Eli Tomac’s final gate drops are officially on the calendar.

The eight time SMX League champion will retire from professional off road motorcycle racing after the 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship Playoffs and Final, closing the book on a 17-season career that helped define an era of modern motocross and supercross.

Tomac has never been just another champion in the sport. He has been the home state standard, the quiet storm from Cortez who built one of the most complete careers motocross has ever seen without needing to turn himself into a manufactured personality machine. Apparently, it is still possible to become a legend by being fast, consistent, and allergic to nonsense. Strange concept.

Sixteen years and three months after winning in his professional debut at the Hangtown Motocross Classic, Tomac will take his final laps as a full time professional during the SMX postseason. Fans will have three more chances to see him race in person: September 12 at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, September 19 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles, and September 26 at Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale, Missouri.

Tomac’s arrival was not subtle. In 2010, he made his professional debut at Hangtown and immediately changed the temperature of the paddock. He landed on the podium in both motos and won the overall by taking Moto 2, becoming the kind of rider nobody had to wait years to believe in.

One season later, Tomac finished second in his first full time Supercross campaign. By 2012, he had claimed his first 250cc Divisional Supercross Championship. In 2013, he added the 250cc Pro Motocross title, making it clear that his early success was not a flash, a hot start, or one of those convenient storylines people invent because the sport needs content between motos.

It was the foundation of a career that would stretch across nearly two decades and still feel dangerous at the end.

Tomac won his first 450cc championship in 2017, capturing the Pro Motocross crown and beginning a run that cemented him as one of the defining riders of his generation. He added 450cc Pro Motocross titles in 2018 and 2019 before taking the 450cc Supercross Championship in 2020.

After coming close to extending his title run in 2021 with a runner up finish in Pro Motocross, Tomac delivered one of the signature seasons of his career in 2022. That year, he swept the 450cc Supercross and 450cc Pro Motocross championships, putting together the kind of double-title campaign that separates great riders from the ones who become reference points.

That 2022 season also brought wider recognition beyond the motocross world, with Tomac earning the ESPN ESPY Award for Best Athlete, Men’s Action Sports. It was also the year he captained Team USA at the Motocross of Nations, won the MXGP + MX2 race at RedBud MX, and helped lead the host nation to its first MXoN overall victory in 11 years.

Tomac’s statistics do not need much decoration. He sits second all time in 450cc Supercross wins with 57, behind only Jeremy McGrath. He also ranks fourth all time in 450cc Pro Motocross wins with 32, behind Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Dungey.

He also leads the SMX League with 240 career podium finishes, ahead of Ricky Carmichael’s 215. That number might be the most useful way to understand Tomac’s greatness. Wins built the legend, but podiums showed the staying power.

Tomac was not simply dominant for a short peak and then preserved by nostalgia. He kept mattering. He kept showing up in title fights. He kept turning seasons into pressure chambers for everyone else. Even in 2026, he remained in the championship picture before a qualifying crash in Cleveland sidelined him for multiple rounds with a hip injury.

Before that setback, Tomac was third in the 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship standings after Nashville, sitting just 15 points behind leader Hunter Lawrence with four rounds remaining. Even the ending of his career refused to become ceremonial.

No venue became more closely tied to Tomac than Daytona International Speedway. In one of the sport’s most recognizable Supercross events, Tomac built a record that may sit untouched for a very long time.

Tomac won Daytona eight times, beginning with his first victory there in 2016. He went on to capture six of the next seven Daytona Supercross races, turning one of the most physically demanding stops on the calendar into a personal landmark. He missed Daytona in 2025 due to injury, then returned in 2026 and added an eighth victory.

Every great career needs a stage that feels like shorthand. For Tomac, Daytona became exactly that. Say the track name, and his career instantly enters the conversation.

Tomac’s legacy has never been built only around trophies. It also came from how he carried himself. In an era where athletes are often pushed to become walking content strategies, Tomac stayed stubbornly himself. Quiet. Focused. Direct. Brutally effective on the bike.

“For those of us who had the privilege of watching Eli Tomac’s entire career, what stands out most isn’t just the victories, championships, or records. It’s the authenticity,” said Dave Prater, Vice President of Supercross for Feld Motor Sports. “Eli never chased attention, never tried to be something he wasn’t, and let his riding speak louder than words ever could.”

Prater added that fans respected Tomac because he was real, pointing to the way he handled triumphs, setbacks, comebacks, and battles with humility, grit, and class.

That authenticity extended beyond the racing itself. Through donations of customized gear and bike graphics, many of which he helped design personally, Tomac helped raise more than six figures for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He also gave his time to promotional sessions supporting the charity and the Love Moto Stop Cancer initiative.

In 2015, Racer X Magazine editor in chief and MX Sports Pro Racing President Davey Coombs coined the phrase “Beast Mode” to describe Tomac after he opened the Pro Motocross season with wins at Hangtown and Glen Helen.

The nickname stuck because it felt earned. Tomac had a way of making speed look inevitable, especially outdoors, where his ability to break a race open could make elite fields look temporarily overmatched. Then came Thunder Valley that same season, where he won the first moto at his home race before a heavy crash in Moto 2 left him with shoulder injuries that required surgery on both sides and ended his season.

That moment could have become the dividing line in a career. Instead, Tomac came back and stacked championships, wins, and podiums for years. That is the part that made the nickname more than branding. It became a description of the recovery, not just the speed.

“Never before in our sport have we had a competitor who was so good, for so long,” Coombs said after Tomac’s top-five finish at Ironman. “Eli Tomac won the first professional race he ever entered, the 2010 Hangtown National, and then all these years later he began his final season with a win at the 2026 Anaheim Supercross opener.”

Coombs also pointed to Tomac’s versatility, longevity, leadership, and the respect he earned across the paddock, saying his championships and presence on the starting gate will resonate for generations.

Tomac ended his Pro Motocross career with one final top five finish at the 2026 Ironman National Finals, going 7-5 across the motos. It was not the kind of loud farewell built for a movie trailer, but it was fitting in its own way: still fast, still relevant, still inside the fight.

Now the postseason will serve as the final chapter. The SMX World Championship Playoffs begin September 12 at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, continue September 19 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles, and conclude September 26 at Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale, Missouri.

After that, one of the most decorated and respected careers in the sport will be complete. Tomac leaves with eight SMX League championships, 57 premier-class Supercross wins, 32 premier-class Pro Motocross wins, 240 career podiums, a Daytona record that feels carved into the place, and a legacy that belongs as much to consistency as it does to dominance.

Motocross moves quickly. New stars arrive, old rivalries fade, and every season tries to convince everyone it is the beginning of the next era. Tomac’s retirement is different. This is not just another rider stepping away. This is one of the sport’s central figures leaving the gate for the last time.

Eli Tomac’s SMX League Championships

• 2012: 250cc Divisional Supercross Championship
• 2013: 250cc Pro Motocross Championship
• 2017: 450cc Pro Motocross Championship
• 2018: 450cc Pro Motocross Championship
• 2019: 450cc Pro Motocross Championship
• 2020: 450cc Supercross Championship
• 2022: 450cc Supercross Championship
• 2022: 450cc Pro Motocross Championship

Final Chances to See Eli Tomac Race

• September 12: SMX Playoff 1, Historic Crew Stadium, Columbus, OH
• September 19: SMX Playoff 2, Dignity Health Sports Park, Los Angeles, CA
• September 26: SMX World Championship Final, Thunder Ridge Nature Arena, Ridgedale, MO

For more information, visit SuperMotocross.com.

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