JUSTIN COOPER - GRIT 247 450SX

GRIT-247 | 450 SX

May 20, 2024 9:45 am

Significant precipitation had fallen onto the racecourse throughout the week in Massachusetts, creating another damp environment for these 450cc SX athletes to compete in. However, New York's Justin Cooper was ready for whatever was thrown his way - remaining rather stoic as he scoured puddles around the course in the days prior. Nevertheless, he upshifted and rolled onto the racetrack with confidence, and immediately attempted to conduct as many prolific combinations as possible. He was noted by many on the track alongside him, earning respect from his opponents long before the field assembled on the starting gate for the first heat of the evening. Shifting into gear, he would round the first few laps near a standing of second while doing everything possible to obtain clear vision and pass race leader, Eli Tomac. Piecing together many instances of weaving from inside to outside, there were various occasions where he attempted to combat the pace of his teammate, though the veteran was riding extremely well out front. Seat-hopping over the smallest of three-footed faces, he was landing amongst rutted transitions (already) that were quite difficult...which ultimately, led to his downfall (or at least it appeared). When on the fourth lap, Cooper would undergo a violent crash that sent him flying off the raceway. Saved by a pile of mud that had been scraped off of the track, he was visibly shaken...but appeared relatively injury free, before departing from the race. Into the LCQ he would go, and once in the high stakes format, he did what was necessary to acquire second in the running order and a main event transferring designation. From the moment the timer began to tick in Massachusetts, for the main event, Cooper was on a path to redemption. The latter half of the top-ten, weren't far off of the podium realm so to speak which initially included the athlete abroad the number thirty-two machine. The whoops were treacherous, with riders slipping from atop the moguls and veering into tuff-blocks on either side - and it was easy to fall into that trap, with Husqvarna's Malcolm Stewart pursuing him for what seemed like an eternity. The fight for milliseconds were crucial when weaving across the start straightaway, with bowl turns now rutted beyond belief, and the transitions of the start stretch rhythm lane now hardly recognizable. Through the fourteenth minute, he appeared to be on pace to secure a position of single digit territory...though the fight for seventh, eighth, and ninth, was very difficult to differentiate. Though eventually unable to overtake Hunter Lawrence in the final moments, a valiant effort was put forth by Cooper as in totality, he'd worked his way around opponents like Justin Hill, Justin Barcia, and Shane McElrath - equating to eighth overall, in the final standings.

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