Veteran Hill relishing doubling up in U.S. and World Supercross

Veteran American racer Justin Hill placed third overall in the SX1 class at the opening round of the 2026 FIM World Supercross Championship in Calgary last month. Hill, who displayed his versatility as a moto athlete by participating in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship season finale at Crawfordsville, continues to display world class speed and technique. The 13-year veteran of the pro ranks is now casting his focus on the rapidly approaching SuperMotocross World Championship Playoffs, set to launch in Columbus, Ohio next Saturday with his Team Tedder KTM 450 SF-X.

“The bike is pretty much the same," said Hill. "I might change a couple of things. I might try some chassis stuff, just because we have kind of a hybrid set of tracks coming up. I’m going to try some stuff and split the difference a little bit between or bikes because out motocross setup and our supercross setup are done very, very differently. Almost none of the things that I choose for supercross, I choose for outdoors. We’re probably goig to split the difference on a couple items and just see what we like.

“I hate to hold anything too close to the vest. I don’t want to say done developing with this motorcycle, but we’re just so close to the tail end with this bike. Obviously, I’m working closely with KTM right now to work on the 2027 bike a lot. We’re doing a lot of fun stuff with that at the moment and we’ll do that between the playoffs, as well. We’re just sort of secretly getting some of that stuff squared away. It’s the best bike right now. It definitely has its things that you have to factor for, but once you figure it out, I think it’s a fantastic motorcycle.

"I think it’s easier to setup for motocross. Obviously, we put together a bike for motocross just now for Ironman for one race. It is definitely easier to assemble a motocross bike. Truthfully, the components that come on the bike from the factory are just that. They are tried and true on a motocross track. We have to change a lot, but it’s all rider preference, honestly. I definitely am running quite a bit different stuff than, say, Eli Tomac has been running this last year. We just set up the bike so differently. He really has that thing jacked up in the rear. I don’t if I’m supposed to say this, but I’ve rode his spec and it’s a trip. He obviously has his style that works with it. It’s crazy to me as a guy that doesn’t ride the same way. I’m sure he would hate my motorcycle because it’s just set up so differently. You can make a lot of changes on these bikes nowadays. I mean everybody has their mindset to try to make the best component for everything. There is so much available, dude. Honestly, it’s crazy.”

Can it be easy to get lost when going through the motorcycle and making technical changes and modifications?

“To be honest with you, no,” answered Hill. “Not for me these days. When I was younger, I would get lost really easy. But I haven’t had that feeling in some time. You never want to try more than one thing at a time. There are ways to go about development that I do differently than I did when I was younger. I haven’t had that lost feeling in a long time, which is good because the sport is so mental that you have to believe in what you’ve put together, whether it’s the best thing on the track or not. You’ve got to believe that it’s going to work for you.”

Hill weighed in on the Ironman Pro National and the amazing amount of strength and endurance it took to power through the fierce two-moto outing in the muggy Midwest.

“I honestly didn’t think I was going to do that race,” he pointed out. “We were considering doing Washougal and then we prioritized the World Supercross over that. By the second moto, I was like, ‘All right, I’m starting to feel OK.’ It wasn’t too bad anymore. It’s just a different game. I could get used to it and I can get down with some motocross, but it’s not my focus anymore. It’s not even in my contract. It’s not something that is in my focus to do, but you know what? I was proud that I was able to achieve what I went there to do.

"My thing is supercross. That’s no secret. If I show up in Columbus and it’s pretty much a supercross race, it’s like, ‘Dude, I’ve got a shot. I can win this thing. I know I can show up and win the thing.’ But at Ironman, yeah, we got there and I did my fair share of complaining about having to ride for that long and with that may bumps and in the heat and all that, but yeah, we go through it. I was happy at the end.”

Hill will now also place his focus on the World Supercross Championship and the next round set for Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, UK next month.

“Oh yeah. Birmingham,” said Hill. “We’re signed up for all of them. Yeah, I felt fantastic at the first round. It’s crazy. That second moto was wild. The first moto was clear. I had a mid-pack start and passed everybody and won the thing and was like, ‘All right. This is the ticket. We’re on.’ Second moto, dude, first turn crash. Crashed again on the third or fourth lap. Then I fell over again. It was an eight lap race and I almost got back to the front three times!

"My pace was where I wanted it. I felt very strong. I was really happy, but man, what a reintroduction to racing. It was like, ‘This is just racing. You’ve got to roll with it and understand that you have to take the good with the bad.’ And that’s what I did. Honestly, I was real proud of where I was and where the bike was. I loved hanging and working with the Rick Ware Racing crew. Them boys are really cool, man. It’s great, dude.

"The Team Tedder and Rick Ware Racing collab is going off so far. We’re loving it. We have these next five races to do together and then well look towards the future with them. I’m having a blast. I’ve known of Rick all these years, but never really had the opportunity to work with him. Tedder does it better, dude. They created this opportunity for me to my benefit and that’s just because they want the best for me. I’m loving it, dude. I’m excited. If I can do it, and I believe that I can, I want to be the world champion, dude. It’s going to be fun to say it if I can achieve it. I know that I can. I’ve been focused very dramatically on supercross, so I think I have an advantage. I think I’m ready to show them what it is. I’m going after it. I want the World Supercross Championship and I want the U.S. Supercross Championship, too.”