After six weeks of hard testing on the Factory Honda 450, Justin flew to Geneva and put a whooping on the field. He not only won the overall, but won all six main events on his way to his second “King of Geneva” title. With a lineup that included the 2011 “King of Bercy” Kyle Chisholm and the 2011 West Supercross Champ Broc Tickle along with Mike Alessi and a slew of fast Europeans, winning all six races was no easy accomplishment.

We gave Justin, who is now back in the States with a new level of confidence, a call to find out how he felt about the off season and what his expectations are heading into 2012.

It looks like you guys put in some work since the Monster Cup.

The Monster Cup obviously wasn’t my best showing. I was getting used to the bike and had a lot to learn. I’m glad I went and raced it, but I’ve put in some work over the last month or so with the team and have come such a long way with gelling with the bike and feeling good–feeling really good, the best I’ve ever felt on a motorcycle. The bike’s amazing! I can’t wipe the grin off my face. Being with Factory Honda is a dream come true, and now I know why people say how awesome the team is.

Well, you truly dominated over in Geneva. Was that your full on Factory Honda over there?

Yeah, we shipped over bikes. It wasn’t like 100% what I’m racing here, but we got it as close as we could. I wanted to make it a real race. I didn’t want to go over there and race a stock bike. You don’t really learn anything from that. I feel like you almost lose confidence. You go over there and you have to ride totally different on a stock bike, and I wanted to make it a legit race and learn. And I did. I was definitely going fast and it was a good race to do.

Have you ever dominated an event like you did in Geneva before? I mean, you were untouchable over there.

Yeah, I don’t think so. I mean, I’ve won over there in the past, but this year, there was some really good competition. They were hyping it up before because Kyle Chisholm had just won King of Bercy and Broc Tickle is a fast Lites Supercross Champ. It was good! It wasn’t like there wasn’t anybody over there, so it was good to go there and dominate the way I did. You know, it’s not easy to go win six races anywhere; I don’t care if it’s the local level or pro level. It’s not easy to win that many, especially on that short of a track and with that short of races. It was good to get awesome starts and finishes.

What was the crowd like over there? From what I’ve seen it’s pure insanity in comparison to the States.

Yeah, there’s nothing like a Euro Supercross crowd. It’s just ridiculous. (Laughs) It’s always sold out, and they go off.

I’m always impressed with how well they feature the stars of the sport that they get to come over from America. The opening ceremonies are always insane, and the fans seem to love the Americans coming over.

Yeah, that’s really cool. It’s one of the neatest things to see over there. Over here, we take for granted that we can just go watch the best guys in the world race SX, and over there, it happens once or twice a year. We have it pretty good out here and especially in SoCal. You can go watch the best in the world six times a year within a hour.

There wasn’t much video coverage of the race itself so results and pics were about all we got. Was every race a holeshot and run away, or were there some rough races for you?

Yeah, I think my worst start was a third. Yeah, I was top three every time and holeshotted a few of them. I think I lead most of the laps. I think there were three or four laps through the whole weekend that I didn’t lead so I was proud of that. That’s what I went there to do, and I came back to the States ready to get back at it and take that momentum into Anaheim.

Yeah, that had to be a huge confidence booster heading into Anaheim I here in a few weeks.

Well, it was and it wasn’t. It was good for me to go do that. I’ve learned so much since getting on the Honda, and you can only do so many practice laps. I’ve been riding really good at the Honda track and other tracks around here, and its been backing up with guys that I’ve been riding with–who are previous race winners and Champions–so it feels so good to go to a race and back that up. Now, I gotta do that over here. I’m feeling good and, like I said, the best I’ve ever felt on a bike–also confidence-wise and being with a bunch of knowledgeable guys on the team.

Speaking of being on Factory Honda how cool is it–especially with the route you took through AX–to be a small town kid from Iowa on the premier stage of the sport on what most consider the premier Factory team?

It’s honestly so hard to explain. I try to live in the moment a lot more now than I used to, because now I’m at the pinnacle–at the top–and I realize that things don’t last forever. I’m going to make the most out of this opportunity, go do good this year and have fun with it. That’s the main thing. Once you’ve reached certain goals, you gotta kind of take a deep breath or a sigh of relief and realize, “I’ve made it. Now it’s time to do it!” I felt like I had made it before, but not really. I mean, I’ve been on some great teams, and had some great people help me along the way, but in my mind, there’s nothing like being on Factory Honda. I think most people in this sport would say the same thing. I’m excited for what’s to come. I just want to get after it. It’s really neat to wake up every morning and know that you’re going out to ride the type of equipment I’m on. It makes me work even harder. I’ve always worked hard, but it makes you work that little bit more. Anything less than winning isn’t that much of a success when you’re on Factory Honda. I realize that, and I’m up for the challenge.

I can’t even imagine what it’s like to show up at a test track and have the best mechanics, suspension guys, motor guys, team managers and more all with one focus: me winning.

Yep, that’s exactly what it is. I’ve heard people say that, and I’m like “Ah, you might have a couple guys out there testing with you,” but it’s literally every day. Whether I’m testing suspension, motors or just levers or anything, there are eight or ten guys that are watching and only watching you. (Laughs) It’s pretty awesome, and I don’t think three years ago I would have been able to handle it. I’m glad this opportunity came at this time in my career. I couldn’t be in a better situation–mentally, physically and on this team.

When did the Honda deal come about for you?

I’d say the Honda deal came about midway through the summer. I didn’t have a deal with anybody. I talked about staying with Gibbs quite a bit, and that’s kind of the direction I was going. Then, they started shopping around with guys like [James] Stewart, and they didn’t really know which bike they were going to be on so we started shopping around too. I talked to [Eric] Kehoe on the phone, and he sounded really interested and things just kind of snowballed from there. I flew to California to have a meeting with them, and they just really wanted me. They believed in me, and it was really cool to sit down with them. The things they wanted from me and the things I wanted from them just all made perfect sense. Also, as a child that was my dream. I honestly didn’t even think it was realistic until I sat down with them and really talked to Kehoe and the guys there. When I left the meeting, I was thinking, “This is crazy; it might be a reality.” So I just put everything aside, and for my best interest and my career, I want to win races and I don’t want to look back later on and say, “Man, I had an opportunity to go to Factory Honda, and I didn’t take it. What if?” I never want to look back and regret anything, and putting everything else aside, I think the Honda is the best bike, is the best team for me to be on and gives me the best opportunity to win. It also gives me the most confidence in myself. Money aside and everything aside, that’s what I wanted. We worked out a deal, and here I am. Pretty neat.

I grew up with Eric Kehoe at Indian Dunes–which was the home track for both of us as kids coming up–and watched him on mini bikes. Eric was literally a mini bike god at Indian Dunes. What separated Eric from all the other mini prodigies for me was how he treated us kids. I was seven years younger than Eric and he was always more than willing to help us and chat it up–and he still always seems so approachable. What’s he like as a team manager?

Awesome! It’s unbelievable! I’ve always been kind of intimidated by him because he’s the Factory Honda team manager. It’s such a respect thing that I have for him. I have so much respect for what he’s done–for his career as a racer and as a team manager. That respect makes me want to work harder and do well for him, but he doesn’t act like he’s somebody. He’s there to help and he wants to make me better, Trey better and everybody that’s on a Honda better as a person, as a rider, as a PR person–everything as a whole. It’s just really neat when he’s at the track giving us input. I talk to him on the phone a few times a week, and we’ll just kind of go over where I’m at. That’s really cool to be able to work with a guy that close that you respect that much, and to really work with him to build and recognize my weaknesses and turn them into strengths. That’s something that’s really hard to come by.

Nice. I also noticed that you are the man hired to re-introduce the 100% brand to the World. There was a lot of talk after the Geneva Supercross about the 100% goggles you were wearing. What’s the story behind that?

Yeah, 100% goggles. It’s something that’s been in the works for a long time, and I’m excited to be with them. Ludo [Boinnard] and Marc [Blanchard] over there have done an awesome job, and there’s a lot to come from that company. That’s really all I can say at this point, but it’s going to be neat. I’m super-pumped to be involved with it and help it grow. It’s cool to market the 100% logo like it was back in the day. Moving forward, it’s going to be neat running their goggles. It’s a legendary company, no doubt.

Yeah, everybody who’s anybody in this sport from back in the day rocked the 100% logo. I was one of those kids that had no idea what 100% was or what they made, but wore the 100% patch with pride. Did anybody even know beforehand–outside of your circle–that you were going to be wearing 100% at Geneva or was that the unveiling?

No, nobody really knew. I had been riding with them out at the test track a little bit and some people have kind of seen them, and they wanted them to be not seen. It’s just really hard to do. They said after my Honda photo shoot–where I had them on–to just run them. [They told me,] “Have your first race be Geneva,” and it was cool to go out and win with them on. There was a big buzz about them over there in Geneva for sure. Then coming back to the States, I’ve had tons of questions about them. It’s pretty cool. I’m excited to be involved with it. They’re going to blow up here soon.

Nice. I think a lot of us old schoolers are looking forward to seeing what 100% has coming. I guess I’ll make my last question: what do you expect out of yourself for the 2012 Supercross season?

It’s pretty simple. I want to be out there fighting for podiums each and every weekend and win one of these things. You know, you can’t win two or three of them until you win one. So I want to go out and win my first SX this year and be at the front with those guys. Last year, it was five guys, and this year I want to make it six-nothing less than that, that’s for sure.

You know, you hear that a lot from guys, that that’s what they want to do, but what gets me pumped is I believe that you believe you can do it. With as stacked as this class is, having more guys battling for wins is a SX fan’s dream. The depth in 2011 was unreal, and when you look down the line for 2012, it’s even deeper.

Yep, and I was close last year. I was just off that bubble. I was close to being up there in quite a few of them and with the changes I’ve made I think it will help me get there.

Nice. Well, once again, thanks for taking time out to talk with us, and good luck with everything in 2012.

No problem, thank you.