Journeys don’t often happen in a straight line, especially in a sport that can easily derail that trip with injury. But, with more than a decade of experience in the 450 division of Monster Energy Supercross and Pro Motocross series, Justin Barcia came to believe that his riding style needed adjustment.
One might be tempted to characterize success in all motorsports as patience versus aggression. That does not apply to dirt bike racing. SuperMotocross races are short in comparison to most four-wheel series, so there is rarely a time when patience comes into play. Still, Barcia began the 2024 season with a plan to walk a finer line between aggression and mindfulness.
Malcolm Stewart struggled in the opening rounds of Supercross and faded in the SuperMotocross World Championship, but he was strong in between.
“It’s very easy to go over that edge (of aggression), and I went over that edge a lot of times (during my career),” Barcia told NBC Sports before the 2024 season began. “It’s a very fine line in life. I think throughout my career, I was always a little bit overly aggressive, but … it’s my style. That’s what helps me be the racer I am.
“I had to find that level myself, not like the team telling me or the officials. I had to want to find that line. I wish it hadn’t taken me so long to find it because I could have had maybe some beneficial results or not thrown away some races.”
The 2024 season began with questions about how Dylan Ferrandis would transition to Phoenix Honda. Those queries remain.
Barcia began the Supercross season with a seventh-place finish in the first Anaheim race, which represented a solid run but was well short of his expectations considering how many opening rounds he has won in his life. He was 17th the following week in San Francisco in a race with a big, bold asterisk because heavy rain and muddy conditions marred that round. Barcia runs well in the slop, but there is a limit.
When Barcia scored his first podium of the season the following week, he found the perfect mixture. San Diego was also affected by rain, but the wet stuff stopped as the evening program, and the track gradually came to fit his riding style. Unfortunately, that success was not sustainable.
Christian Craig’s time with Husqvarna was filled with injuries but he can prove his critics wrong with a solid run at this former team.
Barcia finished outside the top 10 in his next five attempts and failed to crack the top five until Round 14 in Nashville. That is when he found his groove. Barcia finished sixth or better in the last four rounds of Supercross, started Pro Motocross with a top-five, and scored an average finish of 6.2 in the first half of the outdoor season. That is when the old bugaboo of dirt bike racing struck.
Remarkably, Barcia had been riding with a knee injury since the end of the Supercross season. With the SuperMotocross World Championship looming around the corner, he chose to sit out the final races and work on healing. Barcia qualified for the SMX Playoffs but failed to mount up for the evening program after suffering a hard crash in free practice. Replicating his runs at the beginning of Supercross, Barcia finished 12th in Round 2 of the SMX Playoffs and was eighth at Las Vegas.
Fans will have to wait and see which rider shows up at Anaheim in January and whether his determination to walk the fine line remains.
2024 Statistics
Feature starts: 24
Average feature finish: 8.71
Podiums: 1
Top-fives: 6
Top-10s: 16
Best finish: Third (San Diego SX)
SMX Standings/payout: Ninth/$90,000
2024 News
Justin Barcia to miss Pro Motocross rounds with knee injury
Barcia finds the fine line
450 Countdown
11. Malcolm Stewart
12. Dylan Ferrandis
13. Christian Craig
14. Shane McElrath
15. Dean Wilson
250 Countdown
11. Garrett Marchbanks
12. Max Anstie
13. Julien Beaumer
14. Coty Schock
15. Ryder DiFrancesco
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