What do you think of when you think of Justin Hill? You could ask ten people that question and get ten completely different answers. It’s not surprising, either, his results have run the gamut from outstanding, including a 2017 250SX west championship, to bringing up the rear. Well, last week in Anaheim, Hill was great. He looked sharp and earned eighth on in the 450SX main event. Even so, when we caught up to him on press day [Friday] in San Diego and congratulated him on his night, he didn’t seem eager to accept praise.
“Just because it’s Anaheim, and I always suck there, I thought a top ten would be good. That’s what I had in my head,” Hill explained. “I typically have a slow burn and get going as the year goes on, and we get to some more tracks that suit my style. I didn’t love the track and I didn’t feel like I rode that great. I think I have more promising, technical aspects of my game I haven’t brough out yet. I’m excited to just do that. Getting in the top ten was acceptable, because I’m not supposed to be in the top ten. I’m supposed to get beat by sixteen of these guys. On paper, it was awesome, but I definitely have a lot more in the tank.
“So many of my parts of my race structure were wrong. My starts were garbage, I was seventeenth in the third corner, and there’s no excuse to be in that position, literally ever. To be upright, on two wheels, and be that far back, is silly. I felt like I was out of position a lot, I felt like I was rushing the beginning of the turns, and I felt like I was not committing to my lines and I was dragging the brakes in the apex a lot. There was so much I did wrong. It’s impossible to have a night and none of those things happen, it’s really hard to have those kinds of nights, especially at this level when you have so much pressure all over you.”
Pressure or no, Hill thinks the single most important thing he didn’t do was maintain aggression when catching guys in front of him.
“It was good to get my feet wet riding with those guys because I understood where I fell short the most. It was how I interreacted with those guys when I came up on them with a lot of speed. I came up on them outpacing them, yet I let them dictate my next four laps. That’s complete nonsense. I should have been battling with Eli [Tomac] for that fifth spot in the end, just based on my race and what I did. That obviously didn’t happen. He went by me and diced up the guys I’d been stuck behind. Just maintaining focus and drive to beat the person I see in front of me and go by them as quickly as I can. If I can keep that mindset then we’re good.”
Hill admits that, while he’s not as old as some of his fellow racers (he turned pro in 2013), he’s feeling the pressure to perform while he still can.
“I probably wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing, the way I’m doing it, if there wasn’t pressure for me, thinking the door could be closing sooner rather than later,” Hill says. “I probably could have just taken a seat out here for more time, as opposed to knowing it’s a young man’s sport, and it’s too gnarly to just go out there and exist. I just needed to quit being a bitch and figure it out and do it right. I’ve been pretty open about this, but I’ve never done it correctly, ever, in my career. That’s not something I’m proud of, I wish I would have figured it out sooner, of course. I don’t have anything figured out, and that’s a realization. You need to plug away and try really hard, at everything. If you do that, you’ll probably get further along than if not. That’s where I’m at, and hopefully that mindset will keep me around for a bit longer.”
