Photos by: Chase Yocom
In 2015 and this year, Star Racing / Yamaha’s Cooper Webb was a dominant force in the 250SX Western Regional Supercross Championship, winning back-to-back championships. The only problem was that in both 2015 and again this year, he ended the Supercross season with injuries that sent him into the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship not quite at the top of his game. Last year the #17 finished second in the opening moto at Hangtown, but pulled out of the series after reaggravating his ankle injury. Coop returned at Budds Creek and showed he had the skills with overall wins at Washougal and Spring Creek, but he would have to put his championship hopes on ice for another year.
This year, Cooper signed his deal to move up to the 450 in 2017 with factory Yamaha before the Supercross season ended, so most thought when he fractured his wrist before the Supercross finale that he would never be a 250MX National Champion. Instead, Cooper surprised a lot of us so called experts when he not only showed up at Hangtown but when he scored a podium. Still, scoring a podium is one thing, but dethroning the two-time champion, Jeremy Martin, after 24 motos would be another.
Cooper’s said from the start that he wanted to nurse the injury over the first three rounds and just focus on scoring solid points before the first break in the series came after Thunder Valley. When that time came, Cooper was only 13 points down, and when the series returned, he made everyone pay for allowing a wounded warrior to stay that close. Cooper returned from the break and went on a terror—winning three of the next four overalls and taking a commanding 37-point lead in the Championship that he would never relinquish. To quote Cooper, “Outdoors it doesn’t come down to speed; it comes down to how bad you can suffer.”
After the suffering was over at Budds Creek, Cooper’s 6-3 score was enough to clinch his first ever 250MX AMA National Motocross Championship a round early. Check out what Cooper had to say about his day, his championship, racing Jeffrey Herlings and his future. Congratulations, Cooper!
Cooper, congratulations! What a very interesting day for you to wrap up the championship with going down twice in moto number one. What a comeback it was for you. Finishing 5th overall today with a 6-3. Take us through your day.
Moto one was definitely tough. I went down in the first turn and kind of went into panic mode and put my head down. Actually crashed again on the first lap and after that I just kind of told myself to chill out. Whatever you can do, you do. It was hard to pass today on this track so I knew any pass I made I would have to make it stick. I was pretty pumped to come back with sixth. I felt like I was riding really well. Had I not gone down, I feel like I had a moto win in me. To come back to sixth obviously wanted to do better than that, but with all the circumstances I was pretty happy with that. And then moto two, the start was a little weird. [Chris] Alldredge and Alex [Martin] and I all kind of hit and locked bars and I actually almost went down. So another bad start didn’t help at all. I’m not sure—I feel like I was outside of the top 20—but I wasn’t sure where exactly I was. I just put my head down once again and was trying to do the best I could. I was pretty stoked with getting third. I feel like I really dug deep and was able to make some late passes and I felt good with that. Someone was telling me if Alex passed me he would have won the overall but I held on to it I guess. Overall the day wasn’t that sweet but I’m sure I definitely passed the most people today.
The Gary Jones Cup [Trophy awarded to 250MX Champion] is right there. Have you had a chance to really take a look at some of the names that are on this trophy and some of the success that they’ve had after winning this trophy?
This is actually the first time I have seen it.
What are some of the names you’re seeing right there?
Some legends for sure. Lammy [Steve Lamson], [Ricky] Carmichael, [Travis] Pastrana, JS [James Stewart], Villo [Ryan Villopoto] and Dunge [Ryan Dungey].
How does it feel to you inside looking at this trophy right now and reading those names? Knowing the success that they had in the 450 class in their careers? What does this mean to you; this Gary Jones motocross trophy?
It’s pretty spectacular. Outdoors is ten times harder to win I think than Supercross. Obviously they all mean a lot, but outdoors just comes to sheer toughness and how much heart you got. It’s pretty sweet to be on this cup with all these guys on here. A lot of the guys obviously have had a lot of success in the sport. I feel like I’m ready for that next chapter and let’s see what we can keep doing.
