Eli Tomac of Cortez places third at action-packed Supercross in Anaheim

Eli Tomac of Cortez won Heat 2 and placed third in the main event of Supercross Round 3 in Anaheim. (Courtesy Red Bull KTM)

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Eli Tomac of Cortez won Heat 2 and placed third in the main event of Supercross Round 3 in Anaheim. (Courtesy Red Bull KTM)

Eli Tomac rounded out the podium Saturday night in Anaheim, placing third in Round 3 of the Supercross 450SX main event.

In the action-packed main event, Tomac and Hunter Lawrence had a quick start and raced neck and neck toward the holeshot. They were both edged out by Jason Anderson for the holeshot, with Lawrence settling into second behind Anderson. Chase Sexton and Tomac slotted into third and fourth.

In the sand section, Sexton moved past Lawrence and began reeling in Anderson. In the whoops, Sexton closed in on Anderson and began making his move for first place. The two riders jumped side by side before Sexton made the pass in the corner. He led for the remainder of the race, winning his first main event of the 2026 season.

Meanwhile, Tomac passed Lawrence, but Lawrence passed him back soon after, shutting down Tomac’s advances for second. Sexton placed first in the main event, followed by Lawrence and Tomac.

“I felt like I was in offense and defense mode the whole time during that main event. It was very busy,” Tomac said in a KTM news release following the race. “I was happy to claim a podium spot tonight, but also, there are a couple of things I think back to that maybe I could have done differently to try and stay in front of Hunter, but that's all should have, would have, could have at this point. This race had a bit of everything, but everyone is hauling the mail, and the pace was super fast. It's good to finish with a podium here ... If you had told me at the beginning of the series that I'd go 1-1-3, that's an awesome start, so I'm proud of the team.”

In Heat 1, Tomac’s teammate Jorge Prado claimed the holeshot and led for the entirety of the race to place first, followed by Lawrence and Ken Roczen.

In Heat 2, RJ Hampshire was out first with Sexton and Cooper Webb on his heels. Tomac started in fifth but passed Sexton when he crashed in the sand. After passing Sexton, Tomac worked his way past the leaders to win the heat race. Webb placed second and Anderson third.

Round 4 of Supercross will take place on Saturday, Jan. 31, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.