Racer X - Motocross & Supercross NewsRacer X
  • All Series
  • Subscribe Now
  • One Click Sign-In

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    OR

    Sign in with your username and password

    • Sign In
    Unfortunately your Personalization privacy settings prevent us from showing you this Login. Please update your consent to see this content.
  • Supercross
    • News
    • Schedule
    • TV Schedule
    • Results
    • Standings
    • Teams
    • Riders
    • Tracks
    • The Vault
  • Motocross
    • News
    • Schedule
    • TV Schedule
    • Results
    • Standings
    • Riders
    • Teams
    • Tracks
    • The Vault
  • SuperMotocross
    • News
    • Schedule
    • TV Schedule
    • Results
    • Standings
    • Teams
    • Riders
    • Tracks
  • MXGP
    • News
    • Schedule
    • TV Schedule
    • Results
    • Standings
    • Teams
    • Riders
    • Tracks
  • GNCC
    • News
    • Schedule
    • TV Schedule
    • Results
    • Standings
    • Riders
    • Tracks
  • Loretta Lynn’s
    • News
    • The Vault
  • More Series
    • Supercross
    • Motocross
    • SuperMotocross
    • MXGP
    • GNCC
    • Loretta Lynn’s
    • MXoN
    • WSX
    • Australian SX
    • Australian MX
    • Canadian MX
    • EnduroCross
    • Straight Rhythm
  • Features
    • 10 Things
    • 30 Greatest AMA Motocrossers
    • 3 on 3
    • 250 Words
    • 450 Words
    • Arenacross Report
    • Between the Motos
    • Breakdown
    • Deals of the Week
    • GNCC Report
    • Great Battles
    • How to Watch
    • Injury Report
    • Insight
    • In the Mag, On the Web
    • Lockdown Diaries
    • Longform
    • MXGP Race Reports
    • My Favorite Loretta Lynn's Moto
    • Next
    • Next Level
    • Observations
    • On This Day in Moto
    • Open Mic
    • Privateer Profile
    • Race Day Feed
    • Racerhead
    • Racer X Awards
    • Racer X Redux
    • Rapid Reaxtion
    • RX Exhaust
    • Saturday Night Live
    • Staging Area
    • The Conversation
    • The List
    • The Lives They Lived
    • The Moment
    • Things We Learned at the Ranch
    • UnPhiltered
    • Wake-Up Call
    • Where Are They Now
    • 50 Years of Pro Motocross
  • Shop
    • New Releases
    • Men's
    • Women's
    • Youth
    • Accessories
    • Sales Rack
    • Stickers
  • About Us
  • The Mag
    • Digital Magazine Bookstand
    • Customer Care
    • Current Issue
    • Newsletter
    • Store Locator
    • Subscribe
    • Sell Racer X
  • One Click Sign-In

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    OR

    Sign in with your username and password

    • Sign In
    Unfortunately your Personalization privacy settings prevent us from showing you this Login. Please update your consent to see this content.
  • Supercross
  • News
  • Schedule
  • TV Schedule
  • Results
  • Standings
  • Teams
  • Riders
  • Tracks
  • The Vault
  • Subscribe Now
  • Table of Contents
Results Archive
Supercross
Pittsburgh
News
450SX Main Event Results
  1. Cooper Webb
  2. Chase Sexton
  3. Justin Cooper
Full Results
250SX East Main Event Results
  1. Tom Vialle
  2. Nate Thrasher
  3. Max Vohland
Full Results
GNCC
Powerline Park
News
Overall Race Results
  1. Steward Baylor
  2. Jordan Ashburn
  3. Angus Riordan
Full Results
XC2 Pro Race Results
  1. Angus Riordan
  2. Cody J Barnes
  3. Grant Davis
Full Results
Supercross
Denver
News
450SX Main Event Results
  1. Chase Sexton
  2. Cooper Webb
  3. Justin Cooper
Full Results
250SX West Main Event Results
  1. Haiden Deegan
  2. Julien Beaumer
  3. Garrett Marchbanks
Full Results
MXGP of
Portugal
News
MXGP Results
  1. Lucas Coenen
  2. Romain Febvre
  3. Ruben Fernandez
Full Results
MX2 Results
  1. Andrea Adamo
  2. Simon Längenfelder
  3. Kay de Wolf
Full Results
Upcoming
Supercross
Salt Lake City
Tomorrow
News
450SX Entry List
  1. Cooper Webb
  2. Chase Sexton
  3. Aaron Plessinger
Full Entry List
250SX Showdown Entry List
  1. Tom Vialle
  2. Chance Hymas
  3. Jordon Smith
Full Entry List
Upcoming
MXGP of
Spain
Sun May 11
News
Upcoming
GNCC
Hoosier
Fri May 16
News
Full Schedule
Open Mic: Justin Barcia

Open Mic: Justin Barcia

January 2, 2019, 4:50pm
Eric Johnson Eric Johnson
Advertisement | Advertise with Us
  • Home
  • Open Mic
  • Justin Barcia Recaps 2018, Talks Preparing For 2019  - Supercross

KYB shocks and forks are used on some of the most competitive motocross bikes available. That same high-quality has helped KYB become the world’s largest supplier of OE and aftermarket shocks and struts for cars, trucks and other vehicles. KYB global headquarters are located in Tokyo, Japan.

Advertisement | Advertise with Us
Anaheim, CA Anaheim 1 (A1)Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship
  • Share
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Race fans (including this one) may have lost sense of the fact that one Justin Barcia was very much in the deep mix of the opening phase of the 2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. In fact, the veteran Monster Energy Yamaha rider had run 3-3-8-2-5-8 during the first six rounds of the supercross tour and was a fighting second in the fierce swinging title chase before he had his right hand destroyed in a heat race incident in Arlington, Texas.

