Tomac: "It was a frustrating race, and I struggled in the main event."
Coming off a victory in the final leg of the Triple Crown race last weekend in Anaheim, momentum seemed to be on Eli Tomac's side heading into Detroit. When he started third in the main event, it looked like a three-rider battle could be brewing with Tomac, Chase Sexton, and Jett Lawrence. Tomac stayed closed to the lead for a few laps, then it all fell apart and he drifted all the way back to 11th, ultimately finishing 10th after getting back around Justin Barcia late in the race. Tomac finished a lap down, which is obviously not what you expect from a two-time Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Champion.
We don't have much info to share besides what came out in a Yamaha press release.
"It was a frustrating race, and I struggled in the main event," said Tomac. "We’ll do our best to rebound next week."
"Eli had a great start but was not comfortable on the bike in the main and salvaged points in 10th," said Team Manager Jeremy Coker.
Detroit - 450SX Main Event
February 3, 2024| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jett Lawrence | 28 Laps | 43.691 | Landsborough, Australia  | Honda CRF450R | |
| 2 |  Chase Sexton | +4.740 | 43.943 | La Moille, IL  | KTM 450 SX-F | |
| 3 |  Ken Roczen | +14.709 | 43.437 | Mattstedt, Germany  | Suzuki RM-Z450 | |
| 4 |  Cooper Webb | +21.420 | 44.628 | Newport, NC | Yamaha YZ450F | |
| 5 |  Jason Anderson | +27.501 | 45.191 | Edgewood, NM | Kawasaki KX450SR | |
| 6 |  Aaron Plessinger | +28.382 | 44.661 | Hamilton, OH | KTM 450 SX-F | |
| 7 |  Dylan Ferrandis | +37.612 | 45.127 | Avignon, France  | Honda CRF450R | |
| 8 |  Hunter Lawrence | +41.143 | 45.677 | Landsborough, Australia | Honda CRF450R | |
| 9 |  Justin Cooper | +49.231 | 45.550 | Cold Spring Harbor, NY | Yamaha YZ450F | |
| 10 |  Eli Tomac | 27 Laps | 44.479 | Cortez, CO | Yamaha YZ450F |
Of course, when left without info we've seen many theories and guesses as to what really went wrong. We've heard everything from Eli jammed his knee in a sand turn (we have a photo here), to hearing he had a rear shock issue. Be careful judging knee dabs from still photos, though.
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We even asked a suspension tech to check out the footage of the main event, and he did note Tomac's rear suspension seemed to be "oscillating" more than other riders around him on the track. Remember at this level, something only needs to be off a small percentage—and not completely failed—for a rider to notice a big difference.
Tomac's lap times were okay until lap eight, when he went from the a 44.9 (lap seven) to a 45.7, and then went into the 46-second range starting on lap nine. Either way, the Tomac camp is not one to usually throw out much info (or excuses) in public, so we may not ever know what happened. The only judgement will come this Saturday when we see if he's back to the level was saw last weekend at Anaheim 2.
