Image: Octopi Media.

Philadelphia did not go the way Cooper Webb was hoping after the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider entered just five points behind championship leader Jett Lawrence and left 12 points down. It was the first race Webb missed the podium since the 10^th round in Indianapolis. Webb admitted after the race that he tightened up while running in second place and was disappointed in his ride.

“It was a tough race. Felt good at the beginning and then I honestly just got really tight,” said Webb. “It’s tough on these conditions, it’s super slippery to ride tight. I knew I was slipping back, slipping back, and those guys were there. I was just trying to survive and fight until the end. It was just a bad ride for me. We’ll regroup. It’s definitely not over, but definitely a bummer. Bummed at myself for not doing my part. It’s been a while since that’s happened. We’ll go back to the drawing board and come back. I’ve just got to win now.”

Lawrence led from the start, but Webb made quick work of teammate Eli Tomac to get into second early on in an attempt to stick with Jett. However, the gap slowly grew lap after lap and Webb soon found himself getting passed by Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton for second. He was still in line to land on the box until Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson put on a big charge to catch Webb late and pass him in the last corner. Webb even fell from some contact with Anderson but was able to remount still in fourth place.

Prior to Philadelphia, Webb opened up about his training focus ahead of the final three rounds. Specifically following a distant third place finish at Nashville, Webb wanted to improve his sprint speed at the beginning of the race after seeing how quick Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen were on the opening laps at round 14. Lawrence was in front of Webb in Nashville at the start but went on to catch and pass Tomac to win the race while Webb finished 15 seconds back in third.

“Those two were on it at the beginning,” Webb told MotoOnline. “I think it caught me and Jett off guard and Jett adapted better than I did. I had a lot of inconsistent laps and got better at the end of the race, but I just let the beginning get away from me. That’s what we focused on was just making sure we’re there at the beginning of the race no matter where we’re at off the start.”

It appeared Webb took that early sprint approach in Philadelphia. Lawrence ran seven consecutive 52-second lap times in the first seven laps of the main event and Webb did his best to match him with four of his first seven laps in the 52-second range. But Webb started drifting into the high 53-second range and eventually was down to the 54- and 55-second range by the end of the race. Those early sprints may have contributed to his tightening up.

Now the damage is done though as Lawrence could win the title with two third place finishes to round out the season. As Webb said, he just has to win now and hope the cards fall his way in Denver and Salt Lake City.