Image: Foremost Media.

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac captured the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship after 450MX went down to the wire at Fox Raceway today, ultimately executing when it counted at the final round to seal a fourth-career premier class crown outdoors.

Coming in with a single-point lead in the standings, top qualifier Tomac extended that to four in winning moto one and then clinched it by delivering yet again in moto two.

While Tomac was near-perfect, title rival Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) was beaten straight-up in moto one and then fell no less than three times in the decider on his way to a runner-up result. When all was said and done, Tomac made it four 450 class championships as he’s expected to call time on his outdoor career.

Multiple 450MX champion Tomac took an instrumental moto win to begin the most important day of all, setting him up as points-leader with a four-point margin entering the afternoon’s final 25-minute plus two-lap moto of the round.

After giving chase from the outset while Sexton led the early stages, Tomac finally made his move – after Sexton was baulked by a lapped rider right beforehand – with just under five minutes remaining and made it count. From there, Tomac held strong to win by 1.540s in his most decisive result of the year so far.

Sexton will need luck on his side come moto two, however, was still convincing in P2, as Craig impressed with third place, albeit a full 1m15s in arrears at race’s end. Anderson fought forward from 16th at the end of lap one to fourth, with Barcia dropping from third early on to fifth.

Positions six through 10 belonged to Benny Bloss (BBMX KTM), Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM), Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC), Freddie Noren (BBMX KTM) and Ryan Dungey (Red Bull KTM), despite going down in the first turn and clawing his way back into the top 10.

Action started early in the final 450 class moto of the year when Sexton went down not once, but twice in the early laps and then he would later go down yet again. Up front, it was Craig who led laps initially until Anderson took charge, before Tomac took his turn at the front eight laps in.

Meanwhile, Sexton would keep pushing and made it into second position with two laps to go, but it was Tomac who went 1-1 in a dream result to seal the championship. Sexton crossed the line second ahead of Anderson in P3, while Craig was fourth and Dungey turned his day around somewhat in P5.

Sixth was Barcia, with the top 10 being Plessinger, Bloss, Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) in his last outdoor appearance and Shane McElrath (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha). After going down in the first corner, Roczen recovered to finish in 13th position.

Overall for the round, Tomac was perfect to win ahead of Sexton, with Anderson completing the podium. Tomac’s final advantage in the points was seven following 24 motos ahead of Sexton in what was his best showing yet, as it was again Anderson who scored P3 upon the series completion.

Detailed results