ELI TOMAC INTERVIEW: NATIONS STATE

In an American-based professional career he first launched by winning the very first race he lined up for – the 2010 Hangtown Motocross Classic in Rancho Cordova, California on May 22, 2010 – Eli Tomac has been a member of the Team USA effort at the Motocross of Nations on five individual occasions.

First off, in 2010, Tomac lined up in the MX2 classification at the Teutschenthal, Germany circuit where Team USA placed second overall. A year later Tomac competed in the Open class at Kegums, Latvia and Team USA raced to a third place overall position. 2018 brought the Motocross of Nations to RedBud in the United States and Team USA finished out the day in fifth place overall. Tomac raced for Team USA in 2022 when the world’s best motocross nations once again did battle at RedBud and Team USA claimed the top step of the podium. Lastly, in 2024 Tomac took the MXGP position within Team USA and helped Team USA race to a runner-up finish at Matterley Basin in Winchester, England.

Now Eli Tomac will look to Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana and the 2025 Mobster Energy Motocross of Nations where he will go to world war with teammates RJ Hampshire and Justin Cooper. On Thursday morning, Eli Tomac took a break from packing his gearbag for his jet ride over to the Hosier State.

“That’s definitely what we are doing,” said Tomac, filling up an Alpinestars gearbag. “We’re getting ready. I actually rode Monday and Wednesday of this week in preparation for the Motocross of Nations. Yep, just packing up now and here we are off to Ironman on Thursday. That’s when we fly up there. I believe Friday afternoon is opening ceremonies for us, so yeah, I would say that we’ve got a big weekend ahead of us. It’s exciting, that’s for sure.”

And of speaking of air travel, Tomac’s brother Greg, a Captain in the United States Air Force, was poised to fly a USAF C-17 Globemaster III over Ironman Raceway on Sunday afternoon as part of 2025 Motocross of Nations opening ceremonies.

“So this is like a huge bummer,” explained Tomac of the flyby. “If the U.S. government stays shut down as it is right now, they’re going to have to cancel flyovers. So this is really bad timing. We don’t know yet what’s going to happen. If Congress can get their act together, I guess they’ll still do it, but it’s up in limbo right now is what my brother told me. It’s unfortunate for everyone. We’ll just see what happens. If all is good, they’re going to fly over in a C-17 and my brother was supposed to be one of the pilots and it was going to be totally awesome. I guess now it’s up in the air, so it’s a bummer. Literally, the government is shut down right now. Any airshow or any of that extra spending stuff is on hold.”

A five-time Team USA Motocross of Nations competitor, Tomac spoke about his hopes, feelings and even goals heading into a race that first took place in 1947 at the Wassenaar circuit in The Netherlands.

“Yeah, of course at this point in my career, it feels awesome to do this,” smiled Tomac, genuinely stoked to take on Planet Earth’s fastest and most talented motocross racers come this Sunday. “This one is at home again. At the at home races, you have the sense of pride and you want to do so well. Not only is the Motocross of Nations so special, but when it’s at home, it just ups that level of pressure and it ups that level to really excel. Of course we always want to perform, but when you’re at home, you’re at home. There is no feeling like it, so it’s going to be a special weekend. It’s exciting that it’s going to be at Ironman. It’s a great track and I think we’re going to have a great event. So far I looked at the weather and it looks good, so I think we’re in for an awesome weekend.

“I like the Ironman track,” continued Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing pilot Tomac, who placed third at the 2025 AMA Pro Racing National round at the Ironman circuit last August. “It races really well. It has a really nice flow. It has some good technical aspects to it. To me, it’s just a good and solid racetrack. You never feel like you’re stuck behind someone. I don’t feel like I ever have to put the blame on the track if I were to not perform. It’s just a good, solid racetrack and I’m excited to see what it does for the Motocross of Nations.”

Tomac powers into Crawfordsville as the third placed rider in the 2025 SuperMotocross World Championship and feels positive about the momentum behind him and his works Yamaha YZ450F.

