Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing’s Justin Cooper announced on Instagram last night that he has suffered an injury to his foot. Cooper explained that small crash resulted in his bike landing on him, and that caused a broken bone in his foot. However, with just over three weeks until the 250SX West Region kicks off (February 20 at the Orlando 2 Supercross), Cooper said in the post he will “be at round 1 ready to go.”

With Colt Nichols and Christian Craig competing in the 250SX East Region, the remaining four Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing riders (Cooper, Jeremy Martin, Jarrett Frye, and Nate Thrasher) are all expected to compete in the 250SX West Region. Thrasher was on the entry list for the Houston 3 Supercross but he did not compete and we confirmed with him that he is expected to begin racing at the first 250SX West Region round.

Cooper is a favorite for the 250SX  West division, but it will be interesting to see the impact of the injury. Cooper made his AMA Supercross debut in 2018 but was sidelined with an injury after the opening round. In his two full seasons of supercross, Cooper finished second in his region with 180 points both seasons: 2019 in the 250SX East Region and 2020 in the 250SX West Region. He earned his maiden 250SX main event win at the 2020 Anaheim 1 Supercross. Cooper has 11 career 250SX main event podium finishes in his 19 starts.

The New York native made his pro debut with the Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing team during the 2017 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship and in August 2020 signed a new contract with the team that will see him on a Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing YZ250F through the remainder of his 250 career. In an interview with Eric Johnson, Cooper said: “Basically, I’m with Yamaha until I’m done with the 250 and then from there, we’ll see what’s next. But yeah, I could stay with them for the rest of my career. I feel like they’re a good team and they put a lot of work in like I do and in order to succeed, I feel like that’s what I need in this class.”