Nonetheless, Barcia kept putting the work in and found his way back onto the circuit come Minneapolis in April. The Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship also brought success, this all recognized by Yamaha in the form of a new two-year contract. So here we are, a stone’s throw away from Anaheim 1, and Justin Barcia is slowly packing his gear bag and getting into an ass-kicking state of mind. On New Year’s Day, we spoke with No. 51.

Racer X: Justin, my first question: How was Justin Barcia’s first Christmas as a married man?
Justin Barcia: It was awesome. We got to fly back to Florida for a few days and hang out with the family and the dogs and my wife. My mom cooked, which was nice. It was really chill. I can’t complain. It was awesome having some down time.

Anaheim 1 is but a mere four days away. What’s Justin Barcia’s current state of the nation right now as you begin to start your tenth professional season?
Ah man, life’s good. It’s been a good off-season and we are less than a week out for Anaheim 1. I’m just ready to go racing. Like I said, it’s been a good off-season. I went overseas to race at Geneva, which was good. I got married, which was awesome. I got to sign a two-year deal with Yamaha, which was awesome. Two thousand eighteen was very positive and I have a lot of momentum going into 2019. 

"For me, I had a great off-season and I’m happy where I’m at and I’m comfortable on the bike and I’m really comfortable with the team. We’re all working together really well." Photo Courtesy of Yamaha

I was around you and the team at the RedBud Motocross of Nations. I came to see you right after the last moto was run and when I walked into the Yamaha pit area, you were covered head-to-boot toe in mud and there were upwards of 10 people around you. Everyone looked a bit bewildered. I just realized that A1 will mark three months from the ’18 MXoN. What did you make of that whole thing?
Yeah, you know it was difficult. It was like anything where the odds could have been against us, they were against us. No excuses, but it just wasn’t ideal. We had a tough one. We tried our hardest, which we always do as racers, but yeah, it was difficult.

Anaheim 1 is but a few days out. What do you think of that baseball stadium and the races you’ve run there? Good? Bad? Indifferent?
Anaheim has been good to me. I have no complaints about Anaheim. I like going there. I think there is a lot of excitement around it and there are a lot of people there. For me, I had a great off-season and I’m happy where I’m at and I’m comfortable on the bike and I’m really comfortable with the team. We’re all working together really well. Things are going great. For me, Anaheim 1 is exciting. I’ve been waiting for this for a while now and I’m just kind of ready to get there and go racing. Obviously, that’s what we’ve all been working at, so yeah, we can say we’re great or whatever, but all in all it just comes down to Saturday night when we go racing. That’s all that matters.

You and your new rookie teammate Aaron Plessinger certainly seem to get along well. Have you guys been able to use that off-season collectivization to the optimize you, Aaron, and those YZ450Fs?
One hundred percent. Yeah, AP is a good kid. Unfortunately now, I’m the veteran! That’s kind of weird. I’m getting old. AP is like my little brother on the team, in a way. It’s funny. It’s cool. We get along really well. We have similar personalities, but we’re different at the same time, so it works well. We bounce off each other with motivation. We bond with the team well. Having a teammate that you can bond with a little more is cool, but at the end of the day we’re going racing and we both want to win, so it’s going to be fun. It’s definitely cool someone can joke around with in the semi.

"We’ll see around the halfway mark who the title contenders will be. I’ve worked my way back to the top. I was at the bottom for a bit, so I’m more grateful for the opportunity." Photo Courtesy of Yamaha
Advertisement | Advertise with Us

Well, you’ve sort of been the good man in the storm inside that Yamaha team the past year. There’s a lot to be said for that, isn’t there?
Yeah, a little bit. It’s pretty cool. I came in as a fill-in guy and did some good stuff. I was solid through the beginning of supercross and had a little injury and came back and had a couple good races and was then solid through outdoors. I don’t want to just be the solid guy. I have goals to win championships. That’s my goal and that’s what I want to do maybe before I retire. It is good being a solid racer and at the end of the day, that’s what wins championships. But for me, I didn’t win any supercross races. Still, it was a very positive and motivating year to get back on me feet, because where I was before, that was a joke. It was not good. Going into ’19, I definitely want to win a lot of races, but most of all, to be a solid guy and it’s good to have a team like factory Yamaha behind me.

Okay, so you go the starting gate at around 9 p.m. PST on Saturday night. You’ve got Anderson, Tomac, Roczen, Musquin, and all the other usual suspects lined up alongside you. What do you think, man?
Yeah, I mean you’ve got all the players in it. You have the past champion Anderson in there, you’ve got Musquin and you have Roczen. Before the season I never say, “Oh, it’s going to be this guy…” I think as the season moves on, it kind of sorts itself out a little bit and the guys kind of find their place, so for me we’ll see. We’ll see around the halfway mark who the title contenders will be. I’ve worked my way back to the top. I was at the bottom for a bit, so I’m more grateful for the opportunity. I appreciate it more now. It’s pretty cool.

  • Share
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Previous Next
250 Words: 2019 250 Class Team Guide Wed Jan 2 250 Words: 2019 250 Class Team Guide 450 Words: 2019 450 Class Team Guide Wed Jan 2 450 Words: 2019 450 Class Team Guide
Presented by:
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • Website
Advertisement | Advertise with Us
Read Now
June 2025 Issue Now Available
Get Racer X on your iPhone
Check out all the exclusive content this month on any device!
Read Now
The June 2025 Digital Issue Availalbe Now

Motocross & Supercross News - Racer X

122 Vista Del Rio Drive, Morgantown, WV 26508 | 304-284-0084 | Contact Us
©1999 - 2025 Filter Publications LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Preferences | Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
designed at: Impulse Studios