Cooper Webb Starts Turning the Corner at Anaheim 2
Sometimes the results sheet doesn’t tell the whole story, and Anaheim 2 was one of those nights for the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 squad / Jan 26, 2026 /
If a picture is worth a thousand words, the look on Cooper Webb’s face after the Anaheim 2 450SX Main Event speaks volumes. The three-time Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Champion is a fierce competitor, and the first three rounds of the season have not been the start to his title defense that he was working for.
“It’s been hell to be honest, but it’s part of the sport,” Webb said. “You do everything right, and sometimes you get your teeth kicked in. So, yeah, it was an unfortunate start to the season results-wise, but I think there was a lot to be proud of with my riding tonight.”
At Anaheim 2, the end result was a hard-earned fifth-place finish, but the bigger takeaway? Webb is starting to look like himself again. The North Carolina rider got a great start to his heat race and battled up front, ultimately finishing second. When the gate dropped for the main event, though, things didn’t go quite as planned. He got tangled up with a pair of riders after the gate drop and had to make his way from 10th into the top five.
“I felt really good all day and had a good heat race finally,” Webb said. “Then in the main event, I collided with Hunter (Lawrence) and (Jorge) Prado off the start, which was a bummer. I was pretty buried, but made some passes and got closer to the front. I had a gap to the leaders and was able to catch up to them.”
As the laps ticked down, Webb found himself in a three-rider fight for the final podium spot. When Jason Anderson went off track, Webb moved into fourth and set his sights on the riders ahead – including points leader Eli Tomac. Unfortunately, in the final laps, a crash in the sand dropped him back to fifth.
“I felt like it was time to try to get around Eli and potentially go for Hunter,” Webb said. “The next thing you know, I'm flying over the berms. It was a bummer to crash like that when I felt like I had a podium or, at least, the speed to potentially win tonight, but I can’t be too mad at myself. In this sport, nothing’s over until it’s over. We’ll be back next week, that’s for sure. We’ll be hungry to come out to H-town and turn it around.”
On the other side of the tent, Justin Cooper also made progress, even if the main event result didn’t show it. The New Yorker had a good start to the day, qualifying second and charging his way through to fourth in his heat race. Another difficult start in the main event had him 14th after the opening lap, but he pushed on to a top-10 finish.
“The results were not great, but we made some improvements in areas that I was struggling with before,” said Cooper. “So we’re taking the positives away from it and not focusing on the results on paper. We’re just going to keep working, and it'll come.”
Looking back on the day, Rich Simmons, the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager, echoed the progress made. “Overall, both guys were more consistent,” he said. “Qualifying was better, the heat races were better, and Coop was racing with the lead group. The speed was there. Unfortunately, the mistake in the sand cost him a podium. Justin got stuck in that pace in the main event, but we know what we need to work on. It was a better night.”
With the Southern California stretch wrapped up, the team shifts its focus to Round 4 of the 17-round Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Championship. The results may not fully show it yet — but the momentum is building.