The Moment: Hill at A1
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 | 4:00 PM
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It’s been a long road back for Dodge Motorspors/Sycuan Casino/Hart & Huntington Kawasaki rider Josh Hill. A highly touted amateur rider, Hill had some ups (winning the Minneapolis Supercross in 2008) and downs (average results at times, and some off track troubles) early on in his career. He was just starting to find his way in the 450 class when an attempted backflip went wrong, resulting in a huge crash. Hill missed all of last season rehabbing his foot, leg, and knee injuries.
The H&H crew signed him up for 2011 knowing they were probably not going to get much out of him (they were right), but everything looked to be lining up nicely in 2012. Hill had been riding and testing, and he looked on track to start reestablishing himself as a top ten 450 guy and maybe, just maybe, get back to where he was before he got hurt. How good can Hill be? As a matter of fact, after four rounds of the 2009 supercross series, Hill was tied with Ryan Dungey for the series points lead.
But this past weekend in Anaheim, there would be no storybook ending for Hill as he went down in the first turn of his heat race with a few other riders and was forced to pull off with another foot/lower leg injury. This was the absolute worst case scenario--twisting his injured leg in the very first turn of his very first race back! He tried to ride the LCQ but the pain was too much for Josh. His comeback is on hold. Again.
Hill's comeback attempt has been put on hold yet again.
Photo: Simon Cudby
On Monday, I asked H&H Team Manager Kenny Watson about Hill’s status, and he didn’t have any new information. I called Watson again today, and the only update available is that Hill will not be lining up this weekend in Phoenix, either. Who knows when we’ll see the #75 on the track again? He’s come so far just to get back on the line at A1 and I’m sure he’s not going to give up now, but it’s got to be an emotional blow for Hill. The sport of motocross produces a lot of thrilling moments but every one of those we see, there are many more stories of heartbreak and pain.
This is one of those.
[Note: Matthes put together an update on Hill's condition on Wednesday evening. Click HERE to read the update.]
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Bummer Josh, Know you put in the work to return. Hope you can beat this and make a comeback. You're a good rider a have what it takes to mix things up in the points chase. Good Luck
What are the chances,1st race,1st turn.And of all the things to tweek it had to be his bad foot.That just sucks.
My heart goes out to you Josh, as this injury is taking up valuable time for a guy just to do his job, and what he obviously loves to do professionally. Sending energy your way in hopes of a full recovery so you can get back in the saddle and ride.
All the best to you, and yours!
Great read Matthes!! Although, I though he was tied with Dungey in 2010, not 2009...not trying to be THAT guy who points out mistakes on articles....am I right or wrong?
i cannot understand all this drama surrounding josh with the segment they did about him during the race.how he has made a comeback . but end of the day he is a racer so what the hell was he doing trying to do a backflip,,racing is his bread n butter if he was focused on training and riding and not tring to show off doing a backflip he would not be in this position..
Bad news now on broken tibia...hope he gets well soon....but heres what I dont understand of how teams are hiring racers or what guidelines they use to do so....
In tough economic times(so they say) you go and hire a rider with a known injury risk?
And maybe not expect much from him??And hire him anyway?????
Makes me wonder and highlite the probability that riders like Regal,Blose,Hahn all top 5 or 10 constant rising racers are blacklisted for some reason.
Hill like Lawrence threw his chances away by not being dedicated enough when it counted in his prime. Why he tried a back flip is hard to even comprehend. I agree the MX industry needs to hire the right people instead of over the hill guys that once had a name. I hope Josh has a speedy recovery and wish him well in his life after motorcycles.
I do think the article should be about guys like Regal, Hahn and Blose, and why they don't get a Real Deal, when other less talented, less committed riders do. I understand the politics, but there's a story there for sure. Having to sit out the season or ride a stock bike when you're a top-10 caliber rider just doesn't make sense. I wish Hill all the best, but he knows better than anyone that he did it to himself.
Hill doesn't need anyone to defend him, but hey, the kid is a hard worker...was trying to get a shot at x-games gold (mainstream media) when he crashed the back flip..For him to comeback from that was huge, and I bet we'll see great things from him in the near future....
What exactly was Hill's deal w/H&H?
t shirts, stickers,,,,,swag. maybe a lil beer money ever so often. All things considered it was probably not anything that Blose or anyone would have thought was a killer ride.