Photo by: Hoppenworld
Since turning pro in 2012, GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle has spent the better part of the last two years on the couch recovering from a laundry list of injuries, and it looked like the 2014 Monster Energy Supercross series was going to be more of the same. After making huge strides in the 2013 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, Justin looked primed to finally get his career that had been stalled due to injuries back on track in 2014. Unfortunately, a huge crash at Milestone SX while preparing sent him back to couch.
Back on December 9, 2013, we reported that Justin crashed while training for Anaheim 1 and had five broken vertebra—luckily with no spinal cord damage—and a shoulder blade. At that point, it seemed obvious that Justin would miss the entire Supercross season and, looking at the injury list, probably the outdoors as well. We weren’t alone because the GEICO squad went out and hired Blake Wharton as a fill in, so we were shocked when, just two months later, MotoXAddicts contributor Andre Barbosa shot pics of Justin training to come back at Dallas. We’re not sure how bad the vertebra fractures were, but man, the fact that he is back and landing on the podium just two rounds into the season is a testament to his doctors and to Justin’s desire to get back to work.
At round one in Dallas, Justin was solid—going from 16th on lap one to finish 5th—and at round two in Atlanta, he showed he may have something for the Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki boys before this series is over. After qualifying with the 8th fastest lap early on, Justin picked up the pace when the gate dropped on heat one and qualified a close 2nd behind Blake Baggett. In the main, the Oklahoman rounded the first turn around 10th, ended lap one in 7th and put in a very solid fifteen laps moving forward the whole race. When the checkered flag waved, Justin had finally gotten back to where we’ve all known he belongs from jump street: the podium. With his third place finish he sits 4th in the Championship—11 points behind Adam Cianciarulo—but, more importantly, has some solid confidence and momentum as the series moves to Indianapolis this weekend.
After the Atlanta SX was in the books, MotoXAddicts’ Chase Yocom tracked down Justin in the pits for an interview. You can read what the #32 had to say below.
Justin, third place on the night here in Atlanta. Can you tell us a little bit about your day?
Ah, yeah. I had my best heat race of the year so far. I ended up 2nd in that. In the main, I didn’t get a good start. I was somewhere around 8th to 10th or something and I just had to fight for it. I made some passes, capitalized on some mistakes, got into 3rd and just kind of cruised from there. I just tried to put it on the box, get a good weekend and make some progress here.
You really picked up the pace between qualifying and the heat races. Were there any big changes made to the bike throughout the day?
Yeah, a few minor changes to the bike between practice and racing, nothing too major. I like to keep my stuff pretty familiar, so a few minor changes, but I’m never that great in practice. I think I’m more of a racer, so I kind of pick it up when I need to.
I walked the track early in the day, and those whoops were huge. What were your thoughts on the whoops and the track overall?
The track was tough. It was definitely tough tonight. I loved when I got here and saw the big whoops. It’s my favorite part of the track by far and a place where you can definitely make time on people. I was pumped on that. It was technical, which is right up my alley. I like technical rhythms and stuff like that. It was good. A little bit better start and I think we’ll be in a better spot.
Georgia is known for having tacky clay, but today that did not look like the case. What did you think of the traction out there?
It was surprisingly slick. In first practice, it was sick—nice and tacky, getting real rutted up and stuff like that. It was good. But it was a little more slick than normal and a little more hard packed than when I was here last. It was still good, that just added another element to it.
We’re pretty amazed to see you out here and performing so well. I have to ask, how did you recover from those very serious injuries so fast? What’s your secret?
There was a couple of months. The first bit of that was just sitting. I did a lot of couch riding, so I was just hanging out. As soon as got to where I could do some things, I was down seeing Dr. G. (Dr. H. Rey Gubernick) out in California doing physical therapy and rehab. I gotta thank that guy so much for the help with that. And my trainer Ryan Fedorow, he’s been with me through all these ups and downs the last couple of years. He’s pushing me to be better every day. Those two guys right there I owe a lot of this to.
Alright, congrats on a great ride, and we’ll see you in Indy next week.
Thanks, right on.
