Tomac Scores Runner-Up Finish at Home Outdoor National
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac finishes second overall, with teammates Justin Cooper and Cooper Webb finishing fourth and sixth, respectively, at Thunder Valley / Jun 9, 2025 /
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac returned to the podium with a hard-fought second overall finish (3-2) in front of the home crowd at Round 3 of the Pro Motocross 450MX Championship in Lakewood, Colorado. Justin Cooper delivered another strong performance at the Thunder Valley Motocross Park, narrowly missing the overall podium in fourth (5-3). Despite feeling under the weather, Cooper Webb continued his upward trend outdoors, finishing sixth overall (7-6).
After being sidelined from the Thunder Valley National the last two seasons due to injury, it was a welcome return for Tomac in his home state of Colorado. He topped the first qualifying session and was second in the combined times heading into the motos. In Moto 1, Tomac started fourth and ran a strong pace throughout the race, advancing to third after a late-race mistake by the competition. In the second moto, Tomac was 14th after the start but charged forward, moving into third by Lap 6. He continued his push, making the pass for second just past the halfway mark, and set his sights on the leader. As the clock wound down, the four-time 450MX Champion prepared to strike, but unfortunately crashed with around two minutes on the clock. Tomac quickly rejoined and finished second, securing second overall to reclaim the runner-up spot in the championship standings and trails the leader by 25 points.
Cooper started the day strong, earning his first career 450MX fastest qualifier honors. From there, he had a solid start to the first moto in fifth, and although he dropped back to sixth on that opening lap, he continued to push and made his way back to fifth on Lap 11, where he would finish. In Moto 2, Cooper was fourth after the start and then charged to the front, taking the lead on Lap 3 and building a gap. After leading for nearly half the race, he was eventually passed and then managed his race to secure third, ending the day fourth overall and maintaining fourth in the championship standings.
Despite feeling less than 100%, Webb continued to make forward strides outdoors, earning his best qualifying result of the season so far in seventh. In Moto 1, the three-time 450SX Champion was around 12th after the start, but quickly made his way to seventh on that opening lap. Although he dropped back to eighth six laps into the moto, he continued to fight and made his way back to seventh in the final laps. Webb got a flying start to the second moto, narrowly missing the holeshot and slotting into second. Unfortunately, he dropped back to seventh on the second lap, ultimately finishing sixth to secure sixth overall.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 team heads east to Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, for Round 4 of Pro Motocross and Round 21 of the SuperMotocross World Championship at High Point Raceway on June 14.
Rich Simmons – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager
“Overall, it was a good day. Qualifying went well for Justin and Eli, and also for Webb, especially since he was feeling under the weather. In the first one, Eli had a good moto but just couldn’t get around Hunter (Lawrence). I feel like if he did, he could’ve pushed to the front. In the second moto, Webb had a great start and was battling up front, but unfortunately couldn't stay there. Justin showed good speed at the beginning of that moto, and Eli obviously was pushing as hard as he could to try to get Jett (Lawrence), and just made a mistake. We’ll just keep working at it, regroup, and go into the next weekend. I think we’re on the right track, and a big thanks to the whole team for their efforts.”
Eli Tomac – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #3
“It was a solid day here in Colorado. In the first moto, I did a ton of battling, but I just struggled with making some passes. I needed to be a little bit better with some lines. Then I was able to capitalize on a late-race mistake from Hunter and ended up third. In Moto 2, I went to battle once again and was a little bit behind on the start, but made a push all the way to the front. I was right behind Jett, and we were dicing back and forth. I had one spot specifically where I thought I was a lot faster than him, and then got a little too excited when I was near him and crashed in the turn before that section. I gave it all I had. Unfortunately, it was second, but I will keep pushing.”
Justin Cooper – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #32
“It was a good day here at Thunder Valley. I got my first qualifying pole position in motocross, so that felt good. The track was really rutted in practice. They kept fixing it, and it got easier and easier, but the speeds really went up. It took the technical side out of it a little bit, and I just kind of struggled to really send it in the motos, but we had two good rides today. Fifth was all we could do in Moto 1. By the time I got there, there was a pretty big gap to the top four. The second moto was really cool. I started around fourth and got into the lead and led for about half of the race, which was fun. I was smiling under my helmet and just enjoying the moment for the first time. I haven’t really ever done that, so that was cool. The weather was awesome today. The track was good too, but I was just a little bit off those top two.”
Cooper Webb – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #2
“Lakewood was a good day for me. I was able to qualify seventh, which was the best I’ve done so far this year. Being under the weather, it was a tough day, but we pushed hard, and I gave it my all. I was able to go 7-6 for sixth overall. We’ll heal up and get ready for High Point.”
2025 Pro Motocross Thunder Valley National 450MX Results
2025 Pro Motocross 450MX Championship Standings
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