Webb, who also had his mo-
ments in the tricky whoops, held
it together for the win. The reju-
venated KTM rider is now third
in points, just four back from
leader Tomac, who struggled
on the slippery Tampa track and
was far from his normal self.
"That's too damn long," Webb
said of his last victory. "I felt
good running that speed. I felt
like I could catch [Sexton] when
I needed to, but the lappers
were tough, the sand was tough,
and I had a big moment in the
whoops. But I was ready to take
it down to the last few laps. I
could see him getting flustered.
"I didn't think our pace was
anything crazy; I thought it was
consistent laps," Webb said.
"One lap he would pull a little bit
and the next I'd catch back up. I
didn't think we were on the edge;
the track was tricky, slippery.
The biggest thing was getting
clean and consistent laps. I felt
really good, well within the com
-
fort zone."
After finishing sixth in his
heat race, nearly 30 seconds
behind winner Sexton, Webb
admitted he had doubts after
that race, but he managed to put
those negative feelings aside
before the main. "The heat race
was awful," Webb said. "It's like
you sit back and go 'man, I don't
know if you can turn it around
and you start to doubt yourself.
But you have no choice but
to turn it around. Our Dartfish
[sports performance analysis
program] guru, Seth [Rarick],
yelled at me and said I should
just pack it up and go home. I
had to prove him wrong."
VOLUME ISSUE FEBRUARY , P53
edge of slick and decent traction.
Overall, we learned a lot about those
conditions for the future, and I'm
happy to still have the points lead."
21 JASON ANDERSON
6TH 450SX
Factory Kawasaki's Jason Anderson
was looking fast in Tampa, but to
exactly no one's surprise, ended up
in a tangle with Justin Barcia, which
slowed his first lap in the main event.
Anderson would work his way forward
for an eventual sixth-place finish. "The
track was actually really good tonight.
The little bit of rain we got made
the dirt tackier, which I think is an
advantage for me. I definitely believe I
had the speed to win. However, I still
think I learned a lot about my race
bike tonight. After the crash, I set out
to make up as many positions as pos-
sible in as little time and didn't know
I could ride the motorcycle that hard.
I just need to tap into that flow state
earlier in the races."
MYOWNRACE
128 TOM VIALLE
6TH 250SX EAST
Tampa marked another solid top 10
for rookie Tom Vialle. The former GP
rider is still finding his way in AMA
(Above) Chase
Sexton led
most of the 450
main except,
unfortunately
for him, when it
counted. (Left)
Aaron Plessinger
rode a lonely race
to finish third.
