ANAHEIM, California: The first race of the season sets the tone for the 2026 SuperMotocross season, at least Eli Tomac hopes that is true as he held off Ken Roczen in the 2026 SuperMotocross World Championship opener at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.
What a start for us,” Tomac told Peacock’s Will Christien from the top of the podium. “We got two great starts there and then it was just on.”
With the win, Tomac extended his winning streak to 12 consecutive seasons.
Perhaps even more impressively, Tomac has now won for four different manufacturers.
Tomac doesn’t always think in terms of legacy, but that is where he stands.
“That happens in the flash,” Tomac said during the post-race scrum. “It’s kind scary to think that I have one 12 seasons and all of a sudden it is here. So I’m just grateful to be able to still do it. My mind still feels good. I’m still into it and physically well.”
Second-place Roczen finished 1.4 seconds behind Tomac.
“We had an amazing race,” Roczen told Peacock’s Jason Thomas. “We were just yoyoing within one second each lap.”
Jorge Prado scored an amazing podium in his first ride with Red Bull KTM, giving the team two riders in the top-three.
After struggling on the Kawasaki for much of the 2025 Pro Motocross season, his was one of the greatest comeback performances in recent years.
Fourth-place Hunter Lawrence and Jason Anderson rounded out the top five.
Circumstances were not great for Chase Sexton. He rode off course multiple times during the feature and overcame a crash to finish eighth.
In-Race Notes
A major crash on the opening lap of the 450 Main sent two riders to the ground as Malcolm Stewart and Justin Barcia collided.
Barcia was transported to a local hospital and his condition was unknown at the conclusion of Main. The Barcia / Stewart crash brought out a red flag.
“I hope Justin is okay,” Tomac said after the race. “That really hit me hard, seeing him laying in that berm on the next lap.”
When the race resumed, Tomac took flight and led the remainder of the Main. He took the early lead with Heat 2 race winner Roczen giving chase.
The early contact also created a huge gap between second and third, which was greater than 10 seconds at the halfway point, turning this into a two-man show.
Roczen was as close as two seconds for much of the race until Tomac found another gear and began to stretch his advantage three-quarters of the way through the event.
Sexton went down four minutes into the Main.
Jason Anderson was another pleasant surprise in fourth.
In addition to Sexton’s early problems, Hunter Lawrence also had ground to make up as he battled to stay among the top five. Lawrence and Anderson have bad blood between them, so the position was a grudge match.
Also battling for the top five, Cooper Webb clipped Lawrence with three minutes remaining on the clock and fell from sixth. He handed the sixth position to Sexton, but had a large enough lead to keep Dylan Ferrandis at bay.
As they contested the position, Justin Cooper, who advanced through the Last Chance Qualifier, assumed the position.
As time ran off the clock, Lawrence moved up to fourth.
