Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac overcame challenges to return to the podium with a third-place finish at last night’s 10th round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450 Championship in Detroit, Michigan.
In addition to navigating the slick hard-packed conditions at the Ford Field, Tomac was feeling less than 100% while recovering from a strained neck muscle sustained before the previous round in Indianapolis. Despite those challenges, the reigning 450SX champ pushed on, qualified fifth, and then finished fourth in his heat race. In the main event, he got a good start in fourth and was locked in battle with multiple riders vying for the last two podium spots. Tomac made his way to the runner-up spot on Lap 5 but was shuffled back to fourth a lap later and then to fifth on the following lap. The Coloradan managed his race and reclaimed fourth after the halfway point and then advanced to third in the final moments of the race after the leader went down. Tomac’s seventh podium of the season scored valuable points and has him still within reach of the crown, trailing his title rival by three points with seven rounds remaining.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team heads back West to the Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington, for Round 11 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and the SuperMotocross World Championship series on March 25.
Jeremy Coker – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager
“Detroit was a big step in a positive direction. Eli was very happy with the motorcycle, and considering he was only back at 80% with his neck, we are sitting in a good position. We have lots of racing left, and we are both focused on the big picture at the end. We will get him recovered this week and ready for Seattle.”
Eli Tomac – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“It was an okay night. Obviously, we want more than third, but it was a decent rebound from last week because I was definitely hurting in Indy. We had some good battles going on tonight. I made one mistake leaving the door open, so we’ll learn from that. We’re still close to the points lead, so we’ll keep pushing on.”
