![Tomac on Denver SX: “I was definitely stuck behind him [Prado], and that, I think, allowed Kenny to sneak away”](http://rxi.iscdn.net/2026/05/328047_tomacalignmediasx26denver095.jpg)
After a qualifying crash kept him on the sidelines for the Cleveland and Philadelphia SX points-paying races, Eli Tomac returned to action at his home state Denver SX. It was a strong day for the Colorado native, as the two-time 450SX champion looked more like himself than he had in the few weeks leading up to his Cleveland SX qualifying crash. He thinks an early race stall hindered his end result of third (behind the only two riders mathematically still in the 450SX title fight), but it was still a good day.
“I’m thankful to be back for Denver,” Tomac said. “It’s a special crowd, a special race for me to get back here. And I love being at a similar elevation to where I practice at home, so, the bike always feels like it’s at home and it is, right?”
“Overall was happy with the race, outside of my stall,” he continued. “That put me out of a chance to staying near the front there or even maybe fighting for second place and that’s very frustrating. But to bounce back to this from coming off being beat up, I’m pretty happy with the third.”
He added some more content on his mistake.
“I was angry…and I basically double stalled it,” he said. “I started the bike up, let the clutch out and it spun again so it killed the motor and I had to start it again. So, yeah, I was frustrated…it was frustrating. And then I was like, ‘Wow, I really just lost touch with the front of the race’ so that was tough.”
“But overall, the season’s, talk about a roller coaster, it’s been a serious one,” he continued. “But, to get back to the podium for me, was a pretty big deal.”
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Despite the stall, Tomac put in a charge forward…until his efforts hit a wall—an orange #26 one to be exact. The Colorado native struggled to get around his teammate Jorge Prado, who has been known as a hard-to-pass rider since his days of racing overseas in the FIM Motocross World Championship. Hunter Lawrence's quick move by the #26 was a crucial factor to his win and we also saw Cooper Webb struggle to get by Prado, too, which ended up with the #1 machine on the ground late in the race.
“I mean he [Prado] was basically taking the same lines I was, so it was getting pretty frustrating because I wasn’t able to move,” Tomac said. “I should have actually moved around earlier and then in the smaller set of whoops, that’s where I should have opened up the turn earlier. After that, I just had to like really show him my fender and be like, ‘Dude, I’m trying…’ of course, he’s doing what he can. But I was definitely stuck behind him [Prado], and that, I think, allowed Kenny to sneak away.”
So, why come back with just two supercross rounds to go? He could have shifted his focus to the upcoming AMA Pro Motocross Championship, but instead he wanted to come back. Denver has seen both highs and lows—450SX title wrapped up early here in 2022, then injuries in 2023 (Achilles tendon) and 2024 (thumb)—but he likes these hard-packed tracks!
“I weighed it out,” he said. “But for me, I’ve been racing so long and have such a big base built that I’m not afraid to still do a day of supercross, a day of motocross. Like, I’m not going to lose much fitness and the best thing I can do right now is to go race. At least that’s my mindset with it and I just like to go racing.”
And one more thing to note on Tomac’s return: he was running a new tire! Tomac had a new prototype Dunlop tire on, that he said has been good so far.
“So far, so good with it,” Tomac said on the new tire. “I did play around with both directions on the tire today. I tried forward and honestly, reverse of what the direction says. It’s basically like a scoop or a chevron forward or something. But played with both directions and for me, I would say it was a success. Especially in this harder packed condition. It gives me the right height I’m looking for and it even feels lighter than maybe some of the other options out there. So, so far, I really like it.”
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