Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing pilot Cooper Webb, the defending Monster Energy Supercross champion and current third placed rider in the current 2025 SuperMotocross World Championship point stable, is now on the injured reserve list. Tweaking his left knee in a qualifying session at the RedBud National, Webb went straight home and into medical recovery mode to get the knee addressed and attended to. Undergoing a relatively minor surgery procedure (after tearing his meniscus) and the operation now complete, Webb is back home in Florida and healing up before heading out for SMX World Championship Playoff 1 set for zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. A local race for the man raised in Newport, North Carolina, Webb is keen to get back to work and over the weekend provides us with a status report on his current reality.
“Today was my first day back riding after getting my knee fixed, so it was a good day,” explained the three-time Monster Energy Supercross champion. “I got my meniscus fixed. They went in and put some internal stitches in and cleaned it up on the inside and today marks four and a half weeks. We’re ahead of schedule and we just rode today for the first time to kind of see how it all felt and everything went smoothly. We’ll start SMX preparation on Monday and we’ll have about a three week block to try to get ready for the Charlotte SMX. Other than that, yeah, we’ve been doing a lot of rehab and therapy to get my knee back as soon as we can. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get back this soon, but I’m glad that we’re in a position to be able to be riding right now, which is great.”
Third in the SuperMotocross 450SMX points and 114 marks adrift of title chase leader and teammate Justin Cooper, Webb is optimistic about making a full-on run to the front of the pack. For the playoffs, the points will reset and Webb will have just a few marks to make up on his competitors.
“We’re right there in the mix,” said Webb, enthused with the situation. “I’m still second as it stands right now. We have one motocross race left right now. I’ll either be third or fourth depending on how some of the guys do, but yeah, I’ve given myself a great shot to try and go after a good result. It’s tough because I’ve been injured. I’m going to be a little bit behind the eight ball just coming back from an injury for these upcoming SMX rounds, but I’ll be ready.”
First turning professional back in 2013, Webb, among the elite racers of the modern era, talked a bit about watching the world go by when out of action due to injury.
“It’s so up-and-down, right?” reasoned Webb. “You never want to get injured and you don’t want to miss time with an injury. It’s a bummer for me. I had this injury without crashing. I just ripped my foot off the footpeg and that was what caused it, it’s definitely frustrating when it was not even from a crash, right? It’s good and bad, right? It gives you a little bit of down time, which sometimes you need. Sometimes you don’t. For me and having two daughters, it kind of gives me a chance to be around them a lot more. Honestly, when you’re injured, the first week or two when you can’t do much it’s pretty frustrating. You feel kind of helpless and if anything, you actually start working harder to get back from injury. It’s kind of crazy. I’m having more time in the gym, and more time recovering and at the doctors and the physical therapy and so on and so forth. It’s up and down and it’s always a good little reset and reminder of how much we really do enjoy racing. Like after riding today, I’m all smiles and just happy. It definitely can be frustrating, but you learn to deal with it, for sure.”