This was your last chance to get this title because you’re moving up. We talked about the wrist injury a million times, but how important was it for you? This was your last chance to get this one on the resume.
Yeah, it was a big discussion coming in. Obviously I’ve done really well in Supercross. I’ve done well in outdoors, too, but I obviously never won the championship. Like I said and I’ve said this 100 times, I was sitting on the couch and said, “You know what? I’m going to win! I’m not going to sit on this couch and drink beer all summer. I’m going to go work my ass off and win this title. I don’t care who I got to race or how bad my wrist is gonna to hurt. I’m gonna get it done.” I think a lot of people definitely thought I was crazy for thinking that. We were talking about it today, but I think there was maybe four people that agreed with me to go racing. That was Swanny [Gareth Swanepoel—Star Racing trainer], my parents and Bobby Regan [Owner of Star Racing team]. Everybody else was like, “Hey, take it easy. We want you to do good in the 450’s. Don’t worry about this outdoor title. We already know what you’re capable of.” I told myself ever since last year when I sat in Indiana and watched Jeremy [Martin] win it again. I wasn’t going to let that happen again. I’ve been teammates with him for a long time and he’s really good. After sitting through those two years watching him win, it just eats at you. I was not going to be denied. I’m stoked, honestly. It’s toughened me up a lot. Outdoors, it doesn’t come down to speed, it comes down to how bad you can suffer. I wasn’t sure, honestly, if I had it in me. I knew coming in with this wrist injury and everything like that it was going to be one of the hardest things to ever do on a motorcycle. I just kept saying, “I just want to do it. I just want to do it. No matter what.” I got pretty choked up after the race and stuff. I was stoked. It was an all out brawl. To get to wrap it up early…this is a home race for me. I’ve been coming here to watch this race since I was four years old and didn’t even know what a dirt bike was. Sitting over there behind the finish line for ten years just telling myself, “I’m going to race here one day.” Definitely a special moment, and I’m stoked on how it happened.
One of the things I’ve heard about you is that you’re like a student. It’s not always about doing one lap fast, but you learn stuff—you’re always learning and improving. I’ve heard guys who tell me at Mini Os that the there’s a big difference from you at the beginning to the end of the week. Langston was telling me about some Red Bull camp he did with you, and you stuck right by his side the whole day learning lines and learning from him. Talk about your approach to it where you don’t just pin it, but you try to learn and be smart about your racing.
I think all the successful guys have that. They’re not just balls to the wall and holding it wide open. You got to learn the technique. You got to learn how to ride your dirt bike. That’s the most important thing, and then everything else will come after that. I felt like I was a sponge throughout my amateur career. I had a lot of good guys that I was able to get taught by. I was always just trying to be a sponge from whoever it was. Still to this day, I watch all the races and I really break down where I can be better. I think that’s what’s really helped me this year was just I put my ego to the side and said, “Hey, I’m going to learn from these guys and whatever I suck at I’m going to go practice. I’m not gonna to sit here and just drill motos.” I suck at doing that. Not suck, but I struggle. I went out and I practiced fixed all the problems I had from the previous years. It’s always great to see progress but I think a lot of people skip that aspect. In any sport if you struggle with something you’ve got to practice it, and I think that kind of gets overlooked in this sport. I’m stoked with what I’ve been able to accomplish, and Swanny is a big part of that. I’m still learning. I was able to win the 250’s, but I still got a long way to go and plenty more to learn from 450 guys right now.
I was talking to Bobby [Regan] yesterday, he said originally you weren’t that excited to go to Star Racing. What ended up making you go there?
