Cooper Webb Wins Big at Pittsburgh Supercross

Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Cooper Webb took a major step towards winning his third Monster Energy AMA Supercross premier 450 class championship on Saturday, pulling the holeshot and scoring a decisive victory over his primary challenger, KTM’s Chase Sexton, at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium.

With the victory Webb’s championship lead over Sexton now stands at 12 points, 325-313, with two rounds remaining on the 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series tour.

“It’s been a heck of a fight, and a rough two weeks, especially last week,” said Webb, highlighting last week’s loss to Sexton in East Rutherford, N.J. “So it was much needed tonight. It was an incredible main event. We were going for it and if I made one little mistake, I knew he was going to get me.”

Joining Webb on the Pittsburgh SX podium was his Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha teammate, Justin Cooper, who put a smart pass on Suzuki’s Ken Roczen later in the 450 main event to secure 3^rd place. And in doing so, Cooper extended his lead for 4^th place overall in the series ahead of Husqvarna’s Malcolm Stewart to four points, 141-137.

Added Cooper: “It really comes down to just believing in yourself… show yourself you can just run up front and be with these guys. I think you just gotta take the confidence you get from good performances and building on that confidence, believing every time that you can go out and be up there.”

In 250 ESX racing at Pittsburgh Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker, who was leading the overall points chase heading into Saturday’s race, had the advantage of not only being from Pennsylvania, but also being an NFL Pittsburgh Steelers fan as the black and yellow jerseys dotted the packed crowd at Acrisure Stadium. But it’d be another Monster Energy-backed racer, Star Racing/Yamaha’s Nate Thrasher, that hopped on top of the leaderboard early with the 250 main event holeshot.

Unfortunately for Hammaker, a get together with Lance Kobush (Honda) early on in the contest, which Hammaker somehow survived without crashing, would nonetheless set the Monster Energy racer back and he’d have to battle just to make the top five (5^th). And while Thrasher would share in the champagne wash of the podium with an excellent 2^ndplace run, Hammaker would lose his overall points lead to Tom Vialle (KTM) and now trails the veteran MXGP racer by one point, 160-159, with one 250 ESX race remaining on the schedule.

“I was just trying to execute the best I could out front, it’s tough and I knew they were there, but it kind of got away from me in the middle part of the race there when we ran into the lappers,” said Thrasher. “I held on a long as I could, but he (Vialle) got in there and was able to make the pass.”

In SMX Next racing, showcasing Monster Energy AMA Supercross’ talent of tomorrow, Monster Energy/Kawasaki/Team Green’s Landen Gordon and Enzo Temmerman would both make the podium, going 2-3 at Pittsburgh, while Monster Energy-backed Luke Fauser (KTM) brought home a top ten 8^th place finish.

Pittsburgh 450 class results                                           250 ESX class results

1^st – Webb (Monster/Star/Yamaha)                                                 2^nd – Thrasher (Monster/Star/Yamaha)

3^rd – Cooper (Monster/Star/Yamaha)                                             5^th – Hammaker(Monster/PC/Kawasaki)

13^th – Hill (Monster/KTM)

SMX Next

2^nd – Gordon (Monster/Kawi/Team Green)

3^rd – Temmerman (Monster/Kawi/Team Green)

8^th – Luke Fauser (Monster/KTM)                                                                                   

Overall Standings (15 of 17 rounds)

450 class                                                                           250 ESX class

1^st – Webb, 325 points                                                                  2^nd – Hammaker, 159 points

4^th – Cooper, 241 points                                                               4^th – Thrasher, 128

8^th – Hill, 170 points                                                                      9^th – Anstie, 78 points

Notes & Quotes

• “Led wire-to-wire with a TON of pressure from the No. 4.” – NBC’s Ricky Carmichael on Webb’s win at Pittsburgh after being tracked for much of the race by Sexton.
• Up to his win in Pittsburgh, Webb had lost three points in both Philly and N.J. As it stands now, Sexton has to win both Denver and Salt Lake City in order to have a chance at making up the 12-point deficit, while Webb just has to remain close behind Sexton in order to win the title.
• “Coop rode a really good race. I pressured him the whole time and he didn’t make a mistake.” – Sexton on Webb
• Webb has been the mark of consistency this year in Monster Energy AMA Supercross, placing only lower than 4^thposition just one time this season and making the podium in ten of the last 11 rounds. Webb’s fifth win (Pittsburgh) of the season ties him with Sexton for the most wins.
• Justin Cooper also made a triumphant return to the 450 class podium after recording only one top five finish since Indy (Round 9). Cooper is in a hot battle with Malcolm Stewart for 4^th place overall in the standings. Following Pittsburgh, the two are separated by 4 points, 141-137.
• First time in 40 years that Monster Energy AMA Supercross had visited Pittsburgh. In the two times racing there at the then Three Rivers Stadium, 1978 and 1983, pro MX/SX greats Bob “Hurricane” Hannah (’78) and Broc “Golden Boy” Glover (’83) were the winners.
• “This is the NFL of dirt bike racing.” – Feld Motor Sports’ Sean Brennan to the football-friendly Pittsburgh media in advance of Saturday’s race
• After spinning on the gate, nearly wrecking in the get together with Kobush, and losing his timing in the whoops (and nearly crashing again), Hammaker was in 15^th place after the second lap. So coming back to 5^th place was huge in terms of the title chase.

Up next: Monster Energy AMA Supercross continues with the series’ penultimate round at Denver’s Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, May 3.