In a first for Sherco, Cody Webb, on a whim after an invite from the promoter, raced the last two rounds of ArenaCross in his adopted hometown of Denver. To put this in perspective, the 33 year old Sherco pilot had never before ridden a set of “whoops” until his test laps on Thursday evening. Webb would lineup for rounds 9 and 10 on his EnduroCross/SuperEnduro practice bike, which was complete with super soft suspension, 18-inch rear wheel, hand guards and a headlight. This wasn’t the most ideal setup for jumps and whoops, but he showed what a diversified rider he is.
“The Arenacross crew asked me to come out and race the final two rounds since it was in my hometown,” said Webb. “Since it’s the same promoter as EnduroCross, I figured I would give it a go and help cross promote the two series and get the Sherco name where it hasn’t been before. Honestly, I didn’t even mention it to the guys with Sherco USA until that week, but I knew they support me no matter what, so that is another reason I opted in.
I did the best I could to set my practice bike (EnduroCross) up last minute. I bought an 18-inch MX tire Wednesday from my local dealer and adjusted the clickers almost all the way in. I had never hit a set of whoops before in my life, but I was more than willing to give it a try. I had an absolute blast and would honestly probably try and give it a go when they come into town next year. I think I impressed some of the other riders on my ‘enduro’ bike, so I was pretty stoked about that.”
Webb qualified for both the 250 and 450 main events on Friday’s round 9 by way of the last chance qualifiers. This was a surprise to many, given his setup and his lack of preparation for such racing. He was running in a top 10 position in the 250 main until he allowed the leaders to come through near the end of the race. While doing so, he thought the riders just behind him were also part of the lead train and let them by as well, thus finishing 14th. In the 450 main event, he would better that with a 12th place finish.
Round 10 on night two would see Webb winning the 250 LCQ putting him in the main event once again. Bad luck would come his way in the 450 LCQ when he would crash in a corner while trying to make a pass on two riders who were in the lead. “I was way faster than the riders just in front of me, but I just couldn’t get around them. I made a dumb little mistake that put be on the ground going into the corner just before the whoops, and that ended my chance of getting into the 450 main,” said Webb. He would match his best finish from the night prior with a 12th place overall in the 250 main event.
