Cooper Webb ...Up for the Fight!

The Anaheim 1 opener looked typical for Cooper Webb. The two-time Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion is one of the best of his generation, and yet has never delivered a win at round one. He was his usual solid self on Saturday, coming through the pack to net fourth, and nipping at the heels of Jason Anderson to try to steal a podium. Webb wasn't spectacular at any point, but he was good.

There's more to this story, though, as our Steve Matthes is reporting that Webb had a crash late in the off-season and had to take some time off from riding. Thus, Anaheim's performance was a bit more of a mystery than realized, even though you wouldn't know it by watching him ride.

Webb continued to make progress throughout the day, qualifying eighth and finishing fourth in his heat race. In ninth after the start of the main event, the North Carolina rider once again showed grit and determination, fighting his way to fourth before the halfway mark. Webb kept pushing throughout the race and had the final podium position within sight. Although he finished just shy of the podium in fourth, he scored valuable points at the first round of the 17-round 450SX title fight.

“Anaheim 1 is always a crazy race," said Webb in a Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing statement. "It was an up-and-down day and an up-and-down off-season, but I’m happy. That was a good race. Obviously, being in the top five is important, but I wanted to be on the podium and felt like I was riding good enough to be up front. We need to get our starts a little bit better and be in the mix for next week. It was definitely a good starting point. We’re right in the fight, which is great.”