JUSTIN COOPER MOVING ON UP: INTERVIEW

In the end, it was twenty points that 250 Motocross Champion Hunter Lawrence had over second-place finisher Justin Cooper. While Cooper, on his Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha, didn’t win any overall rounds like rival Lawrence, he was consistently on the podium. Of course, we will never know, but the Championship might have looked differently if Justin had not crashed in a High Point early morning practice session, missing the motos and scoring zero points. It’s likely that even with mediocre Moto finishes, the New York native would have earned twenty points. who knows what would have happened, as it’s motocross. but something to consider. we caught up with justin at Ironman to get his thoughts on the just-ended 250 Outdoor Championships, racing Supercross on a 450, and the upcoming Motocross of Nations.

BY JIM KIMBALL

SUPER MOTOCROSS PLAYOFFS // FULL COVERAGE

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Justin Cooper is moving up to the 450 Class for the 2024 season.

JUSTIN, YOU RODE AWESOME THIS SUMMER AND FINISHED SECOND IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP. OBLIVIOUSLY, YOU WANTED TO WIN. MISSING BOTH MOTOS AT A HIGH POINT COSTS YOU MANY POINTS. Yes, I think I could have won the championship. Coming into Ironman, I was down twenty-two points. And on average, I have been on the podium at eight or nine races that I have done, so that is an average of thirty or forty points at least. It is safe to say if I did not crash there, I would be leading in the points coming into Ironman. But that is not something you dwell on; it will only eat you alive. What we have been dealt with is what we have been dealt with. I feel like we put ourselves in a good position even to get back in the title fight. I did not really see that coming after I crashed out of that race (High Point); it is crazy how it works. With motocross, anything can happen.

Justin is putting power to the ground at the first Outdoor National at Pala.

IT LOOKED LIKE YOUR MOTIVATION TO WIN WAS STILL STRONG. I am feeling the best I ever have, and I feel like I have been getting better and better as the season has gone on, or maybe people are just losing that motivation. I feel like we were stepping up; it is obvious that I am riding well right now, and things are going well. I have ridden the best I ever have, and my motivation is also high, so I was just excited to get back to racing after High Point. It is kind of a bummer. I wish it were twelve races, but it was eleven this year.

Justin Finished second overall in the 2023 Motocross season, carrying that momentum into Supermotocross.

SWITCHING TO SUPERCROSS EARLIER THIS YEAR, YOU BEGAN TO LOOK COMFORTABLE ON THE 450. I felt it was important to get my feet wet in that class and learn the differences between that and the 250 class. I felt like I did that, got out of there safe, and put my focus on this 250 outdoor championship.

DID YOU HAVE A DESIRE TO CONTINUE RACING SUPERCROSS ON THE 450, OR WAS IT ALREADY DECIDED WHAT THE PLAN WAS? I was happy with where I left it. I felt like I got the experience I needed.

Stepping up next year to the 450 class on board the same team, Justin will be paired up with Cooper Webb and Eli Tomac. 

YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED SOON, ACTUALLY ON THE SAME DAY AS MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS. OF COURSE, YOUR WEDDING IS MOST IMPORTANT, BUT BEING THE DEFENDING CHAMPION, IT MUST BE DISAPPOINTING TO MISS IT. Yes, for sure, it is tough not to participate, but at the same time, I look at it as we ended the eleven-year drought, and we did it on home soil. So, I feel like I did my job there. That helps with me missing this year. It helps my mindset that I did my job last year. And we scheduled the wedding around the Motocross Des Nations, and then they changed it to the wedding date! I did everything I could as far as planning to make sure I was available for that weekend. Then, things got shuffled around, and a few months after we scheduled the wedding, the venue, and everything, it ended up being on the date of the wedding! So, there is not much I can do about that, but we will be routing them on for sure.

SUPER MOTOCROSS PLAYOFFS // FULL COVERAGE