Justin Barcia will return to the track this weekend for the beginning of the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) on September 7, 2024, at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina, to evaluate his level of fitness and challenge for the $1 million prize that goes to the series winner.
“I had to take off quite a few Motocross races,” Barcia said last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway in a press conference to kick off the SMX playoffs. “I was struggling with the knee and the hamstring on separate sides, so that took longer than expected. I was planning on coming back to Motocross and doing a few races, but it didn’t work out as I planned.
“I guess getting old. It takes longer to recover.”
Barcia suffered his injury before the Supercross season finale in Salt Lake City and tried to ride through the pain but ultimately decided the best course of action was to allow his knee to heal.
At the time, he expected to skip three or four rounds and possibly return to his home state track and the Unadilla National. He was sixth in SuperMotocross points with a 282-point gap over 21st and knew he would not lose his automatic guaranteed starting position in the playoff features.
Prior to the news conference, Barcia had only six days on the bike, but he does not believe that will hinder his effort, stating he is “more of a racer than a practicer.”
Barcia spent the final six Motocross races in rehab in the United Kingdom, his wife’s native country.
“It’s like a fresh start for me,” Barcia said. “The season is kind of one-and-done for the rest of the field; they’re looking at next year. And I’m looking at, alright, three more races. I can go out in these three races and show what I got. Am I 100 percent? No. But it’s great there are some races I can do.”
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