in his career, but who knows. I mean maybe if he lands at one of those two teams and they decide to take him outdoors it could all work out. Ether way, the whole situation seems difficult and complicated.
MXP: Looking ahead to the opening round of the 2026 West Coast AX Championships next month; can you give us an updated list of which Pro riders are locked in for Chilliwack?
RL: It was easier to get guys locked in for 2026 after a successful 2025, and we had a decent number of riders reaching out to ride the series. I have to give a big thanks to Dusty Rocks MX for providing some Yamaha 450s for a few guys along with Kawasaki Canada for providing a bike as well. The confirmed list is as follows: Quinn Amyotte, Dylan Rempel, Logan Letizel, Blake Davies, Tyler Gibbs, Travis Gibbs, Parker Eales, Guillaume St-Cyr, Nate Freehill, Liam Dodds, Jake Tricco, Zach Ufimzeff, Colin Jurin and I’m sure a few more will come. Should be good and we’re looking forward to seeing all these guys go at it.
MXP: Going back to the money race two weeks ago at Tomahawk Raceway. During your first several years of being a Pro rider, there was still a hangover from the 1990s; a decade when all riders did was chase money events all over the place. So, you’ve certainly done your share of long drives or long flights, all with the goal of trying to make a few extra bucks. Thinking back, can you recall an event that was so loose that it had you questioning your sanity, but you were still able to make some money?
RL: Oh, yes in the early to mid 2000s I was chasing every single race that looked fun and I could make a little money or at least break even. Now, back then there wasn’t the money like they were doing at that Tomahawk race, but you could still do okay, and in reality, I loved racing, so I would go to some strange places for not much and hope for the best. A few that stick out to me were some AX events in northern Quebec that were sketch to say the least. One year, I went to Bermuda and even to Czech Republic, but lucky for me, I never got burned on money, and it always seemed to work out. So, the fly away races that I did, I always got paid, but the bikes they would provide to ride were absolutely terrifying.
