250SX WEST
Without question Cooper Webb
is in control of the 250SX West
Championship. In what is con-
sidered to be a very competitive
division, Webb has been domi-
nating, winning all three rounds,
which is pretty amazing when
you consider some of the riders
he's going up against, riders like
Joey Savatgy, Chris Alldredge,
Zach Osborne, Jordon Smith
and Jimmy Decotis. These guys
aren't slouches. But what truly
is amazing is how he's getting
those wins—by coming from
behind. All three of his wins this
year, and all six of them last
year, were come-from-behind
victories. But this one had to be
one of his most difficult, mainly
because of one rider—Christian
Craig.
It was Craig who gave Webb
the most trouble this time and
it started early. The two went at
it their Heat race, where Craig
actually passed Webb and beat
him for his first Heat-race win of
his career.
The two met again in the
15-lap Main. Craig, the son of
former factory Yamaha rider
Mike Craig, got out front early
after passing holeshotter Deco-
tis, Craig's GEICO Honda team-
mate, while Webb got out of the
gate around sixth.
Webb, no stranger to bad
starts, began working his way to
the front, which was made a little
easier when Savatgy fell on the
sixth lap while running second;
now all that was separating his
Yamaha from Craig's Honda was
about three seconds. Webb
soon tracked down Craig who
just would not surrender the
lead. After many block passes,
lead changes and close calls,
Webb finally took command for
good with five laps to go.
The battle, however, took its
toll on Craig who admitted after-
ward that he was cooked after
Webb got around him. That's
when third-place Osborne saw
the tiring Craig and moved in for
the kill. Craig still put up a small
fight but eventually gave in to
Osborne a lap later. Still, Craig
was stoked with his performance
and his first ever Main-event
podium.
Savatgy rebounded from his
earlier get-off (he was one of the
many 250 riders who was bitten
by the whoops) and finished off
the night fourth, just ahead of
fast-starter Decotis.
Jordon Smith made it three
GEICO Hondas in the top six,
while Kyle Cunningham, on the
Motorcycle Superstore.com
Suzuki, grabbed seventh. Colt
Nichols (Yamaha), Mitchell Old-
enburg (KTM) and Kyle Peters
(Honda) completed the top 10.
Webb now enjoys an 18-point
lead over Osborne as the 250SX
West Series reaches the halfway
point next week in Oakland.
Savatgy is another four points
back.
Cooper Webb scored yet another
come-from-behind victory in the
250SX West Main.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 53 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 26, 2016 P43
