MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Sixteen years and three months after a history-making win at the Hangtown Motocross Classic during his professional debut, Eli Tomac has made the decision to retire from professional motorcycle racing.
“I will be stepping away from Supercross and motocross racing at the end of September, following the final three SMX rounds,” Tomac said in a statement. “This has been the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my professional career, but I know in my heart that the time is now and that the time is right. I’ve won races and championships beyond my imagination. Racing has been the only thing I’ve woken up to and known the last 25 years, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
That Tomac was going to be a superstar was never in question. In addition to his pair of moto podiums at Hangtown on debut and securing the overall victory by winning Moto 2 that weekend, he finished second in his first full-time Supercross season the following year. One year later, he backed that up with his first 250cc Divisional Championship in 2012 Supercross and followed that up with the Pro Motocross 250cc title in 2013.
Tomac won his first of six 450cc championships in 2017, adding to his total in each of the next three seasons. Tomac came close to keeping the streak alive in 2021 after finishing second in Pro Motocross. The following year, he swept the 2022 titles, winning both the Supercross and Pro Motocross championships that season.
Tomac was rewarded for his 2022 success with an ESPN ESPY Award for Best Athlete, Men’s Action Sports. That same year he was selected as the captain of Team USA for the Motocross of Nations, won the MXGP + MX2 race that year at RedBud MX, and contributed to a commanding overall victory for the host nation, putting the American squad on the top of the podium for the first time in 11 years.
Tomac sits second on the all-time 450cc Supercross wins list with 57, behind Jeremy McGrath [72]. Tomac is also fourth all-time on the 450cc Pro Motocross wins list with 32, behind Ricky Carmichael [76], and Ryan Dungey [39].
Tomac excelled in consistently strong results. He leads the SMX League® with 240 career podium finishes, bettering Ricky Carmichael’s second-best of 215.
