ELI TOMAC: COMEBACK CONFIRMED!

We all know the agonising story of Eli Tomac’s abrupt exit from the 2023 AMA Supercross Championship back in early May…

At the penultimate round of the 17-stop series, in front of his home Denver crowd, comfortably leading the main event and poised to extend his 18-point lead in the standings, Tomac appeared very much on-track to clinch his third 450SX title the following weekend in Salt Lake City. Then, freakishly, the Yamaha rider suddenly pulled off the track after what appeared to be an innocuous overjump. Ten minutes later, however, his team confirmed everyone’s worse fears: that the 30-year-old had ruptured his Archilles tendon – an injury that would spell the end to ET’s 2023 season and, according to many pundits, a likely end to his racing career!

In the three months since, Tomac kept his head down, engaging very little with either the media or social media channels. And in the absence of any reassuring Tomac talk about his recovery or that he was itching to get back to racing in 2024, rumours of Tomac’s impending retirement took on a life of their own.

But you know what they say about rumours? Someone’s got to set them straight, right?! Enter Eric Johnson – long-time USA-based moto-journo and Monster Energy’s Communications Manager – who called Tomac for a casual conversation late last week, and got a whole lot more than he was expecting. On that call, Tomac confirmed that he’d absolutely be back on the starting grid in 2024, speaking as if his racing comeback was never in doubt. Tomac also spoke candidly about that soul-destroying May night in Denver, and why he’s so impressed with Australia’s Jett Lawrence.

So, let’s hand over to Eric to pick up the story…

“You don’t quit when you’re winning. You keep going. If you can win, you keep winning.”

That was 1983 AMA 125cc National Champion and 1984 AMA Supercross Champion and racing mentor to the stars, Johnny O’Mara, referring to sidelined Eli Tomac over dinner in Southern California. A motocross visionary and mastermind based inside the Team Honda camp, where he mentors and guides the sensational Lawrence brothers, the two dynamic duo moto refugees out of Australia who are currently making waves and posting up big numbers in the 2023 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.

Less than 24 hours after eating tacos with the O’Show, this writer was on the phone to Cortez, Colorado, with one Eli Tomac. A few minutes into the call, I mentioned the O’Mara wisdom that if you’re winning and controlling a championship, you just keep going. As fate would have it, Tomac totally agreed.

“Yeah, and that’s the way I feel about how all of this went down,” explained Tomac, who as we all know now, was rudely eradicated from the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross while appearing to be a sure thing to wrap up what would have been his third stadium title.

“As a racer, I’m not done yet. I didn’t want to leave that mark riding off the track with an injury, so that’s the reason for coming back.”

“You know, I did not want to go out on those terms at all,” pointed out Tomac, who was sent off to the side of the circuit Denver last May with a ruptured Achilles tendon. “I mean, that was leaving the track and hanging my leg off of the bike and that being it. I guess as a racer, yeah, I’m not done yet and I did not want to leave that mark on my career. I didn’t want to leave that mark riding off the track with an injury, so that’s the reason for coming back. I still want more, and I still want to be competitive and do what I can to try and get wins. Yeah, that’s the reason for trying to do the best that I can in this recovery. I want to try to come back swinging.”

Did Tomac, aged 30, get a sort of glimpse of what retirement would look like during his forced injured reserve list status? “Oh yeah. I mean I’ve been living it the past couple of months. I mean, right now I just started some more serious cardio work. Before that, though, I saw retirement, man. That’s being home – and there is nothing wrong with that and being home with your kids– but at the same time, you’re kind of wondering what you’re going to do the next day or the next morning. You don’t have something totally figured out oftentimes. Yeah, it’s a different pace, but as a racer, that competitive spirit comes back into you. That’s why I decided to sign back up again.” [Laughs].

“I still want more, and I still want to be competitive and do what I can to try and get wins. I want to try to come back swinging.”

And of being approximately 15 minutes away from winning what would have been his 52^nd career Supercross main event victory, and with it, title number three?

[Pause] “Yeah, I’ve gone through different stages with that scenario,” explained Tomac, who was out front and pulling away at his hometown Supercross in Denver, Colorado. “First was anger and bitterness and then it was kind of depression for a couple of weeks. I was like, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ The third stage of it all, I guess was just recovery in general and you deciding whether or not you want to keep doing it. Yeah, the circumstance of it all … I think it was pretty close to the top of the list for one of the freakiest deals and one of the strangest lost championships that I have seen. And it just happened to be me. Yeah, all I can say was that it was a freak deal.” [Laughs].

A specific variable in the calculus of championship-winning Eli Tomac has been Team Yamaha. Tomac’s second year with the Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan Motor Company, the Coloradoan is totally content with the blue reality of his immediate surroundings and that was a key mark to hit for Tomac to continue racing in 2024.

