Las Vegas Supercross Preview: Cooper Webb wants to win in style

By May 2, 2019, 5:00 PM EDT
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Last week’s race at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey was a microcosm of the 2019 450 Supercross season. Cooper Webb struggle early, but had strength and luck on his side once points were on the line.

Webb was only fifth fastest in combined qualification, but when it came time to race he picked up the pace. He finished second in his heat. He lacked dominance in the first few laps of the Main, allowing first Eli Tomac and then Zach Osborne around him. But he stayed close enough to both riders to force them to ride just a little harder than they wanted.

Webb watched as the riders around him made mistakes and easily rolled past them to score his seventh win of the season.

The 2019 season began with a winless Webb. It didn’t take long for him to establish himself as a favorite with a victory in the Triple Crown Anaheim II race. He’d go on to win three more times in the next four rounds. Since his win at Minneapolis in Round 6, he’s failed to stand on the podium only one time and that was a fourth at Seattle.

Now all Webb needs to do in Las Vegas is finished 20th or better to claim his first championship.

Tomac has one shot to win the championship – and it’s a longshot.

Tomac must win while Webb finishes 21st or worse. A second-place finish – even if Webb crashes in prelims and fails to advance to the Main – would result in a tie that would be broken by the most wins. Webb’s seven victories this season is guaranteed to be the most. Tomac enters Vegas with five wins.

Everyone else was mathematically eliminated from competition last week.

Webb’s incredible season overshadows his competition, but notably five riders have scored top-fives in more than half the events this year. Webb’s 14 leads the pack, followed by 13 for Tomac and Marvin Musquin, 10 for Ken Roczen and nine for Blake Baggett.

The difference in the championship has come down to consistency. While Webb has been on his current 11-race, top-five streak Tomac finished outside that mark three times in a span of four races from Minneapolis through Atlanta. Musquin finished sixth at Detroit and Nashville. Meanwhile, Roczen has only one top-five in the last seven Rounds of the season.

Zach Osborne got around Cooper Webb for the lead at New Jersey, but rode too hard into a corner a few laps later. SupercrossLIVE

MORE: Austin Forkner out for the season

Schedule:

Qualifying: 4 p.m. on NBC Sports, Gold
Race: Live, 10 p.m. on NBC Sports, Gold and USA Network

Last Week:

Cooper Webb scored his seventh win of the season over Zach Osborne and Eli Tomac.

Last Year:

Eli Tomac ended the season with a win over Marvin Musquin and Blake Baggett

Winners

[7] Cooper Webb (Anaheim II, Oakland, Minneapolis, Arlington, Atlanta, Houston, and New Jersey)
[5] Eli Tomac (San Diego, Detroit, Daytona, Nashville and Denver)
[2] Marvin Musquin (Indianapolis and Seattle)
[1] Justin Barcia (Anaheim I)
[1] Blake Baggett (Glendale)

Top-5s

Cooper Webb (14)
Marvin Musquin (13)
Eli Tomac (13)
Ken Roczen (10)
Blake Baggett (9)
Joey Savatgy (5)
Dean Wilson (4)
Chad Reed (2)
Justin Barcia (2)
Justin Bogle (2)
Jason Anderson (1)
Justin Brayton (1)
Aaron Plessinger (1)
Cole Seely (1)
Zach Osborne (2)

Points Leaders

Cooper Webb (358)
Eli Tomac (335)
Marvin Musquin (327)
Ken Roczen (300)
Blake Baggett (274)

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Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).