At the 2023 Glendale Supercross, Justin Barcia picked up third overall after recording 3-6-2 finishes in the three Triple Crown races. Despite the hardpack conditions, which resulted in blue-groove marks throughout the track by the end of the night, the hard-on-the-throttle #51 was able to navigate the slick conditions well. Barcia picked up his fourth podium finish of the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season and is continuing to show he still has a lot left in the tank, despite turning 31 years old at the end of March. He has shown improved speed mid-season, which he credited to a fork adjustment ahead of the Daytona SX, and has clicked off the fastest lap time in a handful of the last few 450SX main events.
Barcia also wants to continue racing past this season. His current GasGas contract is up at the end of the ’23 AMA calendar year, but the New York native has been hinting toward wanting to re-sign with the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas team for next year.
He mentioned an update on the contract negotiations and more in the post-race press conference in Arizona.
You’re up on the podium again, congrats. Are you still happy to be up here [on the podium] or do you feel like it’s just been making you more hungry to get a win?
Barcia: Definitely more hungry. I love a podium. The racing was really good tonight. That last race was really cool. Just was charging hard. Felt really good. The bike has been really good the past few weekends. Defiinitly confidence is up there. Searching for that win for sure, but we gotta take steps for sure. I’ll keep taking these podiums, I’m happy with it. But definitely a second would be good and a first would be even better so we’ll keep plugging away and going at it. My starts were a little better tonight. I made some good changes in the off week. Yeah, looking forward to getting a holeshot here soon and trying to win one of these.
I think this was your first Triple Crown overall podium. Is that kinda weird to you? You’ve always been a really good starter and you’ve found the speed recently, but you haven’t really had the starts. Is that weird for you that you’ve never had a podium in this format?
Yeah, it is a bit odd, I would have thought I would have gotten one by now. But I’ll take it now, for sure. [Laughs] It’s all about getting good starts, putting clean laps in, minimizing mistakes. I was pretty stoked on the team and myself tonight. We made some minor tweaks on the bike throughout the events and my riding was really good on this hardpack. I’m not known to, you know, have the best throttle control, I kinda twist that thing hard. So tonight was good. I had some good stuff going on. And I was quite stoked to adapt to the track. These guys were riding unbelievable. And I’m just really happy to be up here and get a podium on a Triple Crown. It’s pretty cool. A good achievement, I supposed, finally. [Laughs]
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"The steel frame this year is a little bit stiffer, so it just works good in all conditions. We got the suspension working good. I’m happy on the result. And happy with how the team has been working." - Justin Barcia Align Media ![]()
Align Media ![Through the first 12 rounds of 2023, Barcia sits fifth in the 450SX standings.]()
Through the first 12 rounds of 2023, Barcia sits fifth in the 450SX standings. Align Media
You mentioned the bike and you’ve looked really comfortable lately. This Glendale was a little later in the schedule, compared to what it has been, January, February, the last couple years. Did that kind of help you having this race later in the season where you are more comfortable with the bike and not chasing the settings as you would be earlier in the season. What is that approach having races in the same venue but in different parts of season compared to previous years?
Yeah, it’s good. I’m happy with how the schedule has been. It’s good to come in here and be set on the bike and have some confidence. And honestly, like I’ve said, we’ve just done little clicks here and there, so the bike hasn’t changed too much. It really adapts to these tracks really well. The steel frame this year is a little bit stiffer, so it just works good in all conditions. We got the suspension working good. I’m happy on the result. And happy with how the team has been working.
Last week, we tested during the week. Austria sent some parts and honestly, the bike is in a place right now where it’s just good. I tried some stuff, but I just kept the same thing because I’m just happy with it. No need to change it, just keep performing.
One last one for you. We know you may be in talks with GasGas about another contract. Is there any update there? Can you share any news?
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Contract is… [Laughs] TK [Tyler Keefe, Troy Lee Designs’ Director of Motorsports] was here today actually. It’s cool to have him at the race. And he said he got it in his inbox. So hopefully we get that wrapped up next week. But the plan is to do two more years with them [GasGas]. And yeah, we’ll see where that brings. It’s hard to step away from the sport, especially when the riding is so good. And definitely want to do another two years and if I can do some more, so be it.
