Wes Cooley

Wester Steven Cooley (June 28, 1956 – October 16, 2021), better known as Wes, was an American motorcycle road racer in the AMA Superbike class. He won the 1979 and 1980 AMA Superbike Championships on a Yoshimura Suzuki GS1000s.

Career Born in Los Angeles, California, Cooley got his start on the Southern California club racing scene where his father ran a club racing organization. He honed his skills in the smaller classes before being hired by Pops Yoshimura to race a Kawasaki KZ1000 in the newly formed AMA production class. He won his first AMA superbike race in 1977. In 1980, he teamed up with Graeme Crosby to win at Suzuka a second time. Cooley went on to win his first superbike national championship in 1979. He was 65 years old and is survived by his partner of many years, Melody Rose, along with son Wes Jr. and daughter Alexis.

Career statistics Suzuka 8 Hours results Year Team Co-Rider Bike Pos 1978 Yoshimura Racing Mike Baldwin Wes Cooley Suzuki GS1000 1st 1980 Yoshimura R&D Graeme Crosby Wes Cooley Suzuki GS1000 1st