"I was Looking Into Doing a ProAm to Get Some Gate Drops" | Justin Cooper on Waiting to Race Outdoors 1

Supercross giveth and it taketh away. Monster Energy Star Yamaha’s Justin Cooper was at the top of the mountain when he won his 250 West SX title and finished second in the Pro Motocross Championship in 2021. Unfortunately, a severe foot injury had him missing the entire 2022 Supercross season. He spent the early part of the outdoors series rebuilding and eventually finishing fourth. Justin capped his year off by being named to the USA MXoN team for the MX2 spot which he won. For 2023 it was decided Justin would sit out the 250 Supercross series due to the ‘pointing out’ rule so he could focus on the 250 Pro Motocross Championship title. I called up JCoop to check-in with him and see how things have been going. 

For the full interview, check out the Vital MX podcast right here. If you're interested in the condensed written version, scroll down just a bit further.

Jamie Guida – Vital MX: What's up, J-Coop? How are you feeling, man?

Justin Cooper: Good. I'm just putting in the work for outdoors, so I have a little bit of downtime. I’m trying to focus on each day and make each day good and carry that into the outdoors. It’s coming up quickly.

Vital MX: This has been a really weird season for you. You were forced out due to the point-out rule and mainly focusing on the outdoors. You did a few 450 races, though. How do you feel about that? Not racing most of Supercross has to be a bit of a bummer.

Justin: Yeah, the whole goal with the 450 thing this year in Supercross was to just learn it and get some experience without having to do the full 17 rounds. It's a lot on the body. It's a long season and it's definitely something that I wanted to do, but things didn’t align like that. So, it was cool. I was able to get 5 or 6 races under my belt, get a feel for it, and learn the class so I can take that into next year.

Vital MX: Has it been difficult watching your peers in the 250 Supercross class while you’re at home? I'm sure you'd like to have a shot at the Lawrence brothers with all the hype behind those guys. You kind of excel when you have a bit of a chip on your shoulder or something to fight for like that.

Justin: Yeah, 100%. It's gone the way it's gone. There's nothing I can really do about that. Of course, I would like to be in that battle. I had a successful year, and I wanted the chance to back it up and have a bit more success there. That was kind of taken away from me. You can go back and forth whether it was right or wrong, but either way, it's over with, and now I can put that behind me and focus on the task at hand, which is now outdoors, and I guess Supermotocross. We'll see what happens and if I'm qualified in either class. I think I'll be able to qualify in the 250 class. If that's the case, I'll probably finish it out with that and then go full-time on a 450 next year. That’s the way the cookie crumbles and we're doing the best we can with it.

Vital MX: Did racing the 450 help to scratch the itch of racing and keeping yourself sharp?

Justin: Yeah, it really did. It probably would have been better to do a bit more. I think I've been away from it for like a month now. I was even looking into doing a ProAm to get some gate drops in. We've been putting in a lot of work at the track here and doing a lot of testing. We have a lot of stuff to do to get ready for this Pro Motocross Championship and we're putting our best foot forward there.

Vital MX: I was going to ask you if there was any way you would do some local races because you can only practice so much. You really need gate drops for intensity and battling.

Justin: Yeah, of course. Either way, I'll be a lot more prepared than I was. Last year I had that injury, and I really didn't get any racing in for about ten months leading up to that race. This year we obviously did the Supercross races, and we've stayed pretty current at the moment. I think going forward we have a lot to fall back on. We had a good off-season. A lot was missing last year, so hopefully we can come into it this year ready to go and start off the year strong like I usually do.

Vital MX: Did you learn anything from racing the 450 that will translate into racing the 250? Did anything surprise you about racing guys in the 450 class? The best of the best.

Justin: Those dudes are really good. So, it definitely prepared me in that aspect. I'm not taking anything away from the 250 riders, but the 450 riders are a lot more developed, and a lot more precise. They are a lot faster. I feel a lot more determined. It's a battle out there with every single guy. I'm definitely having to do my best to be in the fight with those guys. It's helped me progress. I think dropping back down to the 250 classes, it's going to be tough. We combine the classes for outdoors and it's going to be stacked for sure. Racing those 450 guys helped push me to the next level.

Vital MX: You've had extra time to prep for this outdoor season. That could be a blessing or a curse. It could be a blessing if you are more prepared than the other guys, but then if things don't go so well, it could mess with your mentality. 

Justin: I'm putting in the work right now, and that's what I'm going to fall back on. I'm putting a lot of work into this motocross championship. If things don't go the way I want to start off with, I'm going to make sure something happens quickly. There's no reason it shouldn't go well. I'm putting my all into this. My team and I will figure it out if anything isn't up to par.

Vital MX: How’s the foot? Are there any lingering issues with that?

Justin: I wouldn't say it's 100%. It's definitely an injury, but it's not like, “Oh, my foot's bothering me today.” Unless I go out and run ten miles, my foot's not going to be bothering me at all. It's a lot better. I do a lot of 45-minute runs, so I don't know if that's helping it, but each time I run, it's a bit better. I'm pretty pumped with the progress that was made there, and it was definitely a really bad injury.

Vial MX: You mentioned riding the 450 next year. Do you have a deal locked in? Are you set?

Justin: No. That's a work in progress. There are a lot of guys that are still trying to work out their contracts and I kind of fall in place after those guys. I’m not too worried about that right now. I think I'll be fine there. I'll find a home somewhere.

Vital MX: There are rumors that Dylan Ferrandis is shopping, so there may be an opening. You just never really know what's going to happen. 

Justin: Yeah. Wherever everyone lands, I think I'll have a spot somewhere.