Was that a ghost, or was that actually Cooper Webb out there in the 250 class at Unadilla? After crashing in a turn late in the final practice, the Myplash/Star Racing Yamaha rookie appeared to have a broken arm, and his team reported to us that while they hadn't performed x-rays yet, he was already in a splint as was out of action for the day. Then he miraculously healed up and scored 12th overall!
Turns out Webb had landed right on a rock during his crash, and that rock hit his funny bone, causing strange pain and numbess similar to a broken arm. After icing the nerve, some feeling came back, and Cooper was able to get out there and race both motos. He'll go in for more x rays this week to make absolutely certain everything is okay.
Yoshimura Suzuki's James Stewart had a tough day, too, which only added to a tough week. Stewart crashed at his home track in Florida on Monday and jammed his neck. Late in the first moto, while he was running third, the neck tightened up, so Stewart hung on for third and then went straight back to his team truck to try to loosen up for the second moto. And that lasted all but two turns, as he was swallowed up in the giant melee off the start and found himself down on the ground. Of course, he rejammed the neck in the crash. Stewart decided not to take any chances with the neck and called it a day, but his team reported to us that they plan to be racing this weekend in Salt Lake City. Like Webb, James will take some additional tests this week to make sure he doesn't have any major structural damage, first.
We'll report back on these riders if we hear any additional news during the week.
