Eli Tomac wins in Salt Lake City, Hill crowned 250SX West champion

Published Apr. 23, 2017 1:46 a.m. ET

Samuel Reiman

Eli Tomac charged from the back to win the Salt Lake City Supercross at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night.

The Kawasaki rider got a terrible start and completed the first lap in 15th place. Meanwhile, championship rival Ryan Dungey - who was tied with Tomac for the points lead entering the night - had had a much better start and soon took the lead from Justin Bogle, who had taken the holeshot.

However, Tomac quickly began picking up spots, and was aided when Bogle went down from fourth. Tomac then got by his teammate Josh Grant for third and then moved up into second at the halfway point by Jason Anderson.

Tomac then closed in at a rate of half a second a lap on Dungey before finally making the move for the lead and the win with five minutes left on the clock.

Despite winning the heat race over Tomac, Dungey had no response for the new championship leader and fell back several seconds before the checkered flew. Anderson, Musquin and Grant rounded out the top five.

Tomac now has a three-point lead over Dungey with two rounds left to go. This is the first time he has led the points this season after a rough start to the year. He has now won nine of the last 12 races.

Meanwhile in the 250SX West class, Justin Hill won the championship by a wheel. Hill entered the night with an 18-point lead over Aaron Plessinger. Plessinger knew he had to finish on the podium if he wanted to keep the championship alive heading into the finale in Las Vegas.

Austin Forkner got the Holeshot but Plessinger took the early lead. However, midway through the race he went down hard and was out. This handed the lead over to Shane McElrath, who went on to win, but the championship wