AMA media legend Eric Johnson catched up with AMA veteran, Justin Hill. Nine races into the 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, Team Tedder Racing rider Justin Hill has generated an average 450SX main event finishing position of 12.66. Currently 13th in the 450SX point standings, it’s been a steady opening phase of the year for the KTM 450 SX-F racer out of Yoncalla, Ore. He's looking for bigger and better things in the last eight races. First, though, he needs to feel a bit better.

““I’m pretty sick. It’s a rough one,” said a congested and coughing Hill a few days after placing 12th in last Saturday’s Indianapolis Supercross. "I came down with it on Friday. It was crazy – I slept for maybe three hours or so before the race. I had a fever and broke it a couple of different times. It made for a really long Saturday.

“It was kind of a shame because I felt like that track, and the way it was breaking down, I had a lot of good feeling out there," he continued. "On the bike it's the best I’ve felt all season, but when it came time to lay it on over the course of the high-Hill intensity Triple Crown format, I had nothing for energy. It made it tough just to keep that same pace going, you know?

"There were a couple of good things to take home with me. I made some changes to the bike that were actually really awesome. Over the last few weeks I have learned a ton about kind of getting the bike a little bit deader for these East Coast rounds. I started moving in that direction. I kind of had that in mind. I had a friend of mine watching some of these races and he said, ‘You’ve got to get that bike calmed down.’ I said, ‘All right, I’m actually going to make a significant change here.’ I made a pretty big change, and it was good.

Hill has mixed emotions about his current position in the 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross point race.

“It’s not where I want to be but when you look at the grand scheme of things, and who you have to beat right now, it’s pretty crazy," he said. "I’ve had a very non-standardized year so far. There have been peaks and valleys from the get-go, so I feel like it’s nothing really to be bummed about. I’m always like I don’t want to be out there just to be out there. I definitely feel like I’m as good as literally anybody out there, so it’s tough to get excited about that because I know what I am. Yeah, it’s respectable. I’m trying and grinding. By the time that we get back to racing, and as long as I can shake off this illness in a decent amount of time, I should be able to press forward.”

Ninth has been Hill’s strongest result thus far in 2026 and that came on the rough and whooped-out field of Daytona International Speedway

“I feel like Daytona was probably better than the other races in the grand scheme of things,” said Hill. “I had a really bad heat race. I got up in the first turn and ended up having to go to the LCQ. I ended up starting in nineteenth spot. I made up a lot of ground, and I felt like I rode really solid and felt really strong conditioning-wise. That race was part of an upward trend. This deal here with this illness is obviously a little setback, but I know I can get myself there. As soon as I get 100-percent healthy again, that’s the goal: to get the conditioning right back to that same spot again. I’m trying to be as smart as I can right now and not overdo it too much right now.

While 13th in points, Hill has challenged and run with the front-runners in the 450SX classification all season long, just behind Jorge Prado, Dylan Ferrandis and Jason Anderson in the points table.

“Yeah, it’s a field of killers, man,” declared Hill. ‘There are no slouches out there. Like Joey Savatgy, for example. I’ve never seen that guy ride so good. He just got quite a bit of a level up for whatever reason. He rounded out his game pretty well. You’ve got a guy like that who is kind of breaking the mold on his end. If you’re guys like us, you really need to be firing on all cylinders and on the cutting edge to beat these guys. Joey is doing that right now and I’m working to be. Hopefully, by the end of the deal, I get some finishes like that. I’d definitely like to hit these top five. And you start making some money, too.

"I know that I can. It’s all right there, you know? There are so many pieces to the puzzle. Even if you know all the pieces and you know where they’re at, something just comes and shakes up the board. That’s just the game, man. It’s a really high-level thing that we’re doing and I’m blessed to be able to be doing it. I didn’t really think at this point in my life that I’d have these opportunities. It’s a ride and I’m on it. That’s pretty cool.

“These guys are definitely killers,” added Hill. “Most of them are all premier class champions. I mean, Jorge Prado is a four-time world champion and he comes over and he’s extremely good. That’s a guy that has a straight-up GOAT resume. As far as I’m concerned, if you’re anywhere near him, you’re somebody, too.”

Now in his fourth consecutive season with Team Tedder Racing, Hill is in it with the California-based team for the long haul.

“It’s always good here, man,” he said. “It’s definitely different and there is a reason why from the time that I first got here up to now that I’ve never thought of leaving. I mean, these guys are more than a team to me. They’re way good to me.

"And with Dakota Tedder, there are very few people that I respect more. I never assumed that he’d be the brother to me that he is. It’s definitely been fun. I mean really, at this point, it’s about how much longer do I want to be out there. When the ride is over is when I’m too tired to press the button. I don’t need to worry about the next thing and what’s going to happen next. I have very few ifs, which is a really neat thing for somebody in my position. Pretty cool.”

2026 marks Justin Hill’s 13th year in the sport – a remarkable feat he had to think about for a few beats In time.

“Yeah, man, it’s a long time,” he mused. “I don’t know… So much has happened to me and all that over the years. Every year is so different. That’s what makes it kind of miraculous that I’m on year four with these guys. I think we came together at the right time because I think I appreciate the right things at this point in my life. It’s just crazy that every year is so different and yet this just continues to work. That’s how you kind of know it’s meant to be. As a racer, a lot of things change, and through it all, these guys know what it is. They totally understand it all. They get what I’m going through.”

Along with supercross top fives, Hill has outdoor events on his mind for later in the season.

“In this year and in an ideal circumstance, I definitely want to try to be getting into those top fives in supercross, for sure. That’s my goal. I’m going to do outdoors, as well," he said. "I think I’m going to do 10 of them. For that I think I should be well within the top 10 in those races, as well. I honestly feel like we have a very good motorcycle for outdoors. That’s my goal. I really want to be rivaling my supercross finishes. I want to be in it for the whole deal. I’m certain that I can. I’m just hoping I can ramp it up a little bit, especially in motocross. I feel like I’m a really solid outdoor rider. I do feel like I can be exceptional outdoors. We’ll get it done.”

Three months back, Justin and Josh Hill posted a YouTube video titled Logged Out which featured the Hill brothers careening through logging country in Oregon, which proved a sensation. So do the brothers Hill have something else up their jersey sleeves?

“Josh is doing something right now,” said Hill of his older brother. “I don’t know what it is. I’m a little scared. We’ll see, but I believe I’m supposed to be back out here in a couple weeks to film with him out there. Yes, there is something that is being worked on, but he’s keeping me in the dark. He builds some stuff that