At the Monster Energy Supercross’ opening race Saturday in Anaheim’s Angel Stadium, Eli Tomac of Cortez placed in the top 10 in his first race since being sidelined in May 2023 with an injury.
The day started out strong for Tomac as he placed second behind 2023 Motocross champion Jett Lawrence by 1.5 seconds in the first qualifying round of the day and sixth in the second qualifier, less than a second behind Lawrence and 2023 Supercross champion Chase Sexton, Cooper Webb, Ken Roczen and Justin Cooper.
Tomac’s best lap time in the qualifying rounds was 1:01.05, with Lawrence racing about a second faster.
Later on in the day during Heat 1, Tomac placed fourth, about seven seconds behind first-place heat winner Roczen. Sexton placed sixth, and Hunter Lawrence crashed, erasing his chances to enter the main event through the heat race.
In Heat 2, Webb placed first, Justin Anderson second and Lawrence third after crashing his bike while trying to pass Webb. According to announcers, the track was slippery.
Before the main event, Lawrence spoke of his admiration for Tomac, saying if he was able to beat him, he would know he had made it as a rider.
“He’s the guy,” Lawrence said.
Tomac also spoke of Lawrence, saying that he was going to be one of his main competitors.
“He is the guy I’ve been studying,” Tomac said.
Race announcers said people have been anticipating the “Tomac-Lawrence showdown,” while also noting that it may take Tomac time to get back in the swing of racing and in racing shape, as he has only been training for this race since November because of his injury.
Before the race, footage of Tomac played as he talked about the anticipation of racing in Anaheim, saying the first round always brings a lot of nerves.
“Round 1 brings so much nervousness,” he said laughing. “You get so nervous every time, or at least I do.”
At the start of the 450SX main event, Lawrence got off to a fast start, quickly taking the lead in a hole shot amid the roar of the crowd. Anderson started right on his heels with Webb in third, Sexton in fourth and Tomac in 11th after the first lap.
Tomac quickly moved up to ninth place, 13 seconds behind first-place Lawrence. At the 15-minute mark, he moved up to eighth place, and by the 12:15 mark of the race, he was riding in seventh.
At the 6:30 mark, however, Tomac was riding 30 seconds behind Lawrence, who was nearly three seconds ahead of his nearest competitors Anderson and Webb.
Webb attempted to pass Anderson with a minute and a half left in the race, but crashed and finished sixth overall.
Lawrence won the race by nearly three seconds, the first racer to win the opening race in his debut season. He finished around a minute ahead of Tomac, who finished ninth.
Tomac’s fastest lap in the race was 1:03.015 during lap five, and his slowest was 1:09.402 on lap 19.
Official results show Lawrence in first, Anderson in second, Sexton in third, Aaron Plessinger in fourth, Dylan Ferrandis in fifth, Webb in sixth, Justin Barcia in seventh, Cooper in eighth, Tomac in ninth and Roczen in 10th.
Announcers briefly mentioned Tomac’s first race back, saying that it would more than likely be a process to get back in racing shape and that this is “just the beginning of a comeback trail and comeback story.”
The next Supercross race in the series will take place in San Francisco at Oracle Park on Saturday, Jan. 13.
