Eli Tomac will return to the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team in 2024, according to a press release from the team. The announcement came during a Yamaha dealer meeting in his home state of Colorado.
Colorado is also the site of his most recent injury when Tomac ruptured an Achilles tendon during a hard landing in the next-to-last race of the 2023 Supercross Series. He had a commanding lead in the points at the time and was well on his way to scoring a third consecutive SuperMotocross title after winning both the Supercross and Pro Motocross championships in 2022.
“Well, first off, I’d like to say the end of Eli Tomac racing a motorcycle was not the second to last round of the 2023 supercross season,” Tomac said in the press release. “So with that, I’m excited to announce that I’ve signed for another racing season with the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team.”
Tomac is not expected to be healthy enough to contend in the inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship despite currently sitting ninth in those points.
“My recovery has been going very well and is ahead of schedule in terms of the protocol,” Tomac said. “I believe I will be back on the motorcycle around the six-month mark in preparation for the 2024 racing season. The motorcycle and team were great last season. We were so close to the championship, but accidents happen, and that’s racing. I’m eager to get another shot at competing for the championship.”
Among the highlights of Tomac’s 2023 season were seven wins and 11 podiums in 16 rounds. One of Tomac’s wins came on the hybrid track at Daytona International Speedway that tied him with NASCAR’s Richard Petty with seven wins at the venue.
“We couldn’t be happier to have Eli on board for next year,” said Jeremy Coker, Yamaha Star Racing team manager. “It definitely was a gut punch at Denver to have the championship taken away that way. We were hoping that Eli would come back. I don’t think anyone would fault him for calling it a career with what he has accomplished, but we’re happy to see that Eli still has that fire and can’t wait to go racing. There’s definitely some unfinished business, and we look forward to next season.”
