JOHN BASHER’S INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK: JUSTIN BARCIA

Interview/Photos by John Basher

A change of scenery can make all the difference in a racer’s career trajectory. Take Justin Barcia. The two-time 250 regional Supercross Champion was a tenured Honda rider. He moved up to the 450 class in 2013 as part of the factory Honda effort and had flashes of brilliance, but the relationship soured during the 2014 Supercross campaign. An injury knocked Bam Bam out of last year’s Nationals. Before he knew it, Barcia was out at Honda. That’s when JGR came calling.

At first the JGR/Justin Barcia pairing didn’t appear to be working out. Barcia struggled on the Yamaha YZ450F. Then, he crashed out of the Supercross series. Fortunately, things turned around for Justin and JGR during the AMA Nationals. Now everything seems rosy in the JGR camp, evidenced by Barcia’s recent re-signing with the North Carolina-based team in a deal that will keep Justin on board through 2018. I sat down with Justin Barcia this past week after he wrapped up a day of Motocross des Nations testing at the JGR facility. He was very candid and relaxed, obvious signs that Justin is happy with how things are going.

You caught fire on the second half of the 450 Nationals.
A little [laughter]. I wish things had stayed that way.

What was the reason for the upswing in results? I got a bit of confidence after winning at Budds Creek. I had a good race in the mud. Then people were doubting that I couldn’t back things up in the dry conditions, and I won at Red Bud. It was awesome, because it was the first time I ever beat [Ryan] Dungey straight up. That was really cool. Confidence definitely helped, but really I think it was getting more comfortable on my dirt bike. I had been putting my time in during the off-season, but it took me longer than I thought it would to get used to a different motorcycle. We were testing different things, and it took some time to find a comfortable setting with the bike. Then I had a couple of injuries in Supercross, so that messed me up.

What sold you on the idea of signing with Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of last year? I was looking for a change, because I wasn’t happy with where I was at. I was searching, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I pretty much could have raced for any team, but I came up to Gibbs and they made me feel like family right away. I get along with everyone on the team. It’s not that I just like Jeremy [Albrecht] or Coy [Gibbs] or Johnny [Oler] or my mechanic, Ben [Schiermeyer]. I get along with everyone. We all bond pretty good. I just re-signed for another three years, and I’m really happy about that. Now I don’t have to worry about anything but training and riding my dirt bike. There are big things to come, for sure. I’ll continue getting used to my dirt bike. Don’t get me wrong, I’m used to the bike now, but I want to keep learning new things about the bike.

You and your mechanic, Ben, are really close. How important is the rider/mechanic bond? Oh man, it’s so special. I was with “Schnike” [Mike Tomlin] for a long time. He was my mechanic starting my last year as an amateur, and I knew him way before that when he worked for Ryan Mills. We had a great relationship. Unfortunately we couldn’t work together anymore. Fortunately Ben and I hit it off right away. He likes the same stuff that I like – cars, trucks, and bicycles. Even Jeremy Albrecht said, “I don’t know how you guys hang out together so much and not fight.” Usually people that hang out together every single day do fight, but we never argue. This morning Ben and I went running together, then I hopped in the truck and went to the track. Later we’ll meet up again and ride bicycles. That’s just our routine. He takes care of the bike, and I ride the bike.

You seem passionate about all forms of racing, evidenced by the fact that you would take redeye flights during the Nationals just so you could get back home to compete in mountain bike races the next morning. How good are you on a mountain bike? I would say that right now I’m better on a road bike than the mountain bike, just because I’ve been putting in so many hours on the road bike. It’s easier for me to go back to the shop and hop on my road bike, instead of having to drive to the mountain bike trails. I’m kind of into lots of different types of training. For some reason I’ve been into running these past two weeks. Ben and I want to do a triathlon, so we’ve been training for that. Back to your question, I do like mountain biking a lot. We were racing mountain bikes quite a bit at the beginning of the season, but now I’m more into road biking.

“NOW I KNOW WHAT MY BODY NEEDS. OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE ALWAYS THINGS I AN PUT IN MY PROGRAM TO MAKE ME BETTER, BUT I KNOW WHAT I NEED TO DO. IF I’M NOT FIT THEN IT’S MY FAULT AND NO ONE ELSE’S. I DON’T NEED TO PAY SOMEONE A TON OF MONEY TO SAY, ‘HEY, GO RIDE YOUR BICYCLE.’ I CAN TELL MYSELF TO DO THAT NOW IN THIS POINT IN MY CAREER.”

Has it been challenging in finding out what works for you in terms of training for motocross? Oh man, it has been really tough! I’ve been through quite a few different trainers and programs in figuring out what’s best for me. What I’ve learned is that learning and knowing my body and doing things myself is best for me. I have a lot of people come up to me at the races and tell me that they can take me to the next level if I get on their program. I giggle inside, because I’ve been through everything. Now I know what my body needs. Obviously there are always things I can put in my program to make me better, but I know what I need to do. If I’m not fit then it’s my fault and no one elses. I don’t need to pay someone a ton of money to say, ‘Hey, go ride your bicycle.’ I can tell myself to do that at this point in my career. Maybe when I was 16 years old it was tougher for me to make that choice, but now I know that if I’m not in really good shape then I’ll suffer on the track.

