We kept asking. Eli Tomac was ratcheting up the all-time win charts. How did he feel about catching, matching, and passing the greats?
“We’ll just see if I get there,” is pretty much all he would say. “Don’t want to talk about being there if I’m not there.”
Eli took not a single future victory for granted. But we knew he would get there. These things seem inevitable, right? Tomac was the surest thing in the sport, but he remained at peak power. He started the year needing seven wins to move to second all-time in 450 supercross, and sure enough he got them. By then, he was en route to another Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. He had inched away from rival Cooper Webb in points, and then Webb, desperate to get aggressive and make something happen, made an uncharacteristic error, hit the dirt, and got run over. Few expected this year’s Webb versus Tomac clash to end in a thud, but it did.
That only made Tomac’s fate more certain, which only makes the final outcome more shocking. Eli is the most durable rider in this sport’s history. Yes, I said that. Since turning pro in 2010, he never missed a scheduled 250 race. He took some lumps and missed some time early in his 450 development, most famously when he jacked his shoulders while dominating 450 motocross in 2015. After that though? Aces. Eli had missed just two races since the start of the 2016 season, and while Ryan Dungey might hold a better attendance record, Dungey only lasted from 2007-2017 before retiring. Eli stretched four more seasons, 2010-2023, with all the bonus time in the trenches of 29-race 450 calendars and championship pressure.
Nothing would indicate what would happen in Denver. Not. One. Thing. Tomac suffered a rare injury without even crashing while leading the race in front of his home fans. It was unbelievable. Like, literally. I still can’t believe it. In fact, two weeks later, I find myself reflecting on this more and more.
Most of the time, a season-ending sport injuries seem shocking at first and then sad immediately after. At any point you can step back and realize sports are just a game, and there are much worse things in life. This isn’t a permanent life-altering injury for Eli, and if he wants to race again, he still can.
But I still say that this is still different. The more I try to step back and see it in the big picture, the more important this actually seems. Eli Tomac losing this title in this way is the ultimate reminder of what Eli tried to remind everyone of all season long: don’t take anything for granted. Don’t count on anything. Don’t make assumptions.
Or:
“I guess you just never know,” is how Eli put it in New Jersey, after he narrowly escaped injury during a crash in qualifying.
You don’t ever know. Especially not in sports, where injuries change fate in an instant, but it’s an important lesson for all walks of life. Let me help explain:
Chase Sexton was down to third in points, having to leap two two-time champions in three weeks to win the title. This was statistically improbable. No rider had pulled off such a feat in the 50 years previous years of supercross.
Sexton ignored that inevitability and kept trying. Honda even postponed motocross testing to keep pushing in supercross. Don’t assume a negative fate is sealed. Because fate, as it’s defined, implies there are crazy things that are out of your control. Too often we give up on things not from fear of failure, but because failure seems inevitable. Life is tough and anything worth getting is born of struggle. We know this. At this point it’s practically cliché for every championship sports team to talk about overcoming adversity and sticking together. Trust the process. Whatever it may be. If you took a survey of 1,000 very successful people, I’d imagine probably 900 could tell you a time in life where such success seemed improbable. That didn’t deter them.
I’ve been there, both personally, and through watching the decisions of others. I know many talented people who didn’t try or simply gave up because it seemed too risky, the path too difficult, the positive outcome too unlikely. Look, when I was 12, I used to video tape the races on TV, play them back with the volume turned down and mock announce them. I’m now literally the only person on earth who will announce the AMA Pro Motocross Championship on TV this year. That’s a ridiculous path, from no one to the only one. Inside of that, I had other goals. I assumed I’d never be part of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross broadcasts, as my last year announcing for that series ended in 2010. Thirteen years later, the team brought me back. Along the way, my broadcast career has featured plenty of almost-made-it moments that became crushing disappointments, from NASCAR to MotoGP, plus many others that I never got to try because the right doors never opened. That’s just the nature of the business and everyone else in this field has similar stories. I could try to spell out some secret that got me here, but the biggest factor isn’t secret at all: keep trying, keep working.
This isn’t about me. I’m just using myself as a convenient example. I’ll now move this back toward the racing on the track. Cooper Webb just announced he’s back in the motocross game, a surprise addition to the gate at round one. Webb gets paid to race, so that’s a big reason for his return. Beyond that it probably seems unlikely he will have a positive outcome this summer when pitted against riders like Sexton, Jett Lawrence, and Dylan Ferrandis. Still, the last month has shown us it’s foolish to assume anything. He is showing up for round one, thus at least giving himself a chance if fate intervenes.
Eli Tomac’s injury and Chase Sexton’s championship isn’t just a story about a sports injury. It’s a story about not assuming any outcome in life, good or bad. Ironically, it’s a lesson Eli Tomac already knew and had told us all year long. And if you’re gonna take life advice from anyone, is there anyone better?