Cover Them | BY DAVEY COOMBS
f you had a sense of déjà vu when you first saw the cover of this issue of Racer X Illustrated, we understand. The photograph on page one of this February 2020 issue looks very similar to the photo that graced the cover of the February 2019 issue. Twelve months ago, newly crowned Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion Jason Anderson was showing off his new #1 plate in a photo captured by Simon Cudby; this time it’s newly crowned Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion Cooper Webb, also shot by Cudby. In both cases, the rider was coming off a season in which he won his first 450SX title, riding a bike built in Austria—an FC 450 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna in Anderson’s case and a Red Bull KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition under Webb.
While the covers may look familiar, there is much about them that is different, given some context. In Anderson’s case, he was just coming off an injury in the summer of 2018 that cost him much of his summer—he’d collided with another rider in practice. Having won four 450SX main events on the way to the ’18 title, the accident cost Anderson a good chance to carry that momentum into Lucas Oil Pro Motocross and hopefully win his first outdoor national.
Webb, too, was coming back from an injury, but his didn’t occur until August, by which time he had added his first 450 Class MX win to the seven AMA Supercross main events he’d won on his way to the ’19 title.
Both riders had appeared on our cover before. Anderson’s first came back in July of 2014 when he was on a Rockstar Energy KTM and had just wrapped up the 250SX West Region title. Webb’s first Racer X cover came 11 months later as he was putting the finishing touches on his first 250SX West Region title aboard a Star Racing Yamaha.
And here’s where the two are once again very much alike, and also different: In the each rider’s first cover appearance, both wore a #17 with red plate, as they led the points in the ’14 and ’15 250SX West Regions, respectively. Finally, each had different gear sponsors, as Anderson was running One Industries gear in ’14 and Webb was kitted in Answer in 2015.