“Yeah, I’ve got some good momentum right now,” explained the Colorado native. “I’m really happy with how I did in SMX. I felt good about my speed and how I finished up. Of course I want to win, but overall, I have got good confidence in what I’ve got going on right now. I’m healthy. That’s key number one. I’m coming in here fully here fully healthy. Yeah, there will be no excuse not to perform at the highest level.”

Flanking Tomac in taking on the other nation states of the motocross world will be Justin Cooper and RJ Hampshire.

“We’ve got a solid team,” said Tomac confidently. “Once again, and in my opinion, if we go out there and do our thing and perform, we’ve got a great shot at winning with RJ and Justin. And thankfully we have enough depth in the American field that of course if one or two guys get hurt, we have a really solid team. Yeah, we’re going into this thing obviously wanting to win and we won’t be happy unless we win.”

And the global competition present in Indiana will be stiff. Out to try and take down the American effort will be the Lawrence brothers of Team Australia, as well as 2025 MX2 World Champion Simon Langenfelder of Germany and MXGP World Champion Romain Febvre of France.

“That’s one thing about this race that I love,” said Tomac. “We get to race against new competition. We race against people we don’t see every weekend. The whole weekend feels different. You get two days. You get a big free practice, a qualifying race, and you get to race new riders that you don’t see every weekend and of course it’s literally the best in the world. That’s the coolest thing about this event: There is no talking about who might be the best, or who is the best. This is the time to show it. This is what makes the Motocross of Nations such a great weekend.”

And the fans will undoubtedly be behind Eli Tomac come the drop of the gate at Ironman Raceway.

“Yeah, I do pick up on the fans being behind me,” said Tomac. “I’ve stuck around for a while and I think that helps. I’ve been around the sport for a while now. I’m sure some people watched my career along the way and it’s great to see. The sport is in a good place right now and I’m glad to be riding along with it right now. Of course I wanted to win the SMX. I put myself in position to be up front. That was important to get good starts and to be competitive. I was able to put myself in contention.

“The Motocross of Nations is fun because normally on race weekends, you don’t have any friends, straight-up,” furthered Tomac. “Even if it’s your own teammate. But with this race, it’s cool because you’re working with normal competitors and you’re seeing people from different teams. It’s just fun to have conversation and to also try to work together and help each other for the race. It’s just a whole different feel. For one weekend, it’s a really unique environment. It’s something that I’ve been able to enjoy a few times now.”

Tomac talked about how the American team will approach the Motocross of Nations.

“The most important thing with this race is, In my opinion, that you come in healthy. From there you’ve got to do you and you’ve got to believe in yourself. And at the end of the day anything can happen because it’s a motorcycle race. Of course there are heavy favorites, but at the end of the day, I feel like we can win. We should have a great shot at winning. That’s going to be or approach. I think that’s the only way to look at it. You want to go in there with a winning mindset.”

The most prestigious and important motocross race of the year to many fans the world over, the Motocross of Nations is of terrific importance to Eli Tomac. 

“Of course it’s meaningful,” said Tomac. “Yeah, it’s a whole different feel. It’s a cool thing for this one weekend and working together with a few other competitors. There is nothing like it. As a young guy, I remember seeing pictures and I couldn’t believe big some of the crowds were. I remember seeing pictures of the Motocross of Nations and saying, ‘Whoa! This is the Motocross of Nations!’ It just brings that energy that most race weekends don’t bring. It’s just cool to see people this into the event. When you experience you really understand why it’s just so special.”

And what will come next for Eli Tomac following the 2025 Motocross of Nations?

“I can tell you kind of my race schedule. What I’ve got coming up in the off-season is two World Supercross events. I’m doing one in Canada and one in Australia. And then of course, after that it’s just getting ready for Anaheim 1 again. It starts all over again. Other than that, I can’t say anything else, man.” (Laughter).