With the first-moto heartbreak still in the back of his mind, Cooper Webb got his chance for redemption in Moto 2. In what he considers his home race, Webb successfully fended off Justin Bogle and Blake Baggett to earn his first career moto win and, in the process, his first career overall win as well.
The MotoSport.com Holeshot went to Bogle but Webb passed him on the first lap and led the race wire-to-wire for the win. Baggett – who had made a last-second pass of Webb for the win in Moto 1 – ran in second place for much of the race, a fact which did not elude Webb. He said that he was determined not to let Baggett get him a second time. Baggett made a hard charge but went down in the closing laps, allowing Webb to open up a gap and score the win.
“I’m on cloud nine,” an elated Webb said following the victory. “I’m not gonna lie, I was beating myself up when I got passed in the last turn [by Baggett in Moto 1].”
Webb felt a love of love from the crowd in Tennessee throughout the race. “I could hear these guys every lap,” he said.
While Webb was soaring to new heights, his Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha teammate Jeremy Martin turned in another disappointing finish, taking sixth to go with his tenth-place finish from Moto 1. Martin, who at one point looked like he might run away with the title, now has little margin for error going forward, as Webb has closed the gap to just eight points behind his teammate. Baggett, who finished second overall with 1-3 moto scores, is also within striking distance, now 17 points behind Martin and nine back of Webb.
Tennessee 250 Moto 2 Results
1. Cooper Webb
2. Justin Bogle (-8.0 seconds)
3. Blake Baggett
4. Christophe Pourcel
5. Marvin Musquin
6. Jeremy Martin
7. Dean Wilson
8. Cole Seely
9. Anthony Rodriguez
10. Jessy Nelson
Tennessee 250 Class Overall Results
1. Cooper Webb (2-1)
2. Blake Baggett (1-3)
3. Justin Bogle (4-2)
4. Christophe Pourcel (3-4)
5. Marvin Musquin (5-5)
6. Cole Seely (6-8)
7. Jeremy Martin (10-6)
8. Jessy Nelson (7-10)
9. Dean Wilson (14-7)
10. Kyle Cunningham (8-13)