Cycle News

INTERVIEW 2016 AMA WEST REGIONAL 250SX/AMA 250MX NATIONAL CHAMPION COOPER P80 good face. Some guys are better at that than others." The Wrist Before the final AMA Super- cross event of the 2016 season, in Las Vegas, Cooper Webb was leading the 250SX Western Regional Supercross points standings, but he had a crash coming in to the finale that led to a fractured wrist. His team, his agent, and many others around Webb thought it would be heroic of him just to pull off the SX title, and none of them thought he'd be able to race the motocross nationals—at least not the whole championship. Going into Vegas, Webb needed to finish 12th or better to win the title if rival Savatgy won. Webb fought through it for 11th, and Savatgy did win, giving Webb the title by a single point. And that's all anybody expected of Webb. But two weeks later, he lined up at Hangtown and went 4-5 for third overall. Then, at Glen Helen, he actually won the first moto. None were more sur- prised at that point than Webb. "Nothing really happened with my wrist that made it better," Webb said. "I wanted to win out- doors. That's all that happened. It was my last chance. The last year [2015] I sat on the sidelines and watched Jeremy [Martin] win, and it was bittersweet at the end of the year in Indiana to win but lose the title, so I told myself that I really want to win the outdoor title the next year, and that I was going to work my ass off to make sure that happens. We had a bike problem that ended up [breaking] my wrist, so in my mind, I wanted to wrap up supercross even if my wrist was going to fall off. I was going to race and try to win the title even if I was one-handed. Then outdoors, I still kind of had the same mentality that I was going to do it no matter what, unless the doctor really said I could do permanent damage. But like I said, I think that's something that comes from within, and it was something I hadn't been able to do, and I really wanted to win. "I didn't ride at all leading up to outdoors, and I was just train- ing and doing rehab and therapy that I could do to try to heal it as quickly as possible. It was still broken at the first three rounds, really, but it actually worked out well for the break to come after those races, because I got a weekend off." After the break, round four was at High Point Raceway, which Webb survived going 3-5, but then came Tennessee, and Webb has always liked Muddy Creek Raceway. He went out and won with a 2-1 on the day, moved into second in points, and that was pretty much it. From there, Webb was a jugger- naut. It seemed as if the win at Muddy Creek gave him the con- fidence he needed for the rest of the series, but Webb says he got that confidence while he was still hurt during the first three races. "As a racer, I want to come in and say, 'Hey, the goal's to win the championship.' And I think at the end of the day that is the ultimate goal." Webb will officially begin his 450-class career at Anaheim I.

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