“Going to Yamaha was revival for me,” said Tomac, who migrated away from Kawasaki to the powerful Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing outfit at the conclusion of the 2021 racing season. “For sure. It extended my career. It’s been a great tine with the Star team and it has been good the whole way. Just everyone involved has been good with it. Yeah, I signed up another season with them for 2024.”

When Tomac did, in fact, confirm that he was returning to the competitive fray in 2024, there was a significant outpouring of positive emotion and feedback from the Supercross fan base the world over. I asked Eli if he took notice of the positivity.

“I just started some more serious cardio work. Before that, though, I saw retirement, man. You’re kind of wondering what you’re going to do the next day. It’s a different pace, but as a racer that competitive spirit comes back into you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got all of that from social media. It drove me crazy not to be able to tell my fanbase what I was going to do. We had to sort of keep it on the down-low for exactly what we were going to do. Finally, that’s all set in stone now and I can tell everyone that I’m going racing. Like you said, it’s the support of the whole industry. You know we want to see a competitive environment and to keep the good guys around as long as you can. I’ve totally seen that support and it is awesome.”

Going back to the sensational Ricky Carmichael and followed up by such phenomenal multiple champions as Ryan Villopoto and Ryan Dungey, Tomac spoke about what goes through his head when he contemplates his championship legacy.

“Yeah, I have thought about that. You know what kind of crept up on me? You never know what you’re going to get and how far you’ll go. But at 30 years old, all of a sudden, I’m there. It goes by in flash, but yeah, it’s been a good ride to get there, you know? Man, I’m kind of having a hard time bragging about myself. Being second all-time with 51 Supercross wins; that’s a big deal for me. I want to keep winning. If I’m lining up, I’m trying to win.”

“I’ve gone through different stages. First was anger and bitterness and then it was kind of depression for a couple of weeks. I was like, ‘Why did this happen to me?’”

Going back to Johnny O’Mara and the Lawrence brothers of Australia as well as championship-winning charger, Chase Sexton, one Eli Tomac is fully aware that a new era in the sport has certainly arrived.

“Oh, yeah. There is a totally new era coming and you’re seeing it unfold right now. I mean it’s already here, right? It’s very impressive to see. The thing that impresses me so much about Jett Lawrence is just the demeanour that he has with his racing, and what he is showing on the track at that age is definitely next-level in showing the next generation. I haven’t even been in that position of winning that many races in a row and that many Overall victories. It’s awesome to see and I’ve been trying to study a lot of it because I know I’m going to be racing him for at least another season. It’s cool. I like it.”

So, what’s the next step in the plan of stadium motocross attack for Eli Tomac and his I Shall Return to Supercross?

“I’ll start riding a motorcycle somewhere around the middle of October and the beginning of November and that’s really going to tell me where I’m at. I totally expect to be fine by then, but at that point, I’ll be preparing for Supercross and hopefully it’s all good from there, which I expect it to be. The doctors say that I should be fine at that point, so I’m just going to take it from there, man. If I can get on a motorcycle on November 1, I think I’ll have no problem being ready for the first Supercross in January, 2024.”

“I think it was pretty close to the top of the list for one of the freakiest deals and one of the strangest lost championships that I have seen. And it just happened to be me.”

The wins, the podiums, the ups and the downs – when Eli Tomac takes a big Alpinestars boot step back and examines his body of SuperMotocross work, what’s his take on it all?

“Well, it’s like I said. It’s unbelievable when I look at Supercross and the Overall wins and the motocross titles. But at the same time and because I’m going racing again, I don’t want to be totally satisfied and totally settled with those achievements. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll check those out a little bit more when I’m officially done.”

Which sounds like yet another Tomac challenge, huh?

“Yes, it is a challenge and it was just the way it was basically taken. That Supercross Championship was taken from out underneath me. It felt like highway robbery. That has given me determination to come back and to do what I can to try and get in that position again and to be fighting for a championship. I know the young guns will still be out there swinging for me, but hopefully I can still show them how it’s done.”

As the conversation boiled down to its conclusion, Tomac playfully shouted out to one of his children he was keeping an eye on in a local park. So, I asked Eli about fatherhood.

“Yes, speaking of family life, I’m watching the kids right now,” Tomac replied with a chuckle. “They’re cruising around the park here with me today. They’re doing a little bit of bike riding, a little bit of swings and a little bit of slides. Oh, yeah, I’m being a dad.”

“You sound totally happy about that,” I mentioned.

“I am. I think everything has been going pretty well and, yeah, it has been a good recovery thus far with what’s going on, you know? I’ll be ready for 2024.”