In 2012, I actually went to every team and pretty much begged for a chance. I went to GEICO [Honda], I went and sat in Mitch’s [Payton from Pro Circuit / Kawasaki] office. I went to TLD too, and same thing. Red Bull wanted to do a KTM kind of thing and I think I would have went to JDR at the time. I just wasn’t 100 percent convinced with all that, and obviously with what happened there it wouldn’t have been good [Team shut down]. At first, Bobby was just kind of coming around. His team had done good that year but let’s face it, it wasn’t a good team. It was team that you could go to and make okay money and be on an okay bike and kind of just go through the motions. It was really the only thing I had, and it was either do that or nothing. It’s pretty cool to see the transition. Obviously I love Bobby to death. We get along very, very well. It’s cool to see. I think It worked out. At the time I was panicking. This team’s never done anything, and I’m gonna be just another average pro. To see it transform into the team that it is now—let’s face it, it’s the best team out there in the Lites class. It’s pretty cool to see. He always believed in me. Since I turned pro he said, “You’re going to be a champ one day.” I was, “Maybe, who knows?” He’s always believed in me and Yamaha as well. After my first year I went to them and told them. I had no business telling them but I told them, “You guys need to give us better parts.” Keith [McCarty – Factory Yamaha Racing] listened and gave us some factory stuff and I ended up doing a lot better.
It looks like you’ve built a really good family at Yamaha now. This kind of puts a cap on the 250 side. What’s next on the 450?
I’m stoked to be going to Yamaha for the 450 deal and all that. It’s honestly a pretty sweet thing to do. That’s what I wanted to do since I turned pro:to be able to go Star and transition into the 450. There for a while they didn’t have a factory team so I wasn’t sure what exactly to do. I wanted to be on a Yamaha with those guys, but there wasn’t anything there. They told me all along as long as you go and do your shit, they’ll give me a ride. And I won’t have to worry about anything. That’s pretty much what I did. It’s pretty sweet. Chad [Reed], myself, the whole team, we have such a great relationship and I’m honestly stoked. I couldn’t ask for a better transition and a better family to go into the 450 class with.
250 or 450 next week?
I don’t know. Probably 250, but I’m going to Cali this week. If the bike’s good I think I could line up with the 450’s. I wouldn’t mind.
You said you’re in for 250s in Charlotte though, right?
Yeah.
But as soon as you said that last week everyone’s like wait, [Jeffrey] Herlings? Is he coming back? Is he uninjured? I guess you’re going to race him. He’s supposed to be back next weekend and good to go. So that’s going to be a battle.
Definitely. I’m looking forward to it. He’s obviously a really fast rider. I’m interested to see how things go. I watched the European stuff quite a bit and I know he’s definitely the real deal. Coming off injury is hard but at the same time he’s going to be fast. So, we’ll see. It will be interesting. I have a lot of respect for him, and from what I’ve heard he kind of respects me too. I’m sure we’re gonna do some bar banging and I think we both kind of have a little bit of that attitude. I’m sure it’s gonna to come down to some interesting stuff.
One other thing about your team? It seems like it’s not just the bikes. It’s a whole bunch of things. They got Swanny involved, and it’s the whole package. Not just putting a good rider on a good bike but a whole package that who knows where you might have ended up if it didn’t all come together perfectly.
Yeah it was. Looking back now at how it worked out is pretty crazy. Swanny in 2014, Bobby Regan said, “Hey, we’ve have had Gareth on the team for a while now, and he wants to train you.” I was like, “Well, obviously I need a trainer but should I put my whole life’s career on some guy that’s never trained anybody?” We basically went to dinner and he asked me, “Do you want to win or are you going to waste my time?” I was like, “Holy shit. Alright.” I told him we’ve had the same plan for a while, and it works really well. We do all the training and I feel like I’m in good shape and everything like that, but I think there are a lot of times we have fun doing it. I think that’s what kind of gets lost a little bit in racing. If you’re not having fun there’s no point in risking your life and doing this shit. I think that’s the strength that he brings is. He gets you where you need to be and you have fun doing it. I’m stoked how it all worked out.
Cooper, congratulations again on the 2016 250MX Championship
