You were coming pretty fast at the end. What were you seeing with the track conditions? Because it seemed like you were getting faster as the laps went on, and you were finding something with the lines. What were you seeing?
At the beginning, at least for me, I wasn't sure how fast or slow you can kind of push. Those guys really charged right away. I was waiting for the track to break in a little bit and it did and then I started getting a really good flow. You know, Justin [Barcia] made a mistake and that allowed me to get on him and then I just set my sights forward on AP [Aaron Plessinger]. I knew the lappers were gonna play a big role. It's half the battle in these mud races. So just kind of being smart and I picked up on a few lines and kept charging for it. I knew he was gonna be strong. He was strong all day and I was just hoping that I could get both, not that they made a mistake. And then, yeah, it was a little bit weird, you know, late in the race I was racing my teammate who was a lap down and that was a bit of a bummer, and I had to trade some paint with the number one there [Chase Sexton], with two to go. But overall, you know, it's mud, anything can happen. It's good to be back up here. It's great to be on the podium again.

You kind of touched on it a second ago. But can you just give us your take on the lapped rider situation? There was a hand gesture, maybe some stuff after the race as well. Can you just touch on that?
 
It was just weird, you know, it was, I knew, like, the lappers are tough, right? And then it was a very weird thing with… because even at one point I was like, "Oh well, maybe he's in second." I had to look at the board and see. So it was a bit strange and that lap, like I said, I kind of chipped away at AP, like the lappers held him up a little bit and then, you know, AP got around him and then he was, you know, I get, he was trying to get points. So that was tough. And then, yeah, that two to go, from my perspective, I felt like the [number] one [Chase Sexton] got out of AP's way and then charged forward to not be out of my way. It's my personal opinion and we hit and we both about went down and so I was a little bummed on that. I was getting lapped last weekend and felt like I was pretty respectful. So, you know, it will come around, but it's tough when you're in that position. You don't want to be getting lapped by any means. But just got respect for yours.

This is for Cooper. Everything we've learned from last week was how that was a challenging race, but it's not overly physical. It's more, you know, demanding on your brain to keep track of everything. How is this one? Because you guys were pushing the pace, you could do some jumps. I mean, if you slipped up one time, it's pretty easy to get out there. So, mentally and physically, how was it?
Yeah, this one was definitely more racy. I'd say like last weekend, at least for me, it was a survival when you made a lap you're like, "Oh, heck, yeah." Tonight, you know, you have physical because, like your heart rates up, you're able to push the track to its ability, you're dodging lappers, you're going for it and jumping the jumps, but then you can push too hard and make a mistake. So it's one of those things where I think tonight was a lot more like a physically and mentally challenging night because if you went to really push hard you could make a mistake. But tonight for sure you could try and push and try different lines and ride your motorcycle, where at least for me last weekend was just getting through it.

Obviously we saw you were gaining on Aaron at the end there. You guys are buddies, but you were going to go for the win. You mentioned that you feel you're in the fight still. Going into Anaheim 2, and it's a Triple Crown, I'm pretty sure you've got your first 450SX win at A2 a few years ago. Is that something that kind of comes up like knowing you can go into a Triple Crown in a venue where you've done well before?
Yeah, like I said, I put a big emphasis this week on getting back at it this week and round three is critical. AP doesn't know this but stats say if you win round three, I think it's 62 percent of the time you win the championship. So I put an emphasis on that. But as you can see, there's so many things to consider. I mean, there's three different winners so far, there's three mixed different podiums. So I think it's just minimizing the mistakes. Like I said, I'm hoping last weekend was my bad one and I wanna try to be on the podium as much as I can and also get my first race win. I feel like I'm in a great position to do so. We got points back, which is great, and everything's tight and it's still early. For me, it's like everyone said, Daytona is where it starts.

There was a lot of rubbing. There was a lot of hand gesturing from a lot of other guys tonight too and I think after three big races with some big point swings, tensions are ramping up. You're a two-time champion, you know the game for the mind of everybody out here. So what is the situation right now? Especially going forward because everybody's intense.
Yeah, I think we're all racing. You know, and it's gotta get intense. You're gonna have moments. But for me, I mean, I’ve been fortunate enough to race in this fast technology in time and be in this good position. So just take it with what it is. There's gonna be emotions, there's gonna be some bar banging, you're gonna have that. So it's just, at least for me, you know, try to move forward. Keep your cool. I don't know if there's gonna be much establishing, like, everyone thinks they can go win, and can. So, I think you're not gonna see that establishment until late in the year.

Justin Barcia | 3rd in 450SX

Justin, you were injured at the final SMX round and I know you were sick recently. So this is a good moment builder for you, right?

Justin Barcia: Yeah, absolutely. Last year was crazy. Double collarbones, three total surgeries actually. So, yeah, that was a nightmare, honestly, and yeah the sickness last weekend was the most bizarre thing I've ever experienced. I had a crazy rash. I don't know how I raced last weekend. I mean, you guys saw the video when I go down the star and almost tanked it, I just couldn't hold on. So it was a bit of a nightmare. But, yeah, what we did this weekend was absolutely awesome. Felt really good, just kinda staying in my lane. You know, I didn't feel the greatest, but I ride well in those conditions and this is a really cool podium. We've all been teammates on this table together. All three of us have to train together at my facility in Florida. I was just kind of sitting back and looking at this table. This is a really cool table. We all kind of grew up riding together, in our professional career we've all trained together, we've been teammates, this is a really cool podium and I'm super proud to be on this podium tonight. And yeah, just keep plugging along, get strong and hopefully a lot more podiums with these boys.

Talk about dissecting the track really early in the moto. You were kind of midpack or making your way through a track that had changed quite a bit since the first time you've been out there.
Yeah, definitely. That was a good track. I liked how Dirt Wurx cleaned it up and we were able to do the jumps and get a flow and the lines were changing. It was getting better and better throughout the whole race. Unfortunately, I had that one mistake where I couldn’t triple and I gave that position up to Cooper [Webb]. So we lost a lot of time there, which was a bummer, but I just held a consistent third throughout the race and managed the gap from behind and kept kind of pushed forward and minimized mistakes. But, it definitely got a little bit tight tonight and like AP was saying, you know, the faster you go the easier it is in those conditions. Unfortunately I was a little tight so I just couldn't let the bike do its thing like I usually do in those conditions so all in all, definitely a difficult race. But I had a lot of fun, I love those conditions and just looking forward to getting stronger and stronger throughout the year.