Image: Supplied.

Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb scored a dominant victory at the final round of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross season in Salt Lake City to take his second 450SX championship.

After getting a great start in the main event, Webb found himself behind his championship rival Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) and locked in a battle with Roczen’s teammate Chase Sexton.

Sexton and Webb went back and forth for the opening laps, allowing Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM) to get in on the action as followed the pack in fourth, all the while Roczen stretched out to a bit of a lead at the front.

Sexton broke away from the Red Bull KTM duo, running down his teammate and taking the lead with 14 minutes to go in the race and stretched out a four-second lead over the next few laps. Roczen then came under siege from the charging Red Bull KTM’s.

With 10 minutes to go, Webb pulled the trigger on an aggressive pass to take second from Roczen, allowing Musquin past in the process. Roczen dropped down the order shortly thereafter,  eventually finishing in 10th on the night, securing second in the championship.

Webb proved he was not to be denied, running Sexton down with four minutes to go, making the pass after a bobble from Sexton that also allowed Musquin through for an eventual Red Bull KTM 1-2 finish.

Sexton brought it home in third, notching another podium in what was an impressive rookie season in the premier class despite some crashes and subsequent injuries. His finish also locked up the manufacturer’s championship for Team Honda HRC.

Fourth went to newly crowned 2021 450SX rookie of the year Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha), with his teammate Malcolm Stewart finishing just behind him rounding out the top five.

Joey Savatgy wrapped up his season with an impressive sixth-place result aboard his Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM, taking his best finish of the season in the final race. Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) battled hard for seventh, making plenty of aggressive moves throughout the race in typical BamBam fashion.

Eighth-place on the night went to Aaron Plessinger (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) who battled inside the top five with his teammates for a good portion of the race.

Out-going champion Eli Tomac’s (Monster Energy Kawasaki) rough start did him little good in his last ride with the number one plate, as he found himself locked in a heated battle for seventh for most of the race.

Roczen’s bid for the championship ended with a 10th-place finish, the Team Honda HRC man dropping down the order after being passed by Webb, with Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) finding himself 11th on the night, missing out on his eighth straight top-10 after an impressive run in the back half of the season.

Image: Octopi Media.

It was a wild night of racing in the 250SX East/West shootout for the conclusion the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross championship with Jett Lawrence putting his Team Honda HRC CRF250R on top of the box ahead of Colt Nichols and his brother Hunter Lawrence.

The final round of the 2021 championship saw the 250SX classes collide for the Dave Coombs Sr. 250SX Showdown at Rice-Eccles Stadium. After a day of overcast skies, the track came together nicely to create incredible racing for the final round.

With both championships on the line, Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha teammates Nichols and Justin Cooper came into the night needing few points to pick up their titles.

At the start of the main, it was all Nichols, taking a commanding holeshot over Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) and Jett Lawrence, the trio setting a solid pace out front for the opening five minutes of the race with Cooper maintaining down in eighth place.

Hunter Lawrence joined the party at the front, as the brothers began to pressure Hammaker for second. Jett eventually made the move and set out after Nichols, with Hunter hitting the ground attempting a pass just moments later.

As the laps wore down, Jett closed the gap to Nichols, making a pass stick and heading into the lead, while his older brother caught McAdoo for the final spot on the podium.

As Jett crossed the line for the showdown win with Nichols just behind, Hunter made a last-lap pass on McAdoo with just a half-lap to go to put brothers on a Supercross podium for the first time in history.

The headline of the night though went to the Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha teammates of Nichols and Cooper, who brought home the 250SX East and West championships with second and ninth-place finishes, both taking career-first titles.

The trio of Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s finished fourth through sixth on the evening, with McAdoo taking fourth, Hammaker in fifth, and Jo Shimoda grabbing fifth on the evening.

Seventh-place went to Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas) who came out on top of a battle between eventual eighth-place finisher Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna).

250SX West class champion Cooper, who rode a steady, trouble-free race with the championship clearly in mind, ahead of Kyle Peters who put his Phoenix Racing Honda in the final spot in the top 10.

Michael Mosiman (TLD Red Bull GasGas) took a dominant heat race win but hit the ground early in a first turn pile-up in the main event and would eventually finish the night in 15th.

Detailed results