Eli Tomac: “Supercross-Only Right Now…Leaving Option There For Moto & SMX”
Last night, our Steve Matthes called up Eli Tomac for an episode of the Fly Racing Racer X Podcast. The duo talked about what Tomac’s Achilles tendon injury at the Denver Supercross in May, how his recovery is going, what he has been up to at home, and whether or not he watched the broadcasts of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross finale.
Plus, on July 26 it was announced that Tomac would be returning to the factory Yamaha team for 2024. The Colorado native was at the 2024 Alpinestars gear intro at Washougal Motocross Park the day after the Washougal National in late July, but only mentioned to media his recovery is going well. Then just a few days later, the news dropped of his deal to return to racing for one final year in 2024.
So on the podcast, ET3 and Matthes talked about this decision to come back next year.
“We have a good thing going, so it was like, ‘Heck ya, let’s work together again,’” Tomac said on returning to the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team for 2024. “So it was fairly easy to make the decision as a team to continue the relationship.”
While wording on the announcement has clearly been vague—with no mentions of “supercross-only” or “full season” or “supercross and motocross,” etc.—Tomac did provide Matthes will some details of his deal for next year during their chat.
“Yup, that’s how it is right now: supercross-only right now and just kinda see how things go, and that’s what I anticipate is supercross-only, but we are kinda leaving the option there for moto and SMX.”
So there we have it: Tomac is essentially on a repeat deal of what he was on in 2023: supercross-only with the option for Pro Motocross—which he had accepted back in February super early in the supercross season. Obviously, his torn Achilles tendon ended his supercross season and sidelined him for the entire Pro Motocross season before the gates event dropped. But now we know the plan.
As for his recovery, the two-time 450SX Champion said his recovery is going well and if everything goes according to plan, he will be back on the bike with enough time to prep for ’24 supercross.
“I anticipate November 1st for supercross,” he told Matthes as a rough timeline getting back onto the bike.
The entire podcast is worth a listen, as Tomac shares what was going through his mind when the injury happened and much more. Listen to the podcast below.
