The 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross championship couldn't have started any better for Eli Tomac after absolutely annihaliting his fellow competitors on his way to winning the first five motos of the season. However, things came crashing down for him this past weekend at Thunder Valley in Lakewood, CO, during the second and last moto of the day; watch his crash below.

Initial reports were that he had dislocated one shoulder, but that he had got it placed back into the joint at the track; no other injuries were suspected. However, further investigation discovered that he had also torn his rotator cuff in the other shoulder which would require immediate surgey, hence disabling Tomac from racing the rest of the season. Here is the official press release from Geico Honda:

Superstar motocross rider Eli Tomac will miss the rest of the outdoor season following a hard crash Saturday at the Thunder Valley National in Denver that injured both of his shoulders. The GEICO Honda rider had won the first five 450cc class motos of the season and was leading the second race in Denver when he went down on his own in a difficult section of the track.

"Eli was understandably upset when we were talking a little while ago," team co-owner Jeff Majkrzak said. "Obviously, after the start he's had, we were all hoping for a championship run. Injuries are an unfortunate part of this sport, and this one is very tough for all of us."

Majkrzak reports that Tomac's left shoulder has suffered a 100 percent tear of the rotator cuff, requiring immediate surgery. His right shoulder, which was dislocated in the crash and later put back into place by the Asterisk medical team, will most likely need surgery as well.

To date, Tomac has won two championships, the Supercross 250cc West title in 2012 and the 250cc Motocross title in 2013. He has also been runner-up to three championships, the 2011 and 2013 Supercross 250cc West titles and the 2015 450cc Supercross title.

He has also collected 12 overall MX trophies on a 250 and three more on a 450. In Supercross, Tomac has won 11 races on a 250 and three more on a 450.


After such a strong start to the season, Eli had made himself the clear favourite to win the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross championship; he will unfortunately now have to wait until 2016.

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About the author
Scott Yargeau
I am a current science undergraduate studying physics and physiology at McGill University in Montréal, Quebec. I grew up racing motocross, and to this day, despite no longer racing, I remain a huge fan of the sport. I started up Moto Now Blog in 2014 to talk about everything SX/MX related, and now I write about SX/MX for VAVEL USA. Feel free to contact me at [email protected].