Eli Tomac Takes San Diego Supercross Victory
Julien Beaumer Earns Career-First Win in 250SX Class
San Diego, Calif., (January 18, 2025) In a race that took the battle down to the final lap, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac grabbed the win inside Snapdragon Stadium to earn his 53rd career Monster Energy AMA Supercross victory. Significantly for the crowd favorite, Tomac takes over the points lead for the first time since suffering what was potentially a career-ending injury in 2023.
Team Honda HRC Progressive’s Jett Lawrence was on Tomac’s rear fender until the very end but never mounted an attack for the top spot; Jett’s second place finish marked a strong improvement from his 12th place finish at the Anaheim Opener. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb led early but was overtaken by Tomac and Lawrence nearly simultaneously at the race’s mid-point. Webb, under the weather, held off a late race charge from Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki’s Ken Roczen to keep his podium spot. Last weekend’s winner, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton recovered from a first lap crash; he reached sixth place by the time the checkered flag flew. The Western Regional 250SX Class produced a new first-time winner when Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer earned his first Supercross win and took over the division’s points lead.
“It has been a long time since I’ve won one of these 20-minute Main Events. So it feels so good to rebound from last weekend; it was a heartbreak there in Anaheim… I had to work for this. I made a lot of passes and was able to keep it on two wheels. This feels so good.” – Eli Tomac.
“That [race with Eli] was awesome. He got me at the start and I was trying so hard just to get close enough to make a pass, but he was ripping… I’m just happy that I’m ten positions better than last weekend, for sure, so I’m happy to be on the box… We tested hard this week to try and get the bike to a better spot, and it was much better.” – Jett Lawrence
Cooper Webb was third and said “It was a good race. I was able to lead a lot of laps. I got a great start, much better than last week. We saw that those two guys [Tomac and Lawrence] were coming, and then they were [by me and] gone, just like that… I’ve been a bit under the weather so at about the halfway point that was all I had. I gave it my all, had a great battle with Kenny, and was able to hold him off and get a solid podium.”
Chase Sexton finished sixth, and said “On the first lap I almost got landed on and then in [about] the next turn I fell over. It was just me not being ready to go at the gate drop, honestly. That kind of lit a fire under me and after that I really feel like I rode the best that I’ve ridden in a long time… Some night’s aren’t your night so we’ll come back at A2 and try to get back on the top step.”
In 250SX Class racing, Red Bull KTM’s 18-year old Julien Beaumer followed up his career-first podium with his first career win. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cole Davies, in only his second pro race, led early with Beaumer making several moves for the lead before working his way past six and a half minutes into the race. Triumph Racing’s Jordon Smith was steady in third until taking over the second-place position at the race’s midpoint. Defending 250SMX World Champion Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan fought forward from a mid-pack start. With just under four minutes left on the clock Deegan reached third, capitalizing on a mistake in the rhythm section from Rockstar Energy GASGAS Factory Racing’s Ryder DiFrancesco.
“It was an amazing main event. I got off to a good start and was just trying to be patient behind Davies. I tried to wear him down a little bit and then made my move. From there I just tried to ride my own race.” – Julien Beaumer
Jordon Smith was second in the 250cc race and said, “It was a good day. We were changing settings on the bike all day trying to make it better. We still have a lot of things that we can dial in a little bit just to get a little more comfortable, but overall [the bike’s] been really good… the track was gnarly tonight. There were a lot of rocks coming out, even in the faces of the jumps, so you had to be careful.”
Haiden Deegan was third in 250cc Supercross and said “Congrats to Juju, that was a good race on him. My race was just embarrassing, I’m sorry you had to watch that. I just got a little pumped up in the beginning and it just [got worse] from there. All I can do is work harder this week and come out swinging.”
The San Diego Supercross pays points for both the 17-round Monster Energy AMA Supercross season and the 31-round SMX World Championship™. The SMX League™ adds points from each round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross season with each round of the AMA Pro Motocross season. At the end of the summer the riders in each class are ranked, points are reset to the equivalent of one Supercross main event result, and riders enter the sport’s post-season. In September, two Playoffs, with increasing points payouts, funnel riders into the SMX World Championship Final on Saturday, September 20 at The Strip at The Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
To catch the Supercross action at home, Peacock streams every round live and on demand. Races can also be found on NBC, CNBC, USA Network, and NBC Sports digital platforms. There will be an encore presentation of each round on the Monday following the race at 1:00 a.m. ET on CNBC. Spanish-language coverage can be found on Telemundo Deportes’ Facebook and YouTube channels. For fans outside of the US, the SuperMotocross Video Pass (supermotocross.tv) provides English, Spanish and French language coverage, live, of each round. Live audio coverage can be heard all-season long on NBC Sports Audio on SiriusXM Channel 85. With the range and coverage of the broadcast and streaming packages, live coverage of Supercross is available to fans worldwide.
The race series returns to Angel Stadium for the Anaheim 2 Supercross on Saturday, January 25th with the racing starting at 8:30 p.m. ET. Tickets are available for Anaheim 2 and each remaining race as the 17-round Monster Energy AMA Supercross World Championship travels across the United States from January to May. For results, video highlights, news, event information, and ticket sales please visit SupercrossLIVE.com.
Tickets for the SMX World Championship Playoffs and Final will be available through pre-sale on Tuesday, January 28th, followed by the public on-sale date of Tuesday, February 4th. Information on SMX League events’ FanFest and camping options will be announced later in the season.