Saturday marked 363 days since Eli Tomac ruptured his Achilles tendon while leading his hometown Supercross Main Event in Denver. A crushing blow on what could've been the night one of the sport's all-time greats secured SX title No. 3.
Not in the title mix a year later, Tomac returned to Mile High Stadium just weeks after his first win post-injury, having the chance to secure a top three points finish if he could put in two more solid outings. Well, that's now out of the question. After a pair of practice falls and then one in last weekend's Main Event, Tomac is once again on the mend, this time with a fracture and torn ligaments in his thumb.
The Crash and Recovery Timeline
I would have to imagine that one of, if not both, of the practice crashes didn't help, but according to Jeremy Coker, it was the crash you see above that hurt Tomac here. You can catch a glimpse of it, but he appears to just slightly case that final rhythm before the roller out of the corner. How much that affected him going into that 90-degree flat, I can't say, but it certainly couldn't have helped out any.
According to the Star press release, it's a Bennett Fracture (base of the thumb/CMC joints in the wrist for those at home) and some ligament damage for ET3, which will require surgery. According to Jeremy Coker, their timeline for his return is in the ballpark of the 6-8 week range, which, on the higher end, would mean Tomac would be back for either RedBud or Millville. I could see Star pushing that back to Unadilla, depending on where he's at regarding the SMX standings. There's a double bye week separating the annual New York trek and Washougal beforehand, so if everyone involved wants to play it safe, that wouldn't be a bad idea. Even running Washougal to get a baseline for the last three rounds would make sense.
Colorado Curse
A shoutout to one Voice of the Drunken People, of Moto Twitter fame, for pointing this out, but indeed, the three biggest injuries in Tomac's career have all come in his home state. The 2015 ACL tear at Thunder Valley, which cost him his best chance at a 24-0 summer, the Achillies rupture last year, and now this. He's cursed; someone has to say it; I guess it has to be me. If there's any good news, we'll probably get Tomac in for the last few rounds of the year, simply to better his standing going into SMX, but I doubt it'll be at 100 percent health. Just not the best 12-month stretch for Star Yamaha, as they could very well be without both Tomac and Cooper Webb, with his own thumb injury, for the wide majority of Pro Motocross.
Main Image via Yamaha