Eli Tomac on A1 Win to Start Season: “It puts a lot of questions to rest for age and of course switching teams”

Another thing to think about is how Tomac is usually a guy that catches fire later in the season. Yes, he has had multiple years with an early race win, but usually it takes a few rounds for him to get on a roll. And his win streaks in the past have come in the middle to late rounds. But so far in 2026, Tomac seems to be ready to go. Could he go on an early run this go round? He looks ready, but the deep 450SX field might not allow it. Still, round one was about an ideal start as it could be, all things considered.

Tomac attributed that to the two rounds he did as a Wild Card (no championship points counting) in the FIM World Supercross Championship. In sports they say nothing can replicate a game, or in this sport, a race. Tomac agrees.

“You never know. You never know,” he said. “You just don’t know until you get out here and race everyone straight up. So, of course, we had two pre-season races there with WSX, had one good one, one bad one and you do have some questions. And we’ve been testing all over the place—California to Florida, Colorado, Arizona. So, been all over, kind of race all over, so we’ve put ourselves to the test finding [different] conditions. I knew we’d been near the front, but the win, you just don’t know ‘til we get out here and that main event gate drops.”

“It’s a huge deal to race,” he added on those WSX gate drops. “We do these team scrimmages, but you still don’t know until you get a track that breaks down like that tonight. So, that’s where, racing you cannot replicate it basically, no matter what. We try to get as close as we can, we would do some team scrimmages races, but you don’t know until your adrenaline’s going and basically everything is on the line at that point and that’s where you really find out what works and what doesn’t.”

Tomac commented on leading the race essentially wire-to-wire after a quick, first-lap pass on his teammate Jorge Prado. Ken Roczen kept him honest all race, but Tomac had a gap of several seconds the entire race.

“Yeah, those races are tough, leading from basically the get-go,” he said. “Of course, I had to make one pass there after the restart. But like focusing for those full 20 minutes, being in the lead the whole time, those are some of the toughest races. Even though it may look like there’s not much going on, it definitely becomes a mind game of focus and watching the guy behind you, marking where they are at—that being Kenny. And I felt like we were basically neck and neck… He wasn’t right on me, but he was keeping me very honest the whole time. So, like I said, wasn’t much going on to it but it was definitely a mind game.”

“Other than that, motorcycle was probably best it’s been all day and that was in the main event,” he continued. “Made one small change between the heat race and the main and went the right direction, and, hey, this is the right way to start.”

The two-time 450SX Champion said the small change was suspension related, both fork and spring. He also noted another big change on his motorcycle: he went away from his scoop tire! He has been adamant that the scoop tire remain on his bike over a more traditional rear tire but said after the race he went away from the tire in order to take steps forward.

“The tire was the big thing,” he said. “One of the biggest changes for me. I’ve been very locked in with that scoop tire, for the most part, but sometimes you got to make changes to get better. And for me, that worked. But it’s also a combination of working on the bike as a whole.” 

Big picture wise, it was a historical night for Tomac’s legacy in the sport. Look, he is already a shoo-in for the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame when he hangs up the boots, but each accolade he ticks off, adds to his resume. It was his first AMA Supercross win with KTM in their first SMX race together. Now, Tomac joins Chad Reed as the only other rider to earn a premier class supercross race win on four different brands. Tomac’s win was also the 54th of his 450SX career. He already moved into second place on the all-time wins list a few years ago when he passed James Stewart (50 wins) but now he is starting to gap Stewart.

A win in this new year also brings it to 12 consecutive years that Tomac has won a 450SX main event. Twelve! That is a record as well.

And by winning Saturday, he became the second-oldest rider to win a premier class main event to date. Justin Brayton’s 2018 Daytona SX win came when Brayton was 33 years, 11 months, 25 days; Tomac’s win Saturday came at the age of 33 years, one month, and 27 days (quick math and Tomac cannot break that record this ’26 SX season). While Tomac is not thinking of these records in the moment, he does reflect on his career at times.

“It happens in a flash,” he said when asked about that 12-year streak. “And it’s kinda scary to think I have won [in] 12 seasons. All of a sudden, it is here. So, I’m still grateful to be able to still do it. My mind still feels good, I’m still into it. And physically, I’m well, so, yeah, here I am, still here. Yeah, 12 seasons, kinda crazy.”

Watch the full post-race media scrum video below, with Tomac starting at the 16:17 mark.