JUSTIN COOPER - GRIT 257 450SX

GRIT-257 | 450 SX

July 12th, 2024 2:30 pm

The New York native would continue to aspire for podiums as he and the rest of his team arrived into the Red Bud facility. There was no question, as to how much talent Justin Cooper possessed...and the athlete aboard the number thirty-two machine strove to further his resumé as racers aligned on the starting grid for moto-one on Saturday. He and the rest of the field would storm through the opening corner, funneling into the various switchback(s) that followed before entering into the Pro Section...and Cooper appeared to occupy a standing of fourth, while trailing Chase Sexton. He would have Jason Anderson trailing his rear wheel, but Cooper didn't seem to acknowledge the Kawasaki rider who was behind him and instead, focused on the path to catching the athlete aboard the number seven machine. Once surpassing the twenty-minute mark, Cooper was now within the realm of overtaking Aaron Plessinger...and would do so, with a monstrous jump over LaRocco's Leap while simultaneously taking the third-place position! With Hunter Lawrence crashing in the latter stage, it seemed as if Cooper could surpass the damaged Honda rider...but it was to no avail - and Justin was forced to occupy third, as the checkered flag was thrown. For the second moto, Justin's start and initial burst of speed didn't seem to be a replicated effort of what had transpired in the early stages of moto one. He seemed to be established in somewhat of a slower flow, when in comparison to what had occurred hours prior. Cooper was still excelling at phenomenal speeds, yet it took him a while to truly get going among this rough and rutted raceway. And a mistake on the second lap, would deter him to tenth. It was at that point, when Justin decided to outlast many of his competitors, and capitalize on their fatigue in the latter stages of the moto. Ruts that were once pristine, had now decayed and became too deep to be occupied...and Cooper was one of the first athletes to notice sequences like that. He always appeared one step ahead, of most of the competition - resulting in passes that overtook Kyle Webster and Garrett Marchbanks, on the same lap! This led to a final battle within the last four laps or so...between he and Malcolm Stewart. He seemed to gain time on the Husqvarna rider, while then relinquishing speed to the twenty-seven speed in certain aspects of the course. But in the end, with only seconds remaining on the final lap, Cooper appeared to sweep by the Florida native en route to a well-respected sixth place moto score...which categorized him in fifth overall, among final standings.

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