Due to injuries, it has been 1,000 days since Eli Tomac won a moto, but he erased that stat in Round 2 of the 2025 Pro Motocross season to win Moto 1 of the Hangtown Motocross Classic in Rancho Cordova, California. He missed all but three races in that duration due to injury.
“Let’s focus on that start,” Tomac said after the race. “I had a great jump there. I came out third and just paced behind Aaron there for most of the race. I was kind of waiting for that hill; I felt that was one place I was quicker and was able to make the move at the bottom of the hill. It’s tough out there. You’ve just got to stay steady because it’s warm today.”
Prior to this weekend, Tomac had won six of seven Moto 2s in Hangtown.
Plessinger led the most laps after taking the lead on Lap 1. He stretched his advantage over the field by nearly five seconds in the early and middle stages of the race, but Tomac is one of the fittest riders in the field, and he made up the ground in the final three laps before pushing Plessinger back to second on the white flag lap.
Plessinger was in sight of his first 450 Pro Motocross moto win.
“I just misjudged the time, and that was on me,” Plessinger added.
Jett Lawrence rode much of the race 10 seconds behind the leader and finished third, but he was almost able to catch Plessinger at the checkers. He finished 0.349 seconds behind in third.
“The motorcycle was a little stiff on that one for me in a few spots and once they got the gap, I was like, I still have another moto,” Jett said. “We’re just going to chill here and kind of maintain and get back for the second moto. While those boys might be a bit tired, I have a little extra juice in the tank.”
Justin Cooper finished fourth with Hunter Lawrence rounding out the top five.
In-Race Notes
Plessinger cowboys up and took the early lead.
Jett and Hunter are known for their great starts, so completing Lap 1 fourth and fifth was a disappointment.
Cooper also got a strong start and rode second for a lap before Tomac took the position.
Jett moved into third on Lap 3 and trails second-place Tomac by three seconds after getting around Cooper. Tomac was three seconds behind Plessinger.
Plessinger settled into a fast rhythm, making it tough for Tomac to close the gap. On Lap 5, Tomac took a few tenths off the advantage but was still 2.4 seconds behind.
At the halfway point, Tomac was 2.8 seconds behind Plessinger, Jett was 8.5 seconds back in third with Cooper and Hunter rounding out the top five.
The top five settled at the 10-lap mark. RJ Hampshire, Cooper Webb, Jorge Prado, Joey Savatgy, and Malcolm Stewart occupied the next five positions.
Tomac started to close the gap on Lap 11 and rode 1.4 seconds behind Plessinger. Jett is 10.4 seconds behind Tomac. Plessinger took the time back on the next lap.
With three laps remaining, Plessinger made a couple of mistakes and allowed Tomac to close the gap to under a second.
And then with two to go, Tomac got a run on Plessinger and took the lead. Plessinger was passed on the last lap by Chase Sexton last year in this round.
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