It’s coulda, shoulda, woulda for Webb at this stage. He led Anaheim 1 early until a red flag restart. He got knocked down by Sexton at round two, cut off by Prado and Lawrence at round three, and then fell trying to get Tomac. Small signs he’s still the old Webb, but mixed with the type of bad-luck racing stuff that rarely happens to him.
“I felt really good all day and had a good heat race finally,” Webb said. “Then in the main event, I collided with Hunter (Lawrence) and (Jorge) Prado off the start, which was a bummer. I was pretty buried, but made some passes and got closer to the front. I had a gap to the leaders and was able to catch up to them.
“I felt like it was time to try to get around Eli and potentially go for Hunter,” Webb said. “The next thing you know, I’m flying over the berms. It was a bummer to crash like that when I felt like I had a podium or, at least, the speed to potentially win tonight, but I can’t be too mad at myself. In this sport, nothing’s over until it’s over. We’ll be back next week, that’s for sure. We’ll be hungry to come out to H-town and turn it around.”
In his post-race TV interview, Webb said this race may or may not have been the nail in the coffin as far as defending his title. He later clarified that at the time, he thought he might have been down 30-some points in the standings. Down 24, he feels it’s a big gap, but not impossible. If there’s any silver lining, it’s that the same deep, healthy field that is stealing points from him now can help him get them back quickly. Webb netting a win while the group ahead in the standings—Tomac, Lawrence, Sexton, Roczen, and Anderson, who he is currently tied with—take points away from each other can very quickly erase a large deficit.
“Overall, both guys were more consistent,” said Simmons of his Yamaha 450 riders. “Qualifying was better, the heat races were better, and Coop was racing with the lead group. The speed was there. Unfortunately, the mistake in the sand cost him a podium. Justin got stuck in that pace in the main event, but we know what we need to work on. It was a better night.”
Still, the margin of error is low now. Webb needs wins earlier and more often than usual, to take advantage of a field that can still mix it up behind him. Can this weekend’s Triple Crown provide the format needed to rescue the season?
