It’s been a tough 450SX title defense for Cooper Webb in Monster Energy Supercross 2026, recording only a single victory in the Houston Triple Crown and sitting 24 points down with two rounds remaining. The number one candidly spoke out about the most costly points of his season following Philadelphia, where he earned a hard-fought P2 result in the mud.

Attrition was the name of the game when thinking about last year’s Supercross series, with Webb’s mental mastery seeing him outlast the likes of Eli Tomac and Jett Lawrence – who each exited the season due to injury – and claim his third-career 450SX title with five wins along the way.

The battle indeed went down to the wire with Chase Sexton, who also lined up for all 17 rounds, with the key takeaway being that it doesn’t matter how fast you are early in the season, it’s largely null and void if you don’t make it to all of the rounds.

The competition learned, with both Hunter Lawrence (Honda HRC Progressive) and Ken Roczen (Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki) having stood the test of time this year, with Tomac featuring a lot deeper into the season than he did in 2025.

All this means is that a consistency-first approach isn’t all that’s needed, with race wins necessary to match the four victories of Lawrence, the five of Roczen, and even the four of Red Bull KTM recruit Tomac, who was a genuine contender until his Q1 crash in Cleveland.

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Webb hasn’t been able to match that same form, with his seven podiums and sole win solid, although add in a few costly results – specifically Anaheim 1, San Diego, and Detroit – and on balance, the 24-point deficit is rather easy to track, even for the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider after 15 rounds.

“It’s easy for me [to see where it went wrong],” said Webb post-race this past weekend. “I can pick two or three races where I’m in a podium position, and I fall or crash and get a sixth that night. Detroit, A1, San Diego – there’s three – and I’m in this thing, so those are the ones I wish I got back.

“And then there are ones that I wish maybe I would have risked a little bit more, got out of my comfort zone to go get that win. I’m ultra-consistent, but I’ve got a lot of seconds and thirds this year.

“So with that being said, definitely I could pin-point a bunch of races that, and I think all the racers do, where we go, ‘Man, I wish I had that one back or this back or whatever.’ Just trying to look forward past that, do the best I can these last ones, and just see where we stack up.”

It was smooth sailing for Webb after the first gate-drop at the season-opener, as he launched to the lead on lap one and already held a couple of bike lengths before the race was restarted due to Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Ducati’s Justin Barcia and Malcolm Stewart’s (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) frightening opening-lap collision.

Image: Octopi Media.

Webb eventually finished seventh that night, and then, with some late-race assistance from now Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Sexton, San Diego saw him take home a lowly P8 result, made tougher to bear with a Tomac, Lawrence, and Roczen podium lockout.

Finally, a hasty pass attempt on Jorge Prado (Red Bull KTM) moments into the Detroit main event saw them both hit the ground, with Webb only able to recover to sixth, on a night where Roczen won, and Lawrence scored P18.

To me, that was the most costly of all. Because, for one, there was no need for such an urgent pass on Prado while they were in positions two and three, and two, because both Webb and Roczen were in a similar points predicament up until then, with Roczen 31 points down entering Ford Field.

If Webb had emulated the form of Roczen, then as of today, we would be talking about a genuine three-way shootout for this year’s 450SX crown. Instead, his failure to capitalize – which is very un-Webb-like, by the way – sees him still mathematically in contention, but only holding on by a thread.

We heard ‘nail in the coffin’ as early as Anaheim 2 this year, although a more measured, less emotive Webb did comment on the points deficit following Philadelphia, which was a pivotal moment that had a potential six-point swing in the balance.

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“I think after last week, we were getting back [to] within a race,” he added. “Like I said tonight, Kenny alluded that those three points were really huge. It ends up being a six-point swing, so [we’d have] gone back into the teens, which is huge. [It’s] still out of it by a ways, but it just gives you some life.”

In a nutshell, a fourth – and back-to-back – crown is now a long shot, with some serious assistance needed on both Roczen and Lawrence’s part to bring Webb back into the picture, although as always in this sport, it’s never over until it’s over.

It does, however, leave you wondering where this situates the three-time 450SX champion beyond 2026, and whether a Supercross-only arrangement is the desired outcome for the 30-year-old in these later years of his career. The next question would be whether that remains with Star Racing, or if he’ll be forced to search elsewhere for his desired outcome.

That remains all speculation at this point, because for now, with two rounds remaining in this year’s Monster Energy Supercross Championship, Webb is at the very least looking to secure another one or two wins to close out the 2026 series. You just know he’d be determined to tick off a regular main event victory before the season’s out.