Tomac finally gets the Supercross championship.

Eli Tomac finally won his first 450SX Supercross title, while the 250 East and West wins come with an asterisk.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac earned his first Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship Title in the 450SX Class at the season finale, Round 17 Presented by the Utah Sports Commission inside Rice-Eccles Stadium. Tomac won the title by 25 points after a smart ride to finish fifth in the race. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Zach Osborne won the event, taking home his career-first 450SX Class victory. Second went to his teammate Jason Anderson, who led 15 laps of the 25-Lap Main Event. Rounding out an all-Husqvarna and team podium, Dean Wilson turned an early lead into his first podium of 2020, the second of his career.

The all Husqvarna sweep was one for the record books but it was Tomac who took home the ultimate prize.

“The worst part honestly for me was Wednesday to Sunday from round 16 to this final round knowing how close I was to clinching the title on Wednesday,” said Tomac. “I just sat there impatiently waiting to get to Sunday and it finally came, and knowing that I had a nice cushion to be allowed to ride smart and not have to aggressively push for a win that may or may not be there was nice. You can feel the weight on the shoulders, but I feel like I carried it well and that points cushion helped to ease the weight. It feels great to put it all together and not give it away like I have in previous seasons. About halfway through the race, I knew Cooper (Webb) and Kenny (Roczen) were behind me, and not really in a position to catch me, so immediately you get the feeling this is done and I am a champion, but then you look at the clock and you see you still half a race to finish and it felt so long to finally see the checkered flag. In a lot of ways its still so surreal to win but so different to not be celebrating with the fans in the stands. We miss the fans.”

The three Husqvarna riders who swept the podium, Zach Osborne, Jason Anderson and Dean Wilson, all took turns leading the race as the three riders were their own race among themselves. Osborne, with the win, finishes a strong campaign in SLC getting his first ever 450SX Main Event win.

I feel amazing,” said Osborne. “That was a good race for all three of us Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory racing bikes. It feels amazing to get some results here at the end of the season for my team. I had a big one crash in practice this morning, basically missed the whole second practice. That’s normally a game changer on race day but I was able to turn it around. And we lost a really valued co-worker at Husky yesterday, and this one’s for him.”

In the 250SX east and west divisions, first and second place were only separated by six and seven points respectively and not a lot of warm fuzzy feelings among the riders vying for the title. Rough racing was exchanged between east points leader GEICO Honda’s Chase Sexton and Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing’s Colt Nichols who is teammates with Shane McElrath who was running second in points to Sexton, so tensions were high leading into the main event as Nichols was forced to withdraw due to the injury sustained with the “racing” of Sexton.

The East/West Showdown started in dramatic fashion, with the points leader in each division getting a mid-pack start. Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing’s Shane McElrath got quickly into the lead with Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner right behind. Both riders up front were sitting second in their division’s point standings. But two minutes into racing Forkner went down hard, putting him out of the race and forcing a red flag and a full-race restart, drawing the loudest groan from McElrath. This red flag becomes the second time this season that he has led and had a massive lead over Sexton and was forced to restart which allowed for Sexton to regroup and restart giving him an opportunity to close the gap on McElrath. With Forkner out, all Ferrandis had to do was cross the finish line.

The drama was no more after the red flag and the race played out as subpar as ever. The wins for Sexton and Ferrandis should be marked with an asterisk as both were handed to them by unfortunate circumstances. Yes they “won” but if it wasn’t for a red flag, that title most certainly could be in other hands and until the red flag, it was.

n a turbulent year, the extreme sport of Monster Energy Supercross managed to return to racing with a unique format of two-a-week races for the final seven rounds. Feld Entertainment and its partners, with the help of the Utah Sports Commission, were able to make history not only by completing the season’s full 17-race schedule, but by also becoming the first professional sport to complete its interrupted championship in 2020.

450SX Class Championship Final Standings

1. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki (384)
2. Cooper Webb, Clermont, Fla., KTM (359)
3. Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Honda (354)
4. Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.M., Husqvarna (287)
5. Justin Barcia, Greenville, Fla., Yamaha (272) 
6. Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna (252) 
7. Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Honda (252)
8. Dean Wilson, Murrieta, Calif., Husqvarna (239) 
9. Justin Brayton, Charlotte, N.C., Honda (227)
10. Justin Hill, Yoncalla, Ore., Honda (213)

Eastern Regional 250SX Class Championship Final Standings

1. Chase Sexton, Clermont, Fla., Honda (218)
2. Shane McElrath, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha (209) 
3. Jo Shimoda, Irvine, Calif., Honda (122)

Western Regional 250SX Class Championship Final Standings

1. Dylan Ferrandis, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Yamaha (200)
2. Justin Cooper, Menifee, Calif., Yamaha (180) 
3. Austin Forkner, Richards, Mo., Kawasaki (176)