Photo by: Hoppenworld
With a broken wrist heading into the season, Star Racing / Yamaha’s Cooper Webb could have rested up for the summer spending some of his rumored multi-million dollar deal he signed with Monster Energy / Yamaha to begin his 450 career in 2017, but instead, he had some unfinished business to conclude: winning his first-ever Lucas Oil 250MX Pro Motocross Championship before graduating to the premier class.
Four races into the series, Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy had a cushy twenty-point lead over Webb in the 250MX Championship, and we were all still wondering if Cooper would be able to overcome his preseason wrist injury. The #17 notched just three moto podiums—two thirds and moto win—over the first eight motos, but then came Cooper’s adoptive home race at Muddy Creek: the 2016 Tennessee National.
In Tennessee, the North Carolina-born proud southern boy came alive for the dedicated southeast fans and broke through with his first overall win, and since then, it’s pretty much been the Webb show. After only finishing better than third in one moto of the first eight motos, something ignited the fuse, and Coop exploded with 2-1-1-1-2-1-1-2 scores over the next eight motos. With that, the #17 flipped it from twenty points down to a massive thirty-eight point lead heading into the final eight motos of the year.
After finishing second overall—still increasing his overall points lead by one point with a 1-2 score—to his Star Racing / Yamaha teammate Jeremy Martin in Spring Creek, Coop talked about trying to beat the Martin brothers on their family property. Check out what MotoXAddicts’ Chase Yocom recorded with the red plate holder below.
Alright, Cooper, congratulations on the day. Here’s the situation as it relates to the points. In terms of you and Jeremy Martin today, you each scored 47 points today, so it’s a complete wash. However, you gained points on the rest of the field. Congratulations on that. Can you tell us about your day?
Thank you. The day was good. Practice went well. I was able to qualify second overall which was nice confidence going into the first race. In the first moto, I got a good start, made some good passes, and Alex [Martin] and I were up front. I was of all over him and then he went down—made it a little easy for me. I was able to get the first moto win. In the second moto, I got a pretty bad start and just put my head down and kind of came through the pack slowly but surely—worked my way into second. By that point, Jeremy [Martin] was pretty much gone, and I pretty much rode to a second. Like you said, second overall, but I didn’t lose any points and actually gained a point overall, so it’s all positive.
Did you end up having any bike changes throughout the day? After the first moto win, did you feel like your settings were really good? Did that play a factor at all with the track changing in the second moto and maybe you were a little bit off?
No, we didn’t really make any changes. We did press day, so that kind of helped with getting the feel for the track and the bike. We made some changes then but no changes today. I felt really good in the first moto. In the second moto, I think I just struggled a little bit. I felt I rode good, just probably not as good as the first moto, but the bad start didn’t help either. It was good though. I was glad to be able to come back to second.
What did you think about the track? There are definitely a lot of elevation changes here. How was it going up those hills on the 250?
Yeah, the hills here are no joke, especially going up the triple and right back down. It got pretty rutty and kind of weird bumps. They weren’t the biggest bumps, but they were pretty sharp edged and caught them a little weird. You get that swap or something like that. I thought the track was good. It’s always a tough track with the rollers and it always gets rough. I like this track. Yeah, I thought it got good, a little hard to pass, I think, this year, but overall, I think it was good.
We know you like to win everything. Do today today as a win with you tie in points for the overall, or are you disappointed with that second place?
You always want to win, so that’s the goal. By no means am I disappointed, but it’s always nice to be on the top step. I was able to get a moto win, but that second moto, I kind of made it hard on myself to try to win again. But I’m happy. If I am going to get second, it’s nice to go 1-2—at least get a moto win. We’ll keep working, go to Washougal and then have a nice little break. The season is coming close to an end so keep doing what I’m doing.
With both the Martin brothers being at their home track, is it kind of like coming into enemy territory? What’s it like for you?
I knew they both were going to be really good here. It’s proven, and obviously everybody knows they’re fast here. I knew it was going to be a tough day. They’re always really fast here. I knew I was going have to work really hard to try to run with them or even beat them. They definitely have proven they’re fast here, for sure. That’s why I was pretty stoked to get that first moto win. It was nice.
Thank you, Cooper. Congratulations, and we’ll see you in a few days.
Oh yeah.
