Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1111003
VOL. 56 ISSUE 17 APRIL 30, 2019 P131 that's how he was able to figure out how fast he could go on any given track. Basically, you don't know where the line is until you cross it. He crossed it one too many times in Nashville, and it left him with a torn ACL and a big, fat zero on the scoreboard. His 26-point lead became a three- point lead in one night. But he showed up in New Jersey and not only made the main event but put a pretty heavy block-pass on his closest title rival, Chase Sexton, before the adrenaline ran out when he jumped just a bit too far and landed with his front wheel into the face of the next obstacle, and that was it. He was out for the night, and his title hopes gone. He showed an incredible display of heart, but all he's going to have to show for it is an ACL surgery and likely missing the rest of the year. SX announcer Ricky Carmi- chael was quick to (correctly) point out on the broadcast that the landing that put Forkner out of the main event in New Jersey forced Forkner's femur to slide forward across the top of his tibia/fibula. Carmichael didn't get a degree in anatomy or medi- cine since he retired from racing over a decade ago; he raced almost his entire career with torn ACLs in his knees, so he knew from experience. The only time RC stopped to get one fixed was in late 2002, forcing him to miss the 2003 AMA Supercross Series altogether. He wore knee braces that were clamped down as tight as possible, limiting his range of motion pretty severely, and the only reason he had to have his knee fixed in late 2002 was that it kept popping out of place. Not too long after he got it fixed, he tore it again, but it stopped popping out of place, so he just kept racing with it like that. He might be the GOAT, but most other goats can run. In New Jersey, we also saw a lot of heart on display in the 450SX class. First, there was Eli Tomac who had won the last two supercross races and pulled to within 18 points of series leader Cooper Webb. Tomac tried early in the 450SX main event to bunch the pack up behind him and put pressure on Webb, who was running in second. It's the same strategy Tomac used (more successfully) with Ryan Dungey in Las Vegas back in 2017. Every time Webb would pass Tomac, Tomac would pass him back (somewhat aggressively) and then hold Webb behind him some more. Once he figured out that wasn't going to work, he just took off. Unfortunately, Tomac ended up crashing out of the lead in the whoops, then working his way back up to second, and just as he was pressuring Webb for the lead again, he did the exact same thing and fell again. He ended up third, but it wasn't his heart that did him in. It was just a couple of identical mistakes. And finally, there's Cooper Webb. Webb has heart in ways the other guys don't, at least right now. First, Webb seems to thrive under pressure. That's a different kind of heart. Whenever he needs to get a holeshot, he does. Whenever he needs to win a race, he does. He always seems to perform under pres- sure. Sometimes, he performs better than usual, but he still performs. In New Jersey, Webb was sick; he threw up at his hotel in the morning, and again before practice. But when it counted, he nailed the start, and he per- formed. Webb wasn't faster than Tomac or Zach Osborne (both of whom passed him for the lead during the New Jersey main event), but he beat them both. Webb won because, despite the pressure, he was able to per- form; he didn't make any costly mistakes. Both Osborne and Tomac made costly mistakes, and those mistakes are what defeated them. Webb just didn't make any. This ability to deliver in the clutch is what will define Webb's 2019 AMA Supercross Cham- pionship, and maybe define his career, once it's all done and dusted. CN