Webb Strengthens Championship Lead with a Win in Steel City
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb returns to the top with Justin Cooper joining him on the podium for a stellar outing at Pittsburgh Supercross / Apr 29, 2025 /
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Cooper Webb put in a championship ride in Pittsburgh, keeping cool under pressure to score a wire-to-wire victory at Round 15 of Monster Energy AMA Supercross at Acrisure Stadium. The red-plate holder’s fifth win of the season was a clutch victory, expanding his lead in the hotly contested 450SX Championship to 12 points with only two rounds remaining. Justin Cooper also enjoyed a successful outing at the new venue, crossing the line third to earn his third premier-class podium finish.
The sport of Supercross made its long-awaited return to Pittsburgh, and it was a packed house, despite another cold day for the final round of the East Coast swing. With rain leading up to the event, it was another abbreviated schedule during the day, with just two qualifying sessions. Webb hit the ground running, topping the timesheets in the first session and qualifying second in the combined times. In the heat race, he was third after the opening lap, and then shortly after, made his way to the runner-up spot, where he would finish. After the gate dropped for the main event, he grabbed the holeshot and set a strong pace up front. His title rival closed in and stayed on his heels, but Webb kept cool under pressure and rode on to his fifth victory of the season, scoring valuable points to expand his lead to 12 with two rounds remaining. It also maintained Yamaha’s perfect premier-class record at Pittsburgh Supercross, with the previous two runnings of the event being won by Bob Hannah in 1978 and Broc Glover in 1983.
Cooper qualified fifth and then built on that with a standout performance in his heat race. The 2021 250SX West Champion was third after the start and quickly made his way to the runner-up spot. He was shuffled back to third on the following lap, but kept pushing and around the halfway mark, made the pass for second after the split lane. Cooper closed the gap to the leader and once again made the pass after the split lane to claim the lead and earn his second heat race win of the season. In fifth after the opening lap of the main event, Cooper continued to fight. He claimed fourth on Lap 5 and then made the pass for the final podium spot on Lap 9, where he set the fastest lap of the race. The New Yorker tried to close the gap to the duo up front, but ultimately finished comfortably in third, securing a podium finish in the deteriorating conditions.
Next weekend, the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team heads west to Denver, Colorado, for the penultimate round of Monster Energy Yamaha AMA Supercross and Round 16 of the SuperMotocross World Championship at Empower Field at Mile High on May 3.
Rich Simmons – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager
“It was a great day for the team. Qualifying went well for both guys, and we had good heat races. It was an amazing heat race from Justin Cooper. That’s what we see from him daily at The Farm, so it was nice to see it here. Then in the main event, he had the fastest lap of the race, which was great. We would’ve liked to see him get through Kenny (Roczen) and Aaron (Plessinger) a little faster and get to Chase (Sexton) to see what he could’ve done, but overall it was a great night for him. For Coop, there’s not much I can say. It was a clutch performance by him, and that’s just what he’s known for. I’m proud of the whole team. It was a big effort for everybody coming into this race, and we got it done. We’ll keep working and look forward to Denver.”
Cooper Webb – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #2
"Pittsburgh was an amazing day for me. I qualified first in the first session and got second in the next one. In the heat race, I finished second, and then in the main event, I executed well. I got the holeshot and led the whole thing. I had a heck of a lot of pressure from Chase (Sexton) and was able to get it done. It’s just huge from a momentum side to get another win, and to skew the points and give myself a little bit more breathing room. It was much needed, and we’ll head into Denver with a lot of confidence.”
Justin Cooper – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #32
“It was a really good day. I qualified fifth but really came out firing in the heat race. I felt like that’s the best I’ve ever ridden. I got a lot of compliments after that performance, and it just made me want to do the same in the main. I didn’t get the best of starts and got shuffled around a bit on the first lap. I was fifth or sixth and had a good battle with AP (Aaron Plessinger) and then went back and forth with Kenny (Roczen) for third. It took me a little bit to get to third, and once I did, I tried to latch on to those front two. I put in a bunch of good laps, but just really couldn’t close down on the gap much. So I was a little bit deflated, and I didn’t change up my lines once the track started getting rougher, so that hurt me a little bit. From there, I was kind of riding around in no man's land in third, and just maintained it from there.”
2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Pittsburgh Results
2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Championship Standings
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