Interview: 2015 AMA EnduroCross Champion Cody Webb

Jean Turner | December 30, 2015

You can read the original magazine story by clicking HERE.

Photography by Drew Ruiz

With two consecutive AMA EnduroCross Championships now to his credit, Cody Webb can indeed attest to the fact that it is harder to defend a number-one plate than it is to earn it. And it’s even more complicated when you’re going to school full time!

Cody Webb may have made it look easy in 2015, but his season was anything but. Fighting for the championship in the “toughest series on two wheels,” taking on the world’s best in extreme off-road events and working toward his degree in engineering left him with plenty on his plate. Behind the scenes, his efforts were compounded even more by a nagging foot injury and a surgery he kept quiet, and even a subsequent infection. Still, Webb was able to come out on top in 2015, demonstrating that he had the speed, the focus, the determination and the intestinal fortitude to conquer it all.

After wrapping up the AMA EnduroCross Championship in November, Webb didn’t have much time to soak up the victory before he was on to the next thing. But before he headed to Europe for the opening round of the FIM SuperEnduro Championship, and his first race aboard a full-factory KTM, we caught up with Webb to hear about his demanding season. The California native revealed more about the challenges he faced behind the scenes of his championship defense, his plans to race more international events, and what he considers “the best race he ever had.” He also talked about the ever-evolving AMA EnduroCross series and why he is finally making the switch from the two-stroke to the four-stroke for 2016!

Starting with the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship, talk about defending your title. How was this year different from 2014?

My season was definitely a lot tougher this year. I had the target on my back and Colton [Haaker] was riding so solid all year. We had the same moto scores all the way to the very last round but luckily I was just picking up more heat races and hot laps, which ended up being the key to the championship. All in all it was way tougher. Things didn’t seem like they came to me as easily. I think the pressure was a little more and I was trying to push a little more. I knew if it wasn’t my night, it wasn’t my night, but when I was feeling comfortable I was able to push and go for the win. If not, I didn’t risk it and I still got on the podium.

At the season finale in Ontario, Taylor Robert (winner at Ontario) was jumping some big gaps on the course and gaining on you. When he got behind you, did you just kind of say, ‘Hey, go ahead?’

Yeah. I knew I didn’t have to win the race. Obviously I would have liked to but I wasn’t feeling great on the track all day. It was a little jumpy. Somehow I led the race longer than I was expecting to. I saw Taylor reeling me in but I knew at that point I was able to wrap up [the championship] so I let him do his thing. But I was the one who got the championship at the end so that’s what really matters.

Speaking of jumps, it seems like they’ve been putting more jumps and kickers into the courses this year. Was that higher than you ever intended to go?

Well, I’m okay with some of the jumps. Like the tire jump to the finish with a nice landing pad, but peak to peak off logs, I’m not practicing that stuff on my track. But it looks like I’m going to have to start practicing that stuff to go with the times. It definitely has the big wow factor and the crowd really gets into it when some of the riders hit the sketchier lines. But consequences are horrible if you don’t make those jumps right. [In Ontario] I knew I had better things to do than that, especially with the championship on the line. I didn’t have to win the race or be the fastest out there—I just had to be the smartest and I did what I have to do. But it looks like the tracks are going that way so I might have to step up my training tracks and be ready for next year.

Was the championship different this year without Taddy Blazusiak around?

Yeah. Without Taddy, it kind of lost some of its prestige. Obviously it was still huge for me to get the win over Colton; a lot of times he’s by far the fastest guy on the track. He’s no slouch. Taylor came on really strong. When Mike Brown’s clicking, he really nails his marks. But without Taddy there, he was a major key guy and he brought himself up as the King of EnduroCross. It would have been a really interesting championship if he’d stayed.

Are you looking forward to facing off with him in SuperEnduro?

Yeah, definitely. SuperEnduro was really exciting last year, but this year there’s going to be a lot of competition there and it’s going to be really solid.

Last year you had to jump from your Factory Beta to the FMF/RPM KTM, with only about a week to prepare for the SuperEnduro Championship.

Yeah, last year I had no transition time between bikes, but this year I’m actually going to be racing the 250F—it’s my new ride with Factory KTM. I got a couple days—a week and a half—with the factory squad before the SuperEnduro series and I’m on a really new bike.

That’s still going to be a pretty major change. Was that your idea to switch to the four-stroke?

I’ve known for a little while. The lap times don’t lie. I was planning on sticking with the two-stroke and my lap times proved otherwise.

Why the 250F and not the 350?

