P126
CN
III EMPIRE OF DIRT
BY STEVE COX
B
ack in February, I wrote
a column discussing the
arrival of the "Cooper
Webb Era."
Three months later, he's the
2019 Monster Energy AMA
Supercross Champion. This
is an unusual occurrence in
myriad ways, starting with the
fact that before this year he
had never won a single 450SX
Supercross. I believe he might
have only had one podium in his
first two injury-riddled 450cc
seasons. On top of that, it's his
first year on a new team and
a completely new motorcycle.
Frequently, in the first year on a
new bike, it can take a season to
sort things out before a racer is
really able to compete for a title.
There wasn't a much "normal"
about the 2019 Supercross season.
Some stuff was downright bizarre.
Webb got a little bit of a gift
when both his teammate Marvin
Musquin (knee) and title favorite Eli
Tomac (back) were injured before
the start of the season. This gave
him a little more time than he might
have usually had to build a head
of steam as two of the top athletes
in the sport came into the season
at less than 100 percent. There's
also Ken Roczen who came down
with a mysterious illness just past
the halfway point in the series
and defending champ Jason
Anderson getting hurt and exiting
the championship after a mostly
lackluster start to the series.
But the truth is, that stuff may
not have mattered at all. Webb
may have done exactly what he
did anyway. And what Webb did
was put up 13 podium finishes
(seven of them victories) in 17
rounds. On top of that, he had
just two crashes in main events
all season long, and both of them
came in the first five races: He
WHAT JUST HAPPENED
Cooper Webb
celebrates his first
450SX title.
PHOTO: ROB KOY
