ELI TOMAC RETURNS TO RIDING TODAY, AIMING FOR BUDDS CREEK NATIONAL RETURN

Eli Tomac has provided us an update on his recovery. The second week in May, Yamaha announced Tomac had suffered a thumb injury (a Bennett Fracture) at the Denver Supercross and would be out for not only the Monster Energy AMA Supercross finale but also the opening rounds of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship as well. The injury was expecting to keep the #3 sidelined for at least six to eight weeks following surgery. A few days later, Eric Johnson caught up with Tomac to get an update, although he did not mention a timeline of when he might return to racing this summer. With Tomac and Cooper Webb both suffering thumb injuries, 450 rookie Justin Cooper has been the sole factory 450 rider so far this Pro Motocross season.

Now, in mid-July, Tomac has given an update via his Instagram page last night. The Colorado native stated he would be riding this week after testing his thumb some on his mountain bike recently. He ended the post saying he is “hoping for around Budds Creek.”

That would give Tomac about four weeks of riding between now and the Budds Creek National.

With two-straight weekends off for Pro Motocross due to the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch, the championship will resume with the round nine Unadilla National on August 10. The Budds Creek National is August 17 in Mechanicsville, Maryland, then the Pro Motocross finale is August 24 in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Tomac currently sits 11th in the SuperMotocross World Championship 450SMX standings, well inside of a direct transfer spot into the top 20, but would ideally want to race a round or two of Pro Motocross before the three-round SMX playoffs to finish off the season. Below is Tomac’s full post.