If you go to page 300 in the cambridge dictionary, you will find the term, down to the wire, which means until the last moment that it is possible to do something:go down to the wire I think the election will go right down to the wire (= be won at the last moment).

There is no doubt, when Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton line up this weekend to fight out the 2025 AMA 450 supercross championship, with just nine points separate the two and while Webb should be the favourite, anything is possible in supercross, and it won’t be decided until the final lap of Saturday nights main event. So, it will 100% go down to the wire.

Below is what Chase Sexton thinks of the rivalry with Webb and what he will be thinking as he goes for his third major AMA title. Already an AMA 450 motocross champion and also the 2023 AMA supercross champion, a third title would not only put him level with Webb for major AMA titles but also put in in the shadows of many of the big legends of the sport.

Respect for Webb

I have a lot of respect for Cooper. I grew up riding Yamahas, so we’d always park together at Loretta’s. I was on 85’s and he was in the B class, and for me, I looked up to him pretty much my whole racing career. So, it is cool to battle him, and we’ve had some run-ins obviously, but there’s nothing but respect.

Racing Smart

When you’re going for a championship, you have to be rivals and you have to want to win, but you’re not going to do anything blatant or stupid. We both have respect for each other, and it is cool to see now from where we’ve come from. I just remember those days racing the 85 9-11 class, and he was in the B class at Loretta’s, and it’s just pretty cool to see the journey from there.

Fired Up

I was really fired up from the first lap, I felt like it was a little dangerous from my perspective. I think he got cross-jumped by the guy at the front, and I was in third, so I got the worst end of it. Luckily, I was able to see it and not crash, but I was seeing red at that point. I wanted to get to the lead, and knowing I could run some good laps, I knew that if I got out front, I could break away, that was the goal.

Being Smart

It is for a championship, but I’m not going to do anything dumb. Even tonight, for me, that’s pretty aggressive for my standards. I’ve definitely cross-jumped Coop before, but we all get emotional and fired up in the moment, and that’s why I was seeing red at that time. But I’m not a dirty rider, I just do what I can and let the rest happen behind me, that’s my goal, but tonight’s pass was about as aggressive as it gets for me.

Playing Games

Yeah, I pulled a little grenade move. I did it twice, actually, but I messed it up the first time. It was funny, my buddies and I were sitting at the coffee shop this week, and they were telling me you should do this, you should do that, and I was like, ‘Dude, I’ve got to worry about winning the race first,’ and then the last lap I was thinking about what I was going to do. Coop has a new one every week, so I kind of need to follow that up.