Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper scores a top-five finish in his 450 Pro Motocross debut at the High Point National
MARIETTA, Ga. – June 16, 2024 – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper earned a 4-6 moto score on a track he normally doesn’t gel with, ending the day fifth overall at the High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania. Four rounds into the season, the rookie maintains a strong fourth in the Pro Motocross 450MX Championship standings.
Thunderstorms the evening before the 47th running of the High Point National presented challenges with changing track conditions as the race day went on. Cooper qualified eighth in the tricky conditions, and then in Moto 1, he got a great start in third. Under pressure, he fought off the competition to maintain the final podium spot but then went down on Lap 4. The New Yorker rejoined and would continue to battle to finish fourth. In Moto 2, Cooper did not get the start he was hoping for and found himself 11th after the first lap. He quickly went to work and put his head down, making his way to sixth, where he would finish to secure fifth overall. Cooper heads into the break maintaining fourth in the 450MX Championship standings and trailing the leader by 28 points.
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing returns to action in two weeks’ time as racing resumes on June 29 with Round 5 of Pro Motocross and Round 22 of the SuperMotocross World Series at The Wick 338 in Southwick, Massachusetts.
Jeremy Coker – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager
“All in all, it was a good day. Justin had a decent qualifying and a really good first moto with a good start. In the second moto, he kind of had a bad start and had to fight his way through the pack, and ended up with a good overall in fifth. We’ll go back to work and keep fighting and come back better after the break.”
Justin Cooper – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #32
“The day went well. I struggled a little bit in practice. It started out pretty wet and we got some weather, so I rode a little bit timid in practice, but in the motos it came around. I felt really good in the first moto, then I laid it down when I was in third, and I ended up fourth in that one. In the second moto, I got shuffled around in the first turn, so I was pretty far back, but I actually felt better in that moto. I was working my way through the pack, and sixth was all I could really do in that one. Overall, I was just happy with where we left off. Usually, I’m not so good at this track, so I was happy to find a good flow.”
