Round 15 of the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship saw three riders inside the top six in the 450SX standings go down with crashes and injuries that would sideline them for the final two rounds. Cooper Webb (concussion), Justin Barcia (broken collarbone, shoulder, and two ribs), and Jason Anderson (non-displaced fracture at C5-C6 in neck) are all out. Without taking anything away from the latter two seasons, the big injury news was Webb, whose crash ended his 450SX championship hopes as Eli Tomac entered the day with a 21-point lead over Chase Sexton with only 78 points available. Sexton would take the Nashville SX race win, with Tomac taking second, cutting ET3’s lead to 18 points with just two rounds (and 52 points) remaining.
Last weekend the 450SX championship landscape changed. But this weekend, it got completely flipped upside down.
At the 16th round—again with an 18-point lead in the standings—Eli Tomac had the race lead in the 450SX main event in front of his home crowd. It appeared Tomac wanted to win the race and put one hand on the 450SX #1 trophy, before going to Utah next weekend and grabbing the trophy with his other hand and hoisting it up. But, in front of his home crowd, things took a turn for the worst for the Colorado native.
The crowd erupted and when cameras found the #1, we quickly found out why. Tomac was quickly going backward as rider after rider passed him as he rolled the jumps. Then, Tomac was sitting on the inside of the track, holding his left leg up and away from his bike as he shook his head.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider cut across the track and went straight for the tunnel where riders exit the track. An AMA official stopped him briefly—more than likely to warm him if he left the track, he could not reenter the race—but the veteran knew something was wrong. He went straight for the Alpinestars medical truck that sat just inside the stadium walls. Tomac got off of his bike but needed assistance getting into the medical truck. His name dropped to the bottom of live timing.
At the same time, Sexton took over the race lead from Adam Cianciarulo. By doing so, Sexton has unofficially become the 450SX points leader. The TV crew showed replays as broadcasters Leigh Diffey and Ricky Carmichael broke down the footage they were watching. It appeared to be a lower left leg injury for the two-time 450SX champion, and the halfway point of the race came and went as everyone waited for an update.
Finally, one came. And it took the air out of the stadium.
“Yeah, unfortunately, without crashing, we just came up a little short on a jump and it’s an unfortunate report, we have to make, but we [Tomac] ruptured the Achilles tendon and it’s going to put us out for the rest of the season,” Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 team manager Jeremy Coker told trackside reporter Daniel Blair.
And just like that, for the second week in a row, the 450SX championship lost a title contender for the season and completely flipped the title fight.
Moments later, Tomac came out of the medical truck with a soft walking boot on his left leg as he used crutches and assistance from others in order to get onto the back of the medical cart and head for the pits.
Sexton went on to claim the race win with Tomac’s three laps landing him 22nd officially.
And the situation bumped the #23 into the 450SX points lead over Tomac, completely changing the 2023 450SX championship.
Sexton said in the post-race press conference he was unaware of what exactly happened to the championship leader until after the race.
“Yeah, it’s definitely tough, not to swallow, but to comprehend,” Sexton opened with in the press conference. “I honestly didn’t know what was going on—if his bike was broke or he broke a wheel or something. So, I just found out after the race that he hurt his ankle.”
“Obviously a lot of speculation on what actually happened as far as muscle damage wise,” Sexton continued. “But for me, I just wanted to capitalize when I saw that obviously he was going backwards. Obviously, that’s not the way you want to see someone go out, especially someone like Eli. He’s so gnarly. And he’s been super, super gnarly the last couple years. And I would say a great competitor. And I love racing him. So, tough way to see him go out. And, yeah, definitely wish him the best. And for me, my gameplan stays the same. That’s what I’m looking at right now.”
Only a few weeks after we saw one of the closest championship fights in AMA Supercross history, the last two weeks have been absolutely chaotic.
Not only does this impact the supercross championship, but the AMA Pro Motocross Championship—and inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX)—as well. Tomac had re-signed with Yamaha to come out and try to defend his #1 Pro Motocross plate against soon-to-be 450cc rookie Jett Lawrence, Sexton, and the rest of the field. Then he would give it a go for the first-ever SMX championship with hopes of claiming the first ever combined, playoff-style title. But this injury will keep Tomac on the sidelines for at the very least half a year, but possibly longer.
Tomac will turn 31 this off-season (in November) and we know he is nearing the end of an eventual hall-of-fame career. Many were wondering if, and hoping Tomac would, return to the Yamaha factory team in 2024 and race one more year, even if just on a supercross-only contract. Could this impact that decision? We do not want to speculate on the future for the multi-time champ, but this injury will play a role in any decisions moving forward.
With one round to go in Utah, Sexton enters with a seven-point lead over Tomac—the only rider mathematically alive in the championship. When the #23 starts the 450SX main event next weekend at the Salt Lake City Supercross, the native of Illinois will become the first Honda-mounted premier class champion in either AMA Supercross or Motocross since Ricky Carmichael took the 2004 AMA Motocross title. It will also give Honda HRC all three AMA Supercross titles this season as Hunter Lawrence (250SX East Region) and Jett Lawrence (250SX West Region) each clinched their respective titles one round early.
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL  | 372 |
| 2 |  Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 339 |
| 3 |  Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 304 |
| 4 |  Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany  | 304 |
| 5 |  Justin Barcia | Monroe, NY | 267 |
Main image by Mitch Kendra
