450
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac put on a masterclass performance at San Diego Supercross to score his 53rd career 450SX win and leave Round 2 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship with the red plate. It was a stellar outing for the 450 team, with Cooper Webb making it a double-podium finish, scoring a third-place result at the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California. Justin Cooper salvaged points with an 11th-place finish. Words: Star Yamaha
Tomac had a strong qualifying in third and then really came out swinging in the night show, grabbing the holeshot and scoring a dominant victory in his heat race. Although he didn’t get the start he was hoping for in the main event, he quickly made his way forward, going from seventh to third in four laps and then taking over the lead at the halfway point. With his title rival on his heels, the duo set a blistering pace up front. It was a thrilling heavyweight fight to the finish, with Tomac coming out on top to earn his first win of the season, his 53rd career premier class supercross victory, and the championship 450SX Championship lead. It was also another one for the record books, as the Colorado rider made 2025 his eleventh consecutive supercross season with a win.
It was a good second round for Webb as well. He qualified fourth and then got a great start to his heat race in the runner-up spot, where he would finish. In the main event, it was another flying start from the North Carolina rider. He quickly claimed the lead and held onto it for the first half of the race before getting shuffled to third. Webb continued to fight despite feeling less than 100% with an illness and held off the competition to join his teammate on the podium. He too, is in a good position early in the 450SX title fight, sitting fourth and four points from his teammate at the top spot.
Although it was a tough day in San Diego, Cooper continued to work on finding his comfort zone and qualified ninth. In the heat race, he came together with another rider off the start and found himself back in 10th after the first lap. The New Yorker kept fighting and made his way to seventh, but it was another challenging race in the main event with a less than ideal gate pick. Cooper didn’t get off the gate as he had hoped and was 12th after the first lap, ultimately crossing the line 11th.
Next weekend, the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team returns to Angel Stadium for Anaheim 2, Round 3 of Monster Energy AMA Supercross and the SuperMotocross World Championship on January 25 in Anaheim, California.
Rich Simmons – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager
“Obviously, it was a great night for Eli with the heat race win and an amazing main event race with Jett (Lawrence). It was great to see him back to that classic Tomac form, and we’re looking forward to keeping this momentum rolling. It was also a great night from Webb, who was leading laps and hanging on for third. So, another great team effort in San Diego, and it’s always good to have two riders on the podium. It was an off-day for Justin, but he will regroup, and I’m confident next week we will see a different rider.”
Eli Tomac – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #3
“It was an outstanding race for us. To get a win was so special, and to get it done in the full 20-minute main event was a huge deal for me and a testament that we’ve been getting stronger and faster. Throughout the off-season, with the training and the racing, we’ve been working to improve areas where we thought we were a little bit weak, and now it’s showing. It’s just so cool to get this win tonight and to do it by making passes and having to really work our way to the front.”
Cooper Webb – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #2
“It was a much better day today. I was fourth in qualifying, and then the main event went well overall. I was second off the start, which was really good, and led about half the race. I was just a little under the weather, so it was tough and about halfway, that was all I had. That being said, Eli and Jett were hauling butt. They were on it tonight, so I’m happy with the podium. We’ll get back to work.”
Justin Cooper – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #32
“It was a tough day for me all day long. My riding was okay, but I locked bars with a rider in the heat race, and then a bad gate pick in the main left me pretty far back. I just did what I could from there. It’s time to rebound next weekend.”
250
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan once again fought to the finish, coming from behind to cross the line third at Round 2 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX West Championship in San Diego, California. Rookie sensation Cole Davies continued to impress, claiming his first 250SX heat race victory and earning a career-best fourth-place finish in the main event. Michael Mosiman also made forward progress and joined them in the top 10 with a ninth-place finish.
Deegan had a strong start to his home supercross race at the Snapdragon Stadium and was the fastest 250 qualifier. The back-to-back 250SMX champ then threw down some fast laps in his heat race and quickly made his way from fifth to third. In the final laps, he had a crash in the whoops, but quickly rejoined to hold onto third and contribute to the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 1-2-3 finish in the 250SX West Heat Race 2. During the main event, it was another tough start with Deegan finding himself eighth after the first lap, but he fought his way through the competition and claimed the final podium spot with five laps remaining, scoring valuable points and advancing to fourth in the championship standings.
Davies continued to showcase his potential in his second pro supercross outing. After qualifying seventh, the rookie got a great start to his heat race and claimed the lead early. With his teammates hot on his heels, the 17-year-old continued to ride his own race and claimed his first heat race win. Starting with the number-one gate pick for the main event, Davies once again, narrowly missed the holeshot and quickly claimed the lead, maintaining it for seven laps. Although he was shuffled back to fifth at the halfway mark, he kept pushing and crossed the line fourth, earning a career-best result and moving up to sixth in the standings.
Mosiman started strong in San Diego, qualifying third. The Californian then grabbed the holeshot in his heat race and kept cool under pressure to ride on to a runner-up finish. In the main event, Mosiman didn’t get the start he was hoping for and then got held up by a downed rider. In 12th after the first lap, he kept pushing and made his way into the top 10 and crossed the line ninth.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team returns to Angel Stadium next weekend for Anaheim 2, Round 3 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX West Championship and the SuperMotocross World Championship on January 25 in Anaheim, California.
Jensen Hendler – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 250 Team Manager
“It was a great day overall in San Diego. Our guys all qualified well and finished 1-2-3 in their heat race. Haiden was fast all day, and although it wasn’t a win, he kept fighting and finished on the podium. It’s always good to score those points on the tough days for sure. It was another great ride from Cole. It’s only his second pro race and he got two great starts, won his heat race, and led the first seven laps of the main event and finished fourth. We’re super proud of him and excited to keep building. Michael had a good day and made a step in the right direction as well. He qualified third, and had a great heat race in second, but unfortunately didn’t get the start in the main and finished ninth. We’ll go back to work this week and come back stronger in Anaheim.”
Haiden Deegan – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #38
“Today started out pretty good and I qualified first. The heat race wasn’t too bad. I felt really fast. I just made a mistake and crashed, but I still finished third. In the main event, I got an okay start and was feeling alright the first few laps going through the pack. I just pumped up pretty bad and kind of had to salvage it from there and finish on the podium.”
Cole Davies – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #100
“It definitely was a good day today and a step in the right direction. I was seventh in qualifying and wasn’t too happy with that, to be honest, but I reset for the heat race. I got a good gate pick and ripped a great start, and got my first-ever heat race win, so I’m stoked about that. Then I had the first gate pick for the main, and I ripped a start again and led some laps, which was awesome. JuJu (Julian Beaumer) got by me, and then I made a mistake and it was a bit of a snowball effect, but I made a last corner pass for fourth. So we’re happy with today. We’re just going to keep building each week.”
Michael Mosiman – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #93
“San Diego was an improvement. I took what I learned from A1 and built on it. I was better in qualifying and better in the heat race, but was just a bad start away from having a great main. I was coming through the pack nicely and making progress towards the front, but then a rider went down in front of me and I lost a lot of time and positions that made a big difference in the end. Ninth is not where I want to be, but looking beyond the finishing place, San Diego’s race showed a lot of promise of good things to come. I’ll learn from the mistakes here and be better for next weekend.”
Image:@empiresportsphotos – Chris Schulte
