Seven races down and two to go for the 2017 Western Regional 250SX Championship, and Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Justin Hill has an 18-point lead. While Justin has won four of the last five main events and now has a semi comfortable lead with just two main events left, it has not been a cake walk for the #46. If not for Troy Lee Designs / Red Bull / KTM’s Shane McElrath’s mechanical failure while leading in Arlington, this series would have been as close as the other two championships heading into the final rounds.
But Shane did have that mechanical failure and Justin came into a very gnarly Seattle SX in protection mode with a 21-point lead over Star Racing / Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger and a 25-point lead over McElrath. The very rutted and rocky circuit in Seattle fit Plessinger’s style perfectly, but Justin still hung on for a second place finish on the night. Now, with just two races left on the schedule, Plessinger has some momentum, but Justin has firm control of the points.
After Justin’s second in Seattle, we talked to the red plate holder during the press conference and after the press conference one on one.
Justin, second place on the night in Seattle, how are you feeling about your ride?
I’m not feeling great about it. I like to win. I don’t like to lose, so I’m not super excited about the night. The big picture is we only have two races left after tonight with a big points lead. The big picture helps it not sort of hurt so much.
You were pretty aggressive early on in the main event. Do you feel that with the situation a little bit different you could have challenged for the win tonight with Aaron [Plessinger], or were you just playing it a little bit conservative?
Yeah, I was probably playing it more conservative than I needed to. There’s definitely things I think I could have done to go for him, but Aaron was on rails. It was one of those deals where it was risk versus reward. I really was like in awe of how gnarly the track was. There was stuff he was doing and he was making it look easy. It was not easy. But I can’t really complain. I’ve been off the podium one time and with four wins, so I’m really excited just about this season. I didn’t think when I came in busted shoulder, not thinking I was going to be where I’m at—I’m pumped with it.
You’ve raced here before. I think the only one up there that has. How does this track compare to other Seattle supercrosses you’ve raced?
It was not this gnarly in ‘14. Not even close. I was just impressed it wasn’t a mud hole. Once again we were sitting here looking at it and just watching it rain and saying, “Ah, dude, this is going to suck.” They fixed it. They made it not completely a mud hole. So I was excited about that. Like Aaron was saying, it was seriously just like everything was sketchy, and it was gnarly. I just did what I could. I played it really conservative but he was killing some of those sections and making them look easier than they were, really. It was just gnarly out there. But it was not as gnarly in ’14. Not even close.
It’s always been really really rutty here in Seattle, but what were the biggest differences in the track this year?
The big difference was it was extremely really, really, really, super duper rutty. (laughs) Those were the big major differences. It was seriously—all joking aside—one of the nastiest things I’ve raced. I thought Oakland was pretty gnarly, but Oakland still had an actual track layout where the jumps were still there. For this race, everything just went away, became rolled and was like an outdoor track. It was super bumpy and rutted and it fit AP’s style really well. He just killed it, straight up!
Was there any point in the race where you felt you might catch Aaron?
There may have been one point where I thought, “Okay, maybe I can lay it all down and and make it happen,” but he was riding good. There was so much maybe I could try to do, but he was riding really good; who knows if it would have worked. I could have threw it all away trying. I feel like I played it really safe, but I’m happy. Big picture, you know.
You have an 18-point lead now with two rounds left on the schedule. Does the Las Vegas format with the East/West racing against each other for points scare you at all? That could potentially change a lot in one main event.
Yeah, I don’t want to have to race Vegas. (laughs) I don’t think it’s going to be that cool. I’ve won the shoot-out before, and they don’t count it when they talk about it, so what’s the deal on that? If I don’t have to race Vegas [if he has the title won after SLC], I’m happy. I will race it obviously anyway, but I’d like to get it done next weekend. But we’ll just see. We’re going to do the best we can do, and it it’s good enough, it’s good enough.
What are your plans for the week off for Easter coming up?
I know a lot of stuff I did wrong and I’m going to fix those things. That’s really it. I got homework I’m going to do and things I already know I got to change. Seven weeks off is like a brand new series. It’s like it’s already been a year, so I’m happy to come away from here with a second at a really dicey venue. Tonight could have been a possible shakeup that didn’t happen, so I’m excited.
Photos by: Ryne Swanberg
