Both Cooper Webb and Cole Davies Expected to Race SMX World Championship Final

It seems like both Cooper Webb and Cole Davies are both anticipated to race this weekend’s Monster Energy SMX World Championship Final. This indicates: Webb is not fired from the group ahead of completion of his agreement in a couple of weeks and Davies is not hurt from his crash in the 2nd 250SMX moto.

A wild night of racing at Dignity Health Sports Park saw some after-school activities happen as soon as the last checkered flag waved as all of us saw Saturday night, Cooper Webb was frustrated with the pass effort by his young colleague Haiden Deegan late in the 2nd 450SMX moto at round 2 of the SMX Playoffs. You can enjoy the clip of the takeout at the 3:46 mark in the video highlights listed below.

Look, this is not the very first time Deegan has actually gotten a Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing colleague of his– Jordon Smith in Detroit a couple of years earlier, Cole Davies in 2015 in Denver, Max Anstie previously this year in SX, and so on– and while the pass did not look like anything unusual aggression-wise, it appeared to be the last straw that broke the camel’s back for Webb. Webb plainly did not authorize of the relocation.

While Webb was joking about his friendly relationship with Deegan on Friday, stating Deegan has actually assisted his online social networks existence, Webb’s post-race interview after the relocation was anything however joking, as Webb did not keep back.

Webb stated:

“I was pissed, I’m not gon na lie. It’s regrettable. We are colleagues, we are friends, we are training partners. I recommend aggressive racing however, simply, I believe the disrespect from the kid is the typical issue. He has no regard for anyone else. I’m bummed. I was rolling, felt great. He was clearly quicker, he slipped up however still, I’m the guy at the end of the race and, yeah, I’m simply bummed. [It’s] Something, for the win however God dang, male. We’ll see what takes place. I got another race with this group and I will make hell sure he do not win this thing, that’s for sure. Be fascinating week and we’ll get after it. I was simply a little bit off speed sensible today, truthfully. I had to do with the fourth/fifth finest guy. Gon na work on that this week. Kinda out of it, it looks like now, however anything can occur with triple points.”

Then, there were rumors of a fight back at the team truck after Webb’s podium interview.

Watch a clip of Webb going into the team truck after Deegan after the race, where you can hear, “Oh, they’re combating!” from a member of the team inside the truck. Then, Webb is shown walking out the team truck.

Despite some incorrect rumors online about Webb being “fired,” it sounds like Webb will, in fact, still be racing for the team at this weekend’s finale. His contract with the team is up in a few weeks and Webb is not exactly leaving on great terms. He is frustrated the team, who has had his back years ago as a 250 Champion and now in his second stint with them, decided to look to the future with Deegan and Cole Davies, leaving Webb on the outside looking in. Steve Matthes has been reporting that Webb will go to Team Tedder next year, where he will race a Husqvarna FC 450 with factory level support. However, he still has this SMX World Championship Final to race with Yamaha. 

Webb said the following in today’s post-race report from Yamaha:

“L.A. SMX was a crazy day, a crazy weekend, but we had good weather, so that was nice. Practice went well; I was fourth in both of those. Then, in the first moto, I just pumped up really bad, so I was kind of in survival mode and ended up fifth. Then in the last one, it was a sick battle. I got a great start and was going back and forth with everybody and was feeling good. Then Haiden (Deegan) and Kenny (Roczen) made mistakes, and yeah, it was just a bummer deal. Haiden went up the inside and put me down. That kind of sucks, but it’s racing – risk for a lot of money. Overall, we’re still in this fight, and with triple points next weekend, anything can happen.”

Deegan’s quote in the report read:

“L.A., it was good. I’m still second in points. I would have been a little happier if I rode just a tad better at the beginning of the races and made passes quicker. It’s just something we’ve got to work on. I had a good second race. I made a few passes, got into second, and then biffed it in the sand. So it is what it is. We were 3-3 on the day, fourth overall, and leave here second in the points. We’ll just give her all she’s got at the last round. We’re 16 points behind (Jorge) Prado and tied with Hunter (Lawrence). So, it’s going to be a fun last round.”

The post-race penalty report just came out and there is no mention of the Webb/Deegan altercation at the team truck. The report does note that the race direction crew did review the take out but ultimately did not hand out a penalty:

Reviews Resulting in No Penalty:
450 Moto 2 – Race direction reviewed rider #38 (Deegan) for potential aggressive/reckless riding involving rider #2 (Webb) in section 12 after the finish line. No penalty was assessed.

As for Cole Davies, he had a big crash on the third lap of the second 250SMX moto while running in second place. However, even though Davies is way out of the championship fight (even with the triple points this weekend), it sounds like he will line up this weekend, too. That is a good sign after his brutal crash.

Davies said the following in the post-race Yamaha release:

“It was a disappointing day in L.A.. I finished fourth in the first moto, and then unfortunately crashed in the second one, which I’m gutted about. It’s definitely not how we wanted it to go, but there’s still one round left. We’ll come back stronger for the last one and give it our all.”

Watch Davies’ crash below in the 250SMX video highlights.