Well, in case you haven’t heard the news, Cooper Webb won his third 450SX title in Salt Lake City, Utah, last week with a conservative fourth-place finish in the main event. It’s quite a remarkable feat, really, that Webb has mastered the indoor game so well. When he left the 250SX class for factory Yamaha, his first two years didn’t indicate much indoor success, with just a couple of podiums.
But the still-new backwards motor Yamaha YZ450F wasn’t the ideal bike based on Stewart and others' rides, so there was hope when Webb moved to Red Bull KTM for the 2019 season that he would be better. And yeah, he was… he won the title!
And then won again in 2021! Webb had proved to be a quick learner on the orange bike, and after a rough 2023 season on KTM, Webb jumped back to the Yamaha, but this time the bike was under the purview of Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, his old team, and not factory Yamaha. Webb raced the 2023 SMX races on the Yamaha after parting with KTM mid-season. He didn’t do much as he wasn’t in perfect shape, but then last year, he showed good form in winning four races before winning the title this season.
With this 2025 title, Webb also joined six other riders in SX history with three titles indoors, which broke him away from such icons as James Stewart and Chad Reed. We knew that, but how does this Cooper Webb compare to the “old” Cooper Webb when he won his titles on KTM?
Let’s dive into it.
Related: Records Broken by Cooper Webb
First, the points standings for his three titles:
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Cooper Webb | Newport, NC  | 379 |
| 2 |  Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 361 |
| 3 |  Marvin Musquin | La Reole, France  | 350 |
| 4 |  Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany  | 319 |
| 5 |  Blake Baggett | Grand Terrace, CA | 290 |
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 388 |
| 2 | Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany | 353 |
| 3 | Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 326 |
| 4 |  Justin Barcia | Monroe, NY | 289 |
| 5 |  Aaron Plessinger | Hamilton, OH | 264 |
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 365 |
| 2 |  Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL | 363 |
| 3 |  Justin Cooper | Cold Spring Harbor, NY | 281 |
| 4 |  Malcolm Stewart | Haines City, FL | 277 |
| 5 | Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany | 271 |
Note: the AMA Supercross points changed from 26 points back to 25 points for a win ahead of the 2024 season.
A couple of things here: Webb’s rival for the title in his three championship years was three different riders. That’s rare; after all, look at Carmichael, Reed, or Johnson’s titles to see that the main guys usually stay the main guys.
Was the 2025 version of Chase Sexton better than the 2019 version of Eli Tomac? I’m not sure, but the 2025 Sexton finishes tied for third in most season wins without winning the title in SX history.
Now let’s look at Webb’s three title years and see what we have:
Well, the obvious one that sticks out is fewer season wins and season points this year compared to others. Same number of podiums and one more top five this season compared to the other two titles. He was second to Sexton in the laps led department also.
One thing that was interesting to me is that it seemed to me that Webb had more raw speed this season on the Yamaha than I remembered on the KTM. I had said this in the press box one week when he was getting inched out by his teammate Justin Cooper in qualifying but was right there.
The data matches the eye test as well, as Webb is almost one position better than his other seasons in qualifying, but he’s further back in time to the top qualifier in 2025.
But supercross is and will always be starts, starts, and starts, and in this, you can see maybe the best indicator of Webb’s title runs. And that number is first in average position at the white stripe in the first turn in each of his title years. In 2025, he was almost more than one spot better (5.65) than Sexton (6.61) in the first turn. This was huge for Webb, who trailed Sexton this year in laps led, wins, qualifying time, and any other stat, including average position on lap 10.
But not the titles!
Cooper Webb puts himself in great positions to win races with starts and late-race charges. And this year, he added some raw speed as well. Add it all up, and Webb’s amongst the best to ever race indoors.
Thanks to MX Reference for the help with the stats!
