030 KICKSTART BY MICHAEL ANTONOVICH
Hoeft lined up at four rounds of
the 250 West Coast region of the
2017 Monster Energy Supercross
Series, with a 10th-place finish at
Seattle being the highlight of the
run, remarkable results for the lim-
ited time the rider, team, and trainer
Ryan Hughes were able to put in pri-
or to the first gate drop. “I thought
that I was going to do better near
the end of the season, but I had a
couple of falls that screwed me up.
It was a great rookie season even
though I came in a few rounds late,”
Hoeft shares. “I think Ryan Hughes
was the reason I picked up Super-
cross and progressed through each
round. He is an awesome, trainer
and everything we did helped tre-
mendously. I had the time of my life
riding with them for Supercross.”
When Supercross wrapped up,
Hoeft was again without a team, so
he again went to work with Alexan-
der and Fasthouse for a one-race
deal. The duo decided to line upfor the second round of the of 2017
Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Champion-
ship in the 450 class at Glen Helen
aboard a competitive bike borrowed
from Manny Gasper. “Everyone at
the pit was stoked, and my dad
came to the starting line with me,
which was rad because we hadn’t
done that since I was 14,” Hoeft says.
“It was a little nerve-racking to line
up with the best riders and that had
my heart pumping. I felt like I rode
really well, even if I was tentative in
the first few laps. My endurance was
good and everything thing seemed
to work, and I was having fun.” Hoeft
battled with factory riders through-
out the day to claim 11-14 motoscores and 14th overall for the day,
a feat that surprised many in the pits.
For now, Hoeft is in search of some
sort of support for 2018. His finishes
through Supercross and Glen Helen
reportedly have him on the radar for
some teams, and it will be interesting
to see if he lands somewhere for his
sophomore season. “My goal is to be
back on a factory team. That’s what
I’ve worked towards since coming
back, but it’s taking time,” Hoeft says.
“I like to have fun, but I put the work
in to be in the best position that I can
be. I’m getting older and more ma-
ture, which I think has a lot to do with
it. I think that right now is my time and
I’ll keep going.”JUSTIN HOEFT