Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing’s Justin Cooper rebounded from a tough first moto to finish second in Moto 2 and kept his podium streak rolling with a third overall finish at yesterday’s Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Fox Raceway National II. The team’s young and up-and-coming riders Levi Kitchen and Jarrett Frye, had a solid result in the challenging conditions, ending the day ninth and 12th, respectively.
Cooper returned to the top of the timesheets, earning the fastest qualifier honors for the eighth time in 11 tries. Unfortunately, he did not get off the gate as he hoped and found himself eighth after the first lap. He kept pushing in the punishing triple-digit heat in Pala, California, and threw down his fastest lap of the race on Lap 13 to pass two riders and break the top five. A couple of laps later, he bested his earlier time to hold off any further advances and finished fifth.
In the second moto, Cooper got a much better start in third. He managed his race in the tough conditions and picked up the pace around the halfway mark, setting his fastest time on Lap 9 and advanced to second. He tried to close the gap on his title rival but ultimately had to settle for the runner-up spot. The New Yorker’s 5-2 score secured third overall and maintained his perfect podium record in 2021.
It was a tough start to the day, but Kitchen kept pushing forward. He got caught up in a pile-up in Turn 2 after the start of the first moto, but the rookie fought his way from the back of the field to 12th. In Moto 2, the 2021 Nicky Hayden AMA Motocross Horizon Award winner put on another impressive charge through the pack to finish seventh and end the day inside of the top 10 with ninth overall.
Starting with the 15th gate pick in the first moto, Frye had a solid launch off of the gate and was inside of the top 10 behind his teammate Cooper. He put in some good laps in the challenging conditions but ultimately finished 11th. The Maryland rider improved to a seventh-place start in the second moto and kept pushing to score a top-10 finish for 12th overall.
The Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing team heads north to Rancho Cordova, California, for the final round of the 2021 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at the Hangtown National on September 11.
Seth Rarick
Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing 250 Team Manager
“It was a decent day, but honestly, we were hampered by bad starts. All three guys needed to start better on a track like that to make anything happen. We have one more week to try and nail this thing down, so we’re going to get back to work and finish on a high note!”
Seth Rarick
Justin Cooper
Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing
“The track was really beat up, and it was a hot one, so it was a really tough day, but I gave it everything that I had and came out with a podium. We’ll take it into next weekend and give it all we have one more time and see what happens.”
Justin Cooper
Levi Kitchen
Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing
“It was not a bad day overall for me. It was definitely tough out there, and I had to come from the back in both motos, but I did what I could in that heat to get into the top 10. I’m looking forward to next weekend.”
Levi Kitchen
Jarrett Frye
Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing
“It was a hot one for sure. We struggled a bit in qualifying but were able to have some okay starts and end the day with 12th overall. We’ve got one more left, and I’m looking to end the year on a high note.”
