Photos and Interview by: Nolan MacDonald
Heading into the opening round of the 2015 Western Regional 250SX Championship in Anaheim back in January, there was a long list of possible Championship contenders. In the end, though, one rider displayed dominant speed and quickly separated himself from the field. It was pure speed combined with incredible tenacity that won the Star Racing/Yamalube/Yamaha team and Cooper Webb their first-ever Regional 250SX Supercross Championship last Saturday night in Houston.
At the opening round of the West, Webb looked anything but dominant—finishing 7th after a rough night—but from round two on, he showed he was the man of the class. Since his 7th at the opener, Cooper went on to win five of the last six main events and, with that, clinched the Championship a full race early. Early on in the Championship, it looked like Cooper might get challenges from guys like Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Tyler Bowers or Anaheim 1 winner Troy Lee Designs/KTM’s Jessy Nelson, but neither had the consistency nor the speed to stop the sophomore on the #17 Yamaha.
After clinching the Championship in Houston, Nolan MacDonald caught up with Cooper to talk about his win in Houston and his first-ever Championship. You can hear what Cooper had to say in his “Race Rewind” interview below.
Cooper, congrats on the Championship. Before the break you injured your shoulder. How’s the injury?
Fortunately it happened before the break and I was able to take some R&R and get it fixed. It’s all good though now. We had a good four weeks after that to get ready for Houston. We really just focused on Supercross. We did a little outdoor testing, but our main goal was Supercross for sure. I’m just pumped. It’s awesome for sure.
You could have just eased into the Championship tonight, but you put in a heck of a race.
For sure. For me, it’s all about winning. When I know I can, it’s all I want to do. It was a good night. We won the heat, the main and also got the title. I think if you’re a real racer, you want to win no matter what the circumstances. I’m just pumped to get it done.
What does this title mean to you?
I started riding when I was four years old. As soon as I knew what Supercross racing was, all I’ve wanted to do is win. To do it my second year in Supercross is unreal. I’m only 19 and hopefully I have plenty more years. It’s unreal honestly. All the sacrifices everybody’s put in, it’s unbelievable.
It’s been quite a leap from year one to year two. Can you point to anything?
I think, for me, Garath Swanepoel was a big part of it honestly. Everybody sacrificed during the week. It was kind of hard for me. I moved out here, we did our first season and then it’s like, alright, it’s time to win. I think our whole mentality changed for me and the whole team. After me and Jeremy [Martin] had a great outdoor season it was kind of like, “well, we’re the guys to beat now.” We want to keep that expectation now. The goal during the off season was to try to win the Championship, and obviously here we are.
How long do you get to enjoy it [winning the Championship] and how long until you start thinking outdoors?
Outdoors is right around the corner and we’re going to go after that one as well. Obviously Jeremy is going to be strong again, but I have a lot of confidence and I think this outdoor season will be a lot better for me.
After a successful outdoor season last year and now having a successful Supercross season, how do you change your mindset from one to the other and continue improving?
It definitely is hard. After you win Supercross, you want to enjoy it and celebrate it, but you turnaround and it’s like alright, let’s go race outdoors now. It’s tough, but it’s part of it. Everybody goes through it, and for me, it’s another opportunity to show what I can do.
Talk about the turnaround for the Star Racing Yamaha team. Before you and Jeremy came on I wouldn’t say it was great. Now, two Championships later. What does it mean to you being at the head of this turnaround?
It’s awesome. For me, Bobby [Reagan] definitely took a risk with me and Jeremy—at least with me, I didn’t really have any other options. When I turned pro, Bobby came to me and saw a lot in me. For him to take that chance—I wouldn’t say it’s a chance—it’s definitely awesome for us to come here and, as you said, rebuild it. Obviously all the guys put in so much hard work and dedication, but obviously so do we as riders.
So how do you celebrate this big win?
We’ll have a good night and head to Santa Clara and try to do it there.
