ATLANTA — North Carolina rider Cooper Webb led from start to finish before a crowd of 59,017 to score his fifth Monster Energy AMA Supercross victory of the season Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Red Bull KTM rider had to hold off teammate Marvin Musquin and Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS’ Blake Baggett to win the ninth round of the 17-race season.
The 250SX Regional casses saw the first of two East/West Showdowns of the year, where riders from each series compete for the same points payout in one race. It was Western Regional 250SX class riders taking the first two positions, with points leader Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo getting to the checkers first.
When the 450SX racers emerged from the first turn, it was points leader Webb emerging with the holeshot. Within a few turns there were three KTMs out front: Webb, Musquin and Baggett.
The action was tense at the front. Musquin put in a charge four minutes into the 20-minute plus one lap race; Musquin gained a lot of ground in the whoops section and came in contact with Webb in the following corner. Neither rider went down, but the time it took for Musquin to regain balance and remount gave Webb about a second and a half of breathing room. Three minutes later the top three were bunched up again with each rider seeming to have a speed advantage in a different section of the track.
Just past the halfway mark, Musquin’s front wheel went over the inside berm in the sand section and Baggett got by. Baggett put on a charge for the lead, but Webb remained composed on the soft track that was rutting up badly. By the last lap Webb had what he’d have to call a comfortable lead for this battle — just 1.5 seconds.
Behind him Musquin made a last lap charge for second but was unable to pass. The win stretched Webb’s points lead to 13 over Ken Roczen.
“It was all about lines,” Webb explained. “For me I had to ride a little defensive but also offensive. I knew there were a couple places they were catching me. I was searching, I was skimming, I was trying all kinds of stuff. I think I got a little tight in the middle but by the end I started finding my groove.
“I knew Blake was coming, he was strong in the whoops, I’m guessing. But this is incredible: I’m 23, and I came here every year since I was four years old watching [in] the old Old Georgia Dome, raced here on a KTM 50 in front of all these fans with the Junior Challenge and got sixth that night, and now I’m on top. It’s pretty cool, [it] just shows, kids out there, don’t give up, and follow your heart and follow your dreams. And I just can’t even believe it, man. I have so many friends and family here from North Carolina and it’s incredible.”
Baggett explained that not only passing but closing in on riders was tough on the Atlanta track.
“I think it’s the track conditions and the sand,” he said. “It’s tough when they put sand in a Supercross event, I’m definitely not for it. You can get a run up to him but then you’re going through tear offs so fast you needed to hang back. And then once you’ve got dirty goggles it was tough to see, you know; you have to pull a tear off and you’ve got clear vision and you can make another run at it. But [I’m] a little disappointed that I came up that short to be feeling that good at the end of the night.”