Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper has been trending upwards throughout first sixteen rounds of the 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series. On the heels of arguably his best 450SX performance in Pittsburgh, Cooper backed it up with an equally impressive ride in Denver. JCoop charged from ninth up to third, claiming back-to-back podiums for the first time in his 450 SX career.
But it is not the results on paper that made Justin Cooper’s race in Denver memorable. It is the scenario he put himself in at the end of the race. Whether it was by design or not, Cooper deserves a teammate of the year award.
For much of the main event, Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton was checked out while Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Malcolm Stewart ran third, shadowing points leader Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb. Meanwhile, Justin Cooper was charging through the field and eventually began to close on Stewart. As Cooper closed on Malcolm, it forced Malcolm to start pushing towards Webb. With the title fight as close as it is between Sexton and Webb, allowing Stewart to get by would have things closer than Webb would like heading into Salt Lake.
It was a chaotic final few laps between the trio. Justin Cooper was able to make the move on Malcolm, but Malcolm continued to push Cooper right onto the back of Webb. JCoop was able to find an incredible balance of offense and defense by keeping Malcolm behind him yet appearing to be hesitant to pass and take points away from his teammate. Had it gone wrong Webb could have lost seven points on the night, but JCoop played the situation unbelievably well securing his third podium of the season while protecting Webb from getting passed by Stewart.
At the post-race press conference Justin was asked if he wanted to make the pass on his teammate. He admitted that he would prefer to leave the championship between Webb and Sexton, saying, “Nah, I try to respect the championship going on. When there are two guys duking it out for a championship, you don’t want to be the guy that is intervening with it. My speed was good tonight. I think it would have been a different story if I started anywhere up there. I was frustrated to be riding that well and be so far back. I had to make a lot of passes on a track that was hard to pass on, especially with the dry conditions out there. It was challenging, but I am proud of myself for staying focused, staying charging, and getting up to the podium.”
It is not uncommon for there to be a one-off winner at the finale, and if there does happen to be any fireworks between the two title rivals, Cooper may be the favorite to steal his first win at the finale in Salt Lake City. At the Press Conference he talked about what he needs to do to get his first win. “My starts have been good during the day and then in the main event, they have been bad lately.,” Cooper explained. “You cannot give those guys any advantage at the beginning of the main. I need to be with them to stay with them. They are riding great, and it is tough to make up time on these guys. I have to put myself in better position off the gate and that is on me. We got one more though.”
Justin is in a tricky situation. He is riding the best he ever has in 450 Supercross, yet a lot of the attention is being put towards team tactics, and how he may or may not be racing Webb as hard as he could or should. Cooper was asked if he would have been more aggressive with Webb if it was for the win. Before Justin could even answer, Webb interrupted, “I hope so!” Webb joked. Justin then explained his situation saying, “Once I got to third it was the white flag. I had to be defensive with the lappers, and when I was squaring up, I had to watch out because I had just passed Malcolm and I felt him creep up on us in the whoops and I felt the crowd behind us. It really took my mind off trying to get Coop at the end and more so just trying to watch my back because I knew he was going to try and make something happen for the podium in those last couple turns. I felt his presence there, so it was a tough last lap.”
Cooper was the fastest rider for most of the second half of the race. At times he was gaining over a second a lap on the leaders. After the race he explained why he was so good late in the race. “My lines were good. I felt like I got into a better flow around halfway when I kind of got some clear track,” he stated. “I was fighting with a lot of guys there in the first half and once I was able to move around on the track and find new lines, I felt like the track was getting easier for me. I was rolling my turns really and the biggest thing was keeping my pace. I would like to think my lap times were consistent there at the end and not dropping off. With the lapped traffic, I kept my head down all the way to the end and that is what made the difference.”
Beating Malcolm Stewart was crucial for Cooper in his own championship points battle as well. Heading into the last round in Salt Lake, JCoop sits ten points behind Progressive/ECSTAR/HEP Suzuki’s Ken Roczen for third in points and six ahead of Stewart. That pass on Stewart was a four-point swing, maybe even six had Stewart gotten around Webb. If Cooper can perform anywhere near the level he has been the past few weeks next weekend, he should be able to clinch third in points and likely a nice bonus, to cap off an impressive season for the #32.
