In the Nashville round of Monster Energy Supercross at Nissan Stadium, Cooper Webb was racing against points leader Eli Tomac when he crashed on Lap 1 of Heat 1. He was transported to the hospital for treatment, according to NBC Sports. Adam Cianciarulo’s Kawasaki ran over Webb’s back and struck Webb hard in his helmet after losing traction with his front wheel. Webb was sitting up in the tunnel after being helped to the Alpinestars medical cart.
“We were riding each other pretty aggressively there in Turn 2 and Turn 3,” Tomac told NBC Sports’ Will Christien. “In Turn 2, Cooper came up the inside and I tried to do the similar thing. We didn’t make contact, but then he washed his front end out and I happened to be looking back to see if he did fully hit the ground and I believe Adam clipped him. Obviously that is unfortunate. It changes a lot of things for us.”
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With three rounds left, Webb had an excellent chance to close the gap between him and Tomac. Tomac has earned his position with seven wins, but Webb is in second due to consistency. He has made nine podiums in the first 14 rounds of the season and is the only rider to sweep the top five. Unfortunately, he cannot line up for the main event, eliminating that possibility. Prior to being transported to the hospital, Webb was alert and standing but clearly in pain and devastated, NBC Sports reported. Despite not knowing the extent of Webb’s injury, he will suffer serious damage to his chances of winning his third championship in the past five years by missing a round. Before winning at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, Webb was the odd man in, having won Supercross titles in 2019 and 2021.
In a statement, team manager Ian Harrison said: “The team’s first concern is always for the rider. We are hoping everything will turn out okay, but of course after seeing the crash and Cooper getting transported to the hospital, we are devasted as a team.” As Heat 2 progressed, the damage continued to mount. In that race, Jason Anderson crossed rutted and was thrown off the front of his bike. Earlier, he had suffered a left shoulder injury in qualification. He could not finish his heat and had to proceed to the main via the Last Chance Qualifier, according to NBC Sports.
Hunter Lawrence, who only needed to finish 20th or better, cruised behind Jordon Smith and waited until that rider made a mistake by jumping off course. Once he overtook Smith, Lawrence was out in front and finished the remaining laps to win his seventh race in nine rounds of the season. Clinching the 250SX East Region Championship with yet another main-event victory, this is Lawrence’s first win in AMA racing.