Cooper Webb undergoes thumb surgery, will miss opening rounds of Pro Motocross
Cooper Webb underwent surgery for ligament damage to his thumb two days after the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross race in Salt Lake City and expects to take six to eight weeks to recover.
In the pre-race news conference ahead of the finale, Webb announced he had been dealing with the thumb injury since Round 9 in Birmingham in an incident involving Jett Lawrence. His accident with Jason Anderson in Philadelphia in Round 15 made it worse.
"I felt like I did a really good job," Webb said about the rounds he raced with the injury. "I didn't feel like it hindered me whatsoever, but like the last race at Philly, I think when I got together with Jason, that finally finished it off."
From Rounds 11 through 13, Webb erased a 21-point gap to Lawrence and shared the red plate entering Round 14 in Nashville. Lawrence won that round. Webb failed to podium for the first time in four races.
Webb finished fifth the following week in Denver and rebounded to earn his ninth podium of the season in Salt Lake City.
The recovery timeline of six to eight weeks means that Webb will be back on the bike in late June or early July, a period during which he will miss at least four rounds of the outdoor season.
Webb is currently second in combined SuperMotocross points and will likely stay in the top 10 in the standings even after missing several rounds. Teammate Eli Tomac, who sits fourth in points, also injured his thumb and had surgery immediately before the finale. Seventh-place Ken Roczen is out with a tibial fracture and will race few, if any, outdoor races.
The SuperMotocross World Championship awards seeding points equivalent to those won in an individual round, so it will be important for Webb to return to competition as early as possible.
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