Author: Brent Stallo

Up and Coming is a feature meant to highlight the, well, up and coming motocross talent in America. And with a title that broad, and a country so blessed with young talent, we're not going to run out of content anytime soon. This week we introduce Rockstar Energy Suzuki's, Justin Summers. A quiet, reserved rider off the track, Summers proves anything but on the track. An amateur standout since the age of nine, Summers is one of the most well known and well respected intermediate riders in the country. We caught up with Summers at Gatorback as he qualified for Loretta's in both 450 B and 250 B with impressive overall results.

Justin, we're here at Gatorback for the Southeast Amateur Regional. How is everything going out there?

I'm doing pretty good. I'd like to get a couple moto wins on the 250 but I already qualified in 450 B Mod and just looking forward to getting out of here qualified.

You're racing four classes here. Which two are you hoping to compete in at Loretta's?

Ideally I'd like to do 450 Mod and 250 Mod for Loretta's. I think those will work out better because our Mod bikes at Rockstar are just on another planet.

You've had some good battles with Joey Savatgy so far this weekend. Are you out there trying to beat him or is it just all about qualifying and getting out of here safe for you?

A little bit of both to be honest. I really want to win but the main thing is to qualify. So it's a little bit of both, but I think my will to win usually ends up taking over once the gate drops. I think it's that way for all racers. Winning is in our blood and we're all competitive, which is a good thing.

The track seems a bit one lined. Has that played a part as well? Do you not want to go for anything too risky in terms of making a pass?

Yeah, maybe. There are actually a bunch of lines, but there's only one fast one. So once you get out of that to try and make a pass you loose so much time and it's just really hard to catch back up when you're really close to someone's speed.

There's only six weeks left to Loretta's. What's your training regime like?

We've been doing really long motos and trying to stay out of the heat as much as I can. I've been working on cardio a good bit as well. Loretta's takes a lot out of you. It's hot and the motos are longer than we're used to running, so I'm taking all that into account and preparing myself the best way possible.

And the plan is to bring home a title, right?

Yeah, for sure. My team, Rockstar Energy Suzuki, has backed me 100% to this point and I really want to go out and do it for them to show my appreciation.

Will you be racing any of the other amateur nationals between now and them, Mammoth or Ponca?

We're doing Ponca but won't be at Mammoth. It's a long trip out to Cali from Florida so we're going to hang back and train for Ponca and Loretta's.

What's the plan following Loretta's. Will we see you in the Pro class?

Yeah, I'll be moving to the 'A' class following Loretta's and I'm really looking forward to that. I'll go back home to Florida and put in the work and try and go into Mini O's and win some Pro titles.