Hill ready to mix it up in Tampa

Justin Hill, speaking ahead of this Saturday night’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship round at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

“The biggest jump in the world is going from being really good to elite,” he says. “I might sound nuts, but I’m going to Tampa to win.”

The Team Tedder/Monster Energy Racing rider has had a solid start to his 2025 supercross campaign, placing eighth, 14th, 15th and sixth at Anaheim 1, San Diego, Anaheim 2 and Glendale, respectively.

“I’m headed back from Arizona now,” said Hill. “We stayed and we were intending on riding this week. My mechanic had to rip back. We kind of had some ‘what have yous’ go on with engines, because I threw an engine at San Diego when I had that 14^th place because my plate fell off in the first turn crash. Then from there the filter fell out. So I was riding the bike with it just sucking sand and dirt. I can’t even believe the bike made it.

“At the end the bike was ruined, but I finished the race with a pit stop. So we had some stuff that we had to do. We had to work double-time and get some engines back over to Mitch Payton so that we could get some engines back into rotation.

Currently 11th in the points four rounds into the ’25 racing season, the Oregon native believes he is right where he needs to be.

“It has been good,” he said. “I got through the San Diego race, and with the way that I felt that night, I think I could have had a top five finish. I felt like I was really onto something. Then we go to A2, that’s when I finally came down with what everybody had. I just felt like death. I had just no energy. I could barely drum up the energy to ride the bike. I just felt so drained. So obviously that was just a really tough night. I just struggled a lot getting my body doing what I wanted it to be doing.

“Man, that’s really it. A1, I was like, ‘OK, good start. This is right where I want to be at the beginning. Alright, it’s on. We’re going up from here.’ Now, after round four, this is where I wanted to be after round two, you know? But it’s good. I’m happy. In that process I’ve learned so much in two weeks. I can’t complain about where I’m at. I think the way that I’m doing this sport now, I’m only going to get better. I’m just looking forward to it. As long as I keep plugging away and keep moving and just keep believing that I can be the guy that’s going to get even better, I’m good with everything. The biggest jump in the world is going from being really good to elite. It’s just such an interesting thing. Mentally, I’m in an awesome place.

Hill comes straight off a fighting sixth place overall finish over at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, and he now hopes to further optimize his momentum as he heads east.

“That start in the final main at Glendale was the very first start where I actually leaked out front and passed the guys,” he said. “:I actually got to the first turn at the same time as the leaders. I had a really garbage gate pick on the far outside, but with that being said, that was the very first time that I entered that corner with the guys. I learned and changed a couple of major things. That didn’t seem major in my head, but then I did them and I’m like, ‘Oh, those are major changes.’ So now I know how I’m going to start this weekend in Tampa. If I can just keep that same routine that I just learned in place, I think my starts are going to improve like crazy. That can be huge for me.

“I’m now going to a place where I have honestly had some really killer races. I walk into that stadium and that big old, wrecked pirate ship and I’m like, ‘You know what? This place is cool.’”

A key factor in Hill’s on-track success thus far in ’25 is that the veteran racer has not allowed himself to get intimidated by the works teams he lines up against.

“It’s hard to operate thinking about who is who and who is where,” he said. “That’s what I’m trying to get away from. I got a lot of confidence from this (past) weekend. If I can just get a clean weekend again where I can put all the pieces together without any of these smaller issues, I have zero reservations about running away with it. I mean that’s where my head is that. Hopefully it happens.

“I feel good about the racing. There is a lot that went into getting my head where it is. And it is a head game. I’ve been close in this kind of conditioning before. I have had bikes that have worked this good before. There have been a lot of things that have happened to me in my career that maybe match this, but I don’t think my head has ever been this strong. Right now, I think I mop myself in any other year of my career. It’s pretty crazy to feel that way, because I’m kind of old.”