A few weeks ago Jett Lawrence turned the momentum from a Daytona Supercross victory into a win streak and a growing points lead. He threatened to put nearly a full race worth of points between himself and the field. But two-time Monster Energy Supercross Champion Cooper Webb would not give up, and he's taken advantage of Lawrence's bad races (mistakes in Seattle, penalty and collision in St. Louis, bad start in this event) to claw back 21 points in three weeks. Webb's victory at Foxborough, Massachusetts, was the second in the last three races for the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider, and now he's tied atop the standings with Lawrence with four races to go.
Webb was also fastest in qualifying, which is rare for him. This is a championship push, and he talked about it in the post-race press conference.
Take us through the night.
Cooper Webb: It was a great start, holeshot, which was huge, and I was able to put in some good laps. Kenny and I, I felt, had a good pace going at the beginning. Then honestly once the rain came, it got a little bit interesting for me. You don’t know if you can trust some of those hard packed areas. I had a few lines I needed to clean up and be better at. I saw Chase catching Kenny, we were all riding pretty well, then I made that mistake in the rhythm and that tightened it right up, quick. I could see them coming and then Chase got around Kenny and he caught me, quick. Just try to hit my marks the last couple laps, try to think where he was catching me and where I could pick up time. That’s what I tried to do. Felt good. Haven’t led a whole main event in long time, and to have the co-points lead is an amazing feeling.
Where you aware where Jett was the whole race and where you thinking about championship points and were you aware of where Jet was throughout the race?
Yeah, I mean, it was tough. I saw first lap, he was buried like really far back. So, um, it made it tough, right? Because you, you wanna win. But, you got chase and you got him [Ken Roczen} and you got Eli, you got all these guys that are fast, but the championship guys is kind of at this stage where you're kind of thinking about ait a little bit. So it definitely was tough to stay locked in because you think about that and you think about maybe taking a second or laying over. So it definitely was challenging to see that, right away and then trying to push the limit of going out and still get a race win. But I feel after a few laps we were able to settle in. Just lock in and still get a race win.
Were you able to tell where the guys were making up time on you? I know the 3-3-1 was the rhythm. I don't think you were jumping it. And those guys behind you were. Just talk about the approach to that rhythm specifically as well.
Yeah, I knew that was the way [they were gaining] and then the whoops, you know, I was sticking to the jump line which worked in practice, but it wasn't working in the race. It’s tough when you commit to something and you're out front, it's tough to try something new that you haven't done all day. I had done the three-in once in practice, but that's it. I felt like the risk versus reward, unless I really needed to do it wasn't there. So that what I was thinking on that. And then, yeah, the whoops, the last lap, I finally skimmed it knowing that I needed a good run and it was night and day better. So you live and learn, but it's part of it in this class, reading the track and making those adjustments. And like I said, I feel like Chase picked up on some lines that, especially late, were really good.
It seemed like you're just under pressure all day today from, from Jett in the heat race and then these two guys [Sexton, Roczen] in the main. What are you doing differently to make sure that you can stay ahead of those guys?
Well a start is a key, that's for sure, especially tonight. Like Chase said, it was tough to pass. But it's, hard. It really is. I've not led a lot, you know, so it's definitely different upfront. You just kind of have to know where you're fast and where you're not and try to stick to that. I think tonight was very hard to pass, but also you could ride behind someone and kind of realize whether they're slower and pick up on it. So it's definitely cat and mouse for sure. I think today was good though, especially after a break and kind of being off the racing for a little bit, you might come in anxious or a little bit excited and override. I felt like I did a really good job today with my riding and just finding a good flow all day.
Foxborough - 450SX Main Event
April 13, 2024| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Cooper Webb | 23 Laps | 53.013 | Newport, NC  | Yamaha YZ450F | |
| 2 |  Chase Sexton | +1.098 | 53.192 | La Moille, IL | KTM 450 SX-F | |
| 3 |  Ken Roczen | +2.830 | 53.361 | Mattstedt, Germany  | Suzuki RM-Z450 | |
| 4 |  Jason Anderson | +7.960 | 53.536 | Edgewood, NM | Kawasaki KX450SR | |
| 5 |  Jett Lawrence | +8.165 | 53.389 | Landsborough, Australia  | Honda CRF450R |
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jett Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia | 351 |
| 2 | Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 336 |
| 3 | Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL | 307 |
| 4 |  Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 282 |
| 5 | Jason Anderson | Edgewood, NM | 282 |
You ended Jett’s three-race winning streak with your win. Now you've finished ahead of him in the last three races with the worst finish as a second. Is momentum really important at this stage of the season with four races remaining?
It's definitely not a bad thing. I think it's huge, right? He's been really great this year at a lot of races, but it's something where I just know it's 17 rounds and we all get dealt adversity throughout the season and it can come at different times. Obviously he’s had some tough races the last few and I was able to take advantage of that, but I think the big thing is just staying in it. I think a lot of people not only wrote me off at the beginning of the year but have written us off since Jett’s gotten the points lead. So it's definitely rewarding to have the red plate, fight through a lot of the stuff we've been fighting through. It's not easy, you know? This class and this sport is top level. So I'm really proud of myself for sticking to it and knowing that it was gonna come down to a late season push for points.
And how important is it to have been to beat the rider you’re trying to beat for the championship in all three of these races?
Yeah, it's not everything right? You take it for what it is, right? It's good, though. Like I said, the mid season, when he had this win streak going, you know, you see that and man, it's not a great feeling as a racer and it's not a great feeling as you're trying to catch up on points, either. So, I think for me, yeah, it's easy to kind of get discouraged or overwhelmed or go, “Hey, this guy is unbeatable.” So I was proud of myself for never doubting what I can do.
You've been clawing away at the points for a while. You have the red plate, tied with Jett going into the next four races. We know you have that dog in you. What can we expect for the next four to close out the season?
I mean, it's tight, right? Me, Jett and Chase. It's tight and pressure is a real thing. It's not like we're midway through the season where you can have a mistake. You're gonna have to start now doing risk versus reward. I truly believe so. I feel like I'm very comfortable in that situation and I know when the pressure is on what I can do.
You mentioned the pressure. Do you feel like the pressure is more on Jett now that you worked through that point gap that you had to come over through or do you kind of feel like it's an even game now?
It’s as even as it can be. But I think I look at it differently. I think pressure is when you're behind. Eight points [coming into] tonight could have easily doubled the other way. So to me that's pressure when you're behind. So now that we're tied up, it's a much more comfortable feeling.
What was your mentality like after the heat race? Did you learn anything from Jett? Did you change anything on the bike?
No changes. Um I just made that mistake and he was able to get me. I was pretty happy with it. We've seen races this year where he's come out and he’s been able to get around me and pull away. So, I feel like me, him and Chase were really good in that heat and I was happy with it.
I'm gonna ask you about your team. You guys won both classes tonight. Eli won last week. It's kind of what your team does. What did you guys do with the break, knowing that you were closing the points? What do they say? What do they do to fire you up? Because I know that you seem to have a very similar personality the way your team operates.
Yeah, we definitely gel. We're, fiery, fiery people. At the end of the day, I needed to be faster. So we worked a lot on that and we learned how to get faster in more efficient ways. And I think that paid off. The bike, I haven't touched since December. So just kind of working on some things with myself to get faster and be able to have the same pace as these guys up front. I think today showed that with practice and even the main event, like it wasn't a track that you could go and just have crazy speed. You had to have a little bit of patience, mixed with some creativity. But overall, today, I was confident to know that if the pace is there, I can hold that.