I tested both bikes and the 350 was so fast. I was just wheelying from obstacle to obstacle. I don’t know how Brownie controls that thing with the throttle hand he’s got. With the 250F I’ll be able to override it, similar to how I am right now on the 300 two-stroke. The problem is on the two-stroke, it lights up the rear wheel so quick so you get pointed in the wrong direction a lot of times and the 250F I can just get on it and drive straight to the next obstacle.

Will you be riding that in all events next year or just EnduroCross?

Just in EnduroCross. For all the extreme events I’ll be riding a 300 XC-W—the linkless [rear suspension].

We have a much more condensed season next year for EnduroCross with the season going from August to November, so that leaves you a lot more open to other international events. Which ones are you planning to race?

For sure we’ll be doing King of the Motos. I’ll be going to Erzberg. I’ll be doing Last Dog Standing. I’ll be doing Romaniacs. Then if possible—I don’t know if it will happen—but I’ll do Red Bull Sea to Sky. That’s just later in the year so it might be patchy with the EnduroCross schedule. I’ll be hitting more extreme events in Europe, basically.

At the 2015 Tennessee Knock Out you got a chance to go head-to-head with Jonny Walker for the first time, and he said he was feeling a little under the weather. Was there an asterisk next to that win or do you feel like it was a solid victory?

I definitely wasn’t 100% myself, either. I kind of kept it under wraps that I had surgery to try and fix my feet. I actually had to race that race with my left foot still infected. There was pus coming out and everything. I wasn’t feeling great. I only had about a week and a half or so being on the bike and it was limited. It wasn’t the ideal situation. Basically I was just riding too soon. And wasn’t cleaning it right. I just really screwed myself over. I think Jonny was hurting more than I was, but to be able to get that win against the guy who dominated every extreme event this year, I’m going to take it and say that I got the win. He was battling there at the beginning but he fell apart. He was fatiguing halfway through the race.

You never mentioned an infection. That can be really serious. Was that a big issue?

Yeah. I’ve never really had an infection before. I was on antibiotics at the time so it wasn’t as bad, but when it first started kicking in the weekend before at the last round of the MotoTrial series, and I could barely put my foot in my boot. Once I got my boot on I was okay, but it was super painful. I never thought it would hurt that bad just to have an infection.

That foot had been plaguing you for almost two years at that point. Is everything good now?

I’m never going to be where I was before. I’ve kind of accepted that. I had some bone spurs and the hardware moved. I’ve been seeing improvements, so I think it’s going to keep getting better, but I don’t see my foot ever getting 100% back to normal.

Last Dog Standing was a huge victory for you. What did that mean to you?

That was really awesome. Everyone just keeps stepping their game up every year. I guess I am too, but it feels like every time it’s getting tougher to battle all those guys. They really had a gnarly event this year, especially with that tire pyramid. I was so pumped when I rode up that without ever getting off my bike. It was tough and my technical skills really showed off at the event. It was a really big deal for me and I was really happy to get that one.

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It’s very nice of you to say that about the other guys and you’re always humble, but the truth of it is, no one had anything for you at that event.

Yeah, that was probably the best race I ever had. In terms of an actual event, it’s not huge in the scope of the extreme enduro world, but it’s pretty well known in the West Coast area, and the fact that I was able to sweep up on those guys, it was pretty awesome. That was the best feeling about it – was just to know that I was able to run away with it like that.

Aside from racing, you’ve been a student for several years. Now the light is at the end of the tunnel. How does it feel to have that so close?

It’s so close, senior year. I’ll be graduating May of ’16. This year was actually tougher because I had two pretty rough semesters in a row. It’s been rough on me and my training hasn’t been there and it showed in a lot of the races, you know. I was falling apart about lap 12. I knew that I was dwindling down because of school and the lack of training, but luckily I was able to pull through and ride strong enough to get the championship. I’m really looking forward to next year and not having that extra burden on me. Putting the work in and making sure I’m 100% ready at every race and pushing the whole time, I think that will really show in my results.

Not many people would have blamed you for maybe saying, ‘I can do school later, I want to focus on racing now.’ Did that ever enter your mind?

In the past I thought about putting school on the backburner and finishing it later, but I’m at the top of my game right now and school’s almost over. I can make it. And from here on out, I’m free. I got my engineering degree in my back pocket and I got two championships in a row. That’s huge for me. I’m doing everything I can to promote myself as a rider, as a good character and a potential employee, and looking forward to doing something I enjoy for life after racing.

You can read the original magazine story by clicking HERE.