It seems that with a 450, especially with the power, that riders would want to bulk up to handle the bike. However, that’s not really the case, is it? No, not really. Sure, there’s some weight lifting going on during the off-season. I do a lot of cycling and running, as well as push-ups and things like that. In my 250 days I lifted a lot of weights, but it didn’t suit my training style. A guy like Mike LaRocco was gnarly, because he would do a lot of weight lifting, running and cycling. He was that bad of a dude. I’m a bicycle guy. It fits my style of training, and I feel like it makes me tough.

You were a holeshot machine during the 450 Nationals, crossing the chalk line first in 11 motos. Yet things weren’t clicking in Supercross. Why? We really struggled with starts in Supercross, but then we figured things out. The bike is so fast and is capable of so much power, but we smoothed out the engine to fit my style. Once we realized that, things started clicking. It’s awesome. I thought I had lost my ability to get good starts, because it had been years since I was running up front all the time. The bike is good, and I’m really happy with how the power curve is. It’s definitely an animal and can get away from you quickly. A 450 is challenging. I always wanted to ride it like a 250. Sometimes I still try to wring its neck, but I try to respect the bike more than I did in the past.

“MY BRAIN DOESN’T UNDERSTAND HOW TO GO FASTER. I WOULD TELL OTHER TRAINERS THAT I’M GOING AS FAST AS I POSSIBLY CAN. I WOULD REV THE ENGINE AND GO ALL OUT, BUT IT WASN’T THE RIGHT WAY TO DO THINGS.”

Why the change in riding style? I was getting smoked by everyone [laughter]. Really, though, I brought Buddy Antunez into my program. He’s really good at explaining things. Buddy is the type of guy that tells me how to go faster, rather than just saying that I need to go faster. My brain doesn’t understand how to go faster. I would tell other trainers that I’m going as fast as I possibly can. I would rev the engine and go all out, but it wasn’t the right way to do things. Buddy is awesome, because he tells me where to go faster, how to go faster, and he points out flaws in my approach. He reminds me to shift up, stay off the clutch, and do the littlest things that you would think a professional racer would know how to do. His Arenacross background helps a lot, because on those tracks you have to be so perfect. A little mistake will cost a lot of time in Arenacross. Bringing him on has been huge, and I’ve been getting better and better because of him. Buddy actually flew out to North Carolina quite a few times, and he’s coming out to help me again before the Motocross des Nations. He’s a big part of why my year turned around.

What is your approach in racing Ryan Dungey? He’s definitely a different rider. He’s very smooth, and also very respectful on the track. I was always really aggressive with everyone I raced against, but he’s a little easier to race with, because he’s not going to clean me out. Or at least I don’t think he will. I’ve never really seen him clean a guy out. The races that we have battled it out have been fun. The racing has been clean. I do wish that we raced together more often! Before I was way too aggressive and over the top. I don’t think he cared for it. This year we definitely had some really good battles and were respectful of each other. It was the great outdoors, and I had fun battling with him when I could. Ryan is a tough guy to race against. He’s smooth, consistent, and he puts himself in the right place a lot of the time.

You won’t have much of an off-season, with the Motocross des Nations and Monster Cup. Is that tough? You’re right, although I didn’t race much of the Supercross series this year. It was unfortunate, but I look it as that being my off-season. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. I missed a lot of Supercross, so I need to keep going when everyone else is taking time off. I’m happy to build my base and get stronger. When I get back from Europe I’ll go right into Supercross testing. Maybe next year I’ll take off a little bit of time.

How did everything come together with the Motocross des Nations invite, and was it an easy decision to make? It’s funny how it came together. I got a phone call from Roger DeCoster asking if I wanted to race Motocross des Nations. I said, “Yes.” That was pretty much it. I didn’t need to think about it. I’ve gone twice before, and we came up short both times I was there. I want to get that number one plate back. I had a fairly good year and was pretty consistent. I wish that I had been more consistent at the beginning of the season, but I struggled. I learned from it, and the team is strong going into France. Obviously there’s going to be a lot of competition, and it won’t be easy. We’ll bring the best that we can and see how it goes.

If you ask me, it comes down to Team USA against Team France for the Chamberlain Trophy. Do you scout the competition? That’s what everyone is saying. I do watch the MXGP series. I like their racing a lot. It’s really cool, because their tracks are so challenging. It’s very different over there compared to here in the U.S. Our tracks get tilled up really deep and are wet in the morning. Their tracks start out dry and are a little different. While people are saying that it’s between us and France, you never really know which teams are going to be strong. I’m just going into it with a blank slate. I know what we need to do to win. First, we need to stay off the ground. Second, we have to be fast. Third, we need to be consistent. I know that we’ll be fast. Jeremy has been there and has won AMA Championships. He’s smart enough to know to be consistent. Cooper killed it this year. He came back really strong after his injury, and that’s awesome. He rides a 450 pretty well, too. I know that our team will have a lot of heart.

Do you have a good relationship with Jeremy and Cooper? I don’t really hang out with those guys, but I really respect them. They’re also my teammates, as they both ride for Yamaha. I like both of them. Jeremy and Cooper are super hard workers, and it shows. That’s why we got picked. We put ourselves in the right positions, and that’s a cool deal to get selected for Team USA.

Thanks for your time, Justin, and bring the Chamberlain Trophy home with you. Thanks, John. I’ll do my best to make that happen.