The Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations doesn’t pencil out in any sort of logical fashion. If you go head versus heart, the brain will say the prize money is too small and the expenses are too high, the regular season is too long, Americans are vulnerable because they focus on supercross more than Europeans, the pressure and scrutiny is too much, on it goes. We’ve heard these reasons year after year.
You only race an event like this because of the heart. An athlete does it for his country, and stares head on toward the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. The American team, thanks mostly to two huge win streaks in this event’s history, is always in a pass/fail situation. Podiums don’t matter, individual class wins don’t, either. If Team USA even finishes second place, it’s terrible. Any racer who has been on a losing Team USA will tell you it’s something you don’t want experience ever again. It’s easier to simply not experience it all. Blame the reasons above. They’re logical.
But this isn’t about logic. It’s about heart, and a few guys understand. Obviously, we all know Aaron Plessinger gets this. Cooper Webb, especially, understands, because he’s done the right thing before and stepped up for the team. Both times, he raced out of his normal class, gave it his all, and ended up experiencing heartbreaking losses. We suspect those races, in 2015 and 2016, still haunt him. Cooper Webb is the gamer of gamers, and when the pressure is at its highest, the dude rallies. He’s built for the moment of the Motocross of Nations, but that alone does not guarantee victory. In fact, wanting it so bad and trying so hard only makes defeat sting more.
Related: Cooper Webb to Replace Chance Hymas as Team USA’s MX2 Rider at MXoN
Here’s Cooper’s experience at the Motocross of Nations, as a reminder:
In 2015 Coop missed a lot of Pro Motocross with an ankle injury. Team USA was in trouble because Eli Tomac’s massively dominant early 450 Pro Motocross campaign stopped with season-ending injuries, and Ryan Dungey finally begged off after years of service. Coop volunteered to race a 450, even though he’s still a 250 rider (and only three years into his professional career). Coop was gonna give it his all, but he’s pitted against France’s Romain Febvre, the new MXGP Champion. This 2015 Team USA is all heart with Webb, Justin Barcia, Jeremy Martin, and they try their asses off. But that French team is just too strong on home soil. Team USA is close, but they finish second.
In 2016, Coop is the 250 National Motocross Champion but again volunteers for the 450. Dungey was hurt, Tomac and Kawasaki didn’t go, so his services were needed again. This team was ready to win, as Alex Martin is solid in the 250 class and Jason Anderson wins a moto on his 450…until he gets landed on while rolling the finish line jump. That knocks Anderson out of action for the third moto, shifting all the pressure to Coop, who must hold off Febvre in the final moto. Coop isn’t quite as sharp this year as he was in 2015, rumors are he has a broken finger, but he fights and fights under pressure to hold up. He crashes late in the moto, Febvre gets by, and France wins again.
That loss might hurt worse than any other in Coop’s career. It’s taken eight seasons for him to get another shot at it. Now he’s going to go even when logic said it didn’t make sense. But this is about heart.
He stepped up when it was really needed. This year’s Team USA squad was set to sink into the abyss of teams like 2023 or 2017, which just happen to be years before the event was set to return to American soil. In ’17, the squad needed to call on U.S. born MX2 Grand Prix racer Thomas Covington and have him race the open class. Last year, Christian Craig had to come off the couch to compete. With both Chance Hymas and Chase Sexton hurt this time, this squad was teetering.
Cooper is willing to race 250 when he hasn’t ridden one since 2016. He’ll be eating rocks and mud all weekend and will likely be flailing against faster 450cc bikes. It’s been ages since an American 450 racer signed up for that task. Further, if he doesn’t sign up to take the place of the injured Chance Hymas, the team probably doesn’t have the credibility to get Tomac to sign on as Sexton’s replacement. We hear Cooper even called Eli on Sunday to try to convince him to say yes. Cooper also called off his own post-season vacation to do this (Team USA’s Paul Perebijnos said Cooper might have lost $10,000 on a Hawaiian vacation he had already booked to go back to Florida and test that 250).
How will he really do on a 250 with short notice? Heck, Cooper has barely raced motocross at all over the last few years. There’s a lot stacked against him, but this race shouldn’t always break down to making the logical decision. This is about going for it, and he should be respected and cheered for this forever. Yes, everyone will be there cheering Coop on the other side of the fence, internet, or TV screen next Sunday, but such moments are fleeting. Win or lose, fans need to remember Cooper Webb did what he absolutely didn’t have to do. That’s the biggest reward for stepping up to do a race like this. It’s not quantifiable, but it matters. Well done, Cooper Webb.
Day 2 on the 250 🇺🇸✊🏼 pic.twitter.com/pcD1fo5dQg
— Cooper Webb (@cooperwebb_2) September 25, 2024
