Third Supercross title takes Webb into rare territory

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing athlete Cooper Webb clinched his third Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City last weekend. It's still sinking in.

“To win this championship means the world to me,” said the 29-year-old, who won three main events and landed on the podium 13 times along the way. “There were a lot of hard-fought days to get where we are at now, and being a three-time champion is rare territory.”

Indeed, Webb is only the seventh rider in AMA Supercross history to claim three premier class championships.

“Yeah, it is crazy,” said Webb, who joins Bob Hannah, Jeff Stanton, Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, Ryan Villopoto and Ryan Dungey on the three-title list. “It’s really cool. I’m stoked. It turned out to be a great year.”

Now the oldest racer to win the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship at 29 years, 6 months, the veteran Webb put absolutely everything he had in nailing down his third title.

“Yeah, 100 percent -- I put everything into it, man,” said Webb, who's now training for the upcoming AMA Pro Motocross Championship opening round, set for Fox Raceway in Pala, Calif., on May 24. “Last year was a great year, but I think it only gave me a lot of fuel for the fire. After getting second last year, I was able to come into this year and really try and go after it. I felt like the team and I were in a great spot with the motorcycle and physically I was getting stronger. I was also stronger mentally with more experience.

"We had a great off season. In early December I ended up having an injury that kind of pushed us back a few weeks, but I was able to make it on the gate at Anaheim 1 and it was just full steam ahead from there. I was able to get on the podium right away and win early in the season and really carry that momentum. Once we got the ball rolling, it was really rolling.”

Although he won the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship in both 2019 and '21, this latest triumph is the most special to the native of Newport, N.C.

“For me, I definitely think it is the best one yet. I think that mainly just because of the gap between the championships," he explained. "It has been four years and a lot of ups and downs since the last one. For me, that 2019 title was amazing, but once I won that one, it was kind of like we went on a roll a little bit. I ended up second the next year in 2020 and then won in 2021. I think it was almost something that was expected and it was coming at me real well. I was clicking off a lot of race wins. I was in a great spot.

"After that championship in 2021 I had a terrible year after that. In 2023 and 2024, I really came close. I think this 2025 championship is the most deserved, as far as the effort I put in and just the emphasis on everything. We were able to give Yamaha the championship that they deserve and the championship that Star Racing and Monster Energy deserve. The first time around in my career with Yamaha, from 2013 through 2018, it didn’t go very well, so to be able to just kind of return the favor to them is great. They took a second chance on me and I was really able to perform this year.

"To do it at age 29, I think I just saw I’m the oldest rider to ever win it. It’s super special and like I said on the podium, I wanted to be a champion again, but you truly don’t know if you’ll ever be able to get there again. To be able to get it done this year was a huge relief. And now as a father and stuff like that, you can’t even put it into words how incredible I feel.”

Factoring in the physical demands brought forth by such a demanding sport goes into that level of satisfaction, too.

”I think for our sport, there are so many things that go into it, right? It’s physically one of the most demanding sports in the world. Mentally, it is one of the most demanding. We don’t have the roll cages that the motorsports industry has. Injury here is not if, it’s when, so we train our butts off.

"For myself, my diet is to the T, my sleep and my recovery are to the T. All these things that we do is to win a championship and go all-in. It’s not just talent anymore. You have to have the motorcycle that is capable to handle the load. It’s a long series, so you have to have great personnel and mechanics. There are just so many things that have to click for it to really become a reality, so much little stuff that you put yourself through. You sacrifice everything to do it. If it was easy, everyone would do it.

"I feel like we have the best racers possibly to ever do this sport racing right now. I think that is also what has been super special. To race against some of the greatest to ever do it -- the guys that are a little older than me and the guys that are my age and the young guns -- it feels great. The competition is so stiff nowadays. When you have a goal at the beginning of the year, and you’re able to achieve it, there is just no other feeling like it.”

And Webb believes what he got out of it all in 2025 was what he put into it.

”Yes, this all started back last September," he said. "Think about how many months you’re sacrificing on your body and your time and your effort and your mindset. You just want to be focused once we go racing in January You have to be able to focus every Saturday January through May. You have to show up every Saturday and put solid results in. There are so many things that can happen and that’s what makes it so special. Just getting five wins this season was awesome. Same with the 13 podium finishes. In both of my other championship years, I was also on the podium 13 times. When you look at 13 out of 17 races on the podium, my consistency was there and I also won five races. Overall, I think we had a lot of great races, and luckily for me, I really only had the one bad night where I was outside of the top five. I think that’s what helped me win this championship.”

Now, Webb will get right back in the saddle, leaving the night air and major league baseball stadiums behind to challenge for victories through the summer months in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

“Yep, that’s the plan right now. We’re doing outdoors this year and next year," he said. "Yeah, that’s what we just got done testing for today. We started at 9:30am testing and it’s about 7pm here right now -- long day, but this will be fun and I’m excited. I haven’t been able to stay healthy enough the last few years to make it to the outdoor series. This will be my first season with the Star Racing Yamaha team racing the outdoors. I’m excited to see where we stack up.”

As for his goals for the natural terrain series, Webb's focus is on consistency.

“This is a cliché, but I want to race all the races. I Haven’t done that since 2021, but I think for me, that is a great goal to have," he said. "I haven’t raced a full outdoor season in four years, so I just want to get my feet wet again and go be competitive. I’m aiming to be top five and if I can end up the year top three, I think that would be like a win.