Supercross: Justin Barcia Ready For Daytona

Shan Moore | March 7, 2014
Justin Barcia

Justin Barcia was one of the riders attending today’s media day at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for tomorrow’s running of the Daytona Supercross by Honda, which is held in the infield of the speedway.

Team Muscle Milk Honda rider skipped the last two rounds of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series due to injuries suffered in two crashes during practice at the Atlanta round three weeks ago.

Before making a lap for the cameras, Barcia said that he feels like he’s 100% for tomorrow race.

“I know Daytona is a rough track and it’s probably not the best race to come back at, but I think I’m ready,” said Barcia. “I rode this whole week and I felt pretty good, so I made the decision to go ahead and race.”

Barcia bruised his knee and his ankle when he went down in Atlanta, and explained that he was pretty sore for the next few days, but added that he felt there was no permanent damage that might bother him later on down the road.

“I just had to make a decision at Atlanta whether to ride or to sit out and we just decided not to take any risks of hurting myself any further. I’ve seen some great doctors in Tallahassee the last few weeks, and this week went good, so I’m ready to rip it up.”

Because of its sandy nature, Daytona is perhaps the roughest track on the supercross circuit, and both the riders and the mechanics have to make adjustments accordingly.

“Daytona has always been a lot different from the rest of the supercross series just because of the sand, and the fact that it’s a longer course, too,” said Barcia. “The dirt is extremely soft compared to the rest of the tracks and it gets really rutted and bumpy. It’s definitely a lot faster then most supercross tracks, because you have those long lanes going back and forth.”

Racing gets underway tomorrow, March 8th, at 7:00 PM Eastern Time with opening ceremonies. 

Shan Moore | Contributing Editor

Moore covers all facets of off-road racing for Cycle News – from AMA Supercross and Motocross to GNCC and National Hare Scrambles events.