Chase Sexton Releases Statement on Brandon Zimmerman, Change of Mechanic

At the 15th round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Chase Sexton lined up with a new mechanic—Kyle Defoe. First reported by Vital MX, Sexton would be paired with Defoe instead of his mechanic Brandon Zimmerman. Zimmerman, who helped Adam Cianciarulo to the 2019 250 Class AMA Pro Motocross Championship, took over as Sexton’s wrench in the 2021 off-season as Jade Dungey moved to the Red Bull KTM team to work with Aaron Plessinger. When Sexton moved to the KTM team after the 2023 season, Zimmerman followed the 2023 450SX Champion to the Austrian brand.

While the switch from Zimmerman to Defoe comes just one week after a rock hit and cracked Sexton’s throttle body at the Nashville SX and caused a wild, hard crash early in the 450SX main event. Sexton was banged up, but not injured in the incident, but said in his post the change of mechanic had nothing to do with the Nashville crash, which he said, “Was just a freak accident.” Steve Matthes has reported it sounded like Zimmerman and the KTM were not getting along, which is why the switch came about.

View Sexton’s full post below.

“I have nothing but love for @zimm763 and he will always be a super important person to me. I want to thank him for everything, and I had the best time working with him. I wanted to come out and clear the air that us not working together had nothing to do with the throttle in Nashville. That was a freak incident and no one’s fault. This was a decision made independently by the team and Brandon. Zimm is an awesome mechanic and I wish him the best on his next endeavors. Ready to see him at the gate soon ❤️”

At the 15th round, Sexton appeared to have more of his normal speed back as he put down the fastest lap of the 450SX main event as he charged from about eighth to finish second. It was his eighth podium of the season. He sits fourth in the standings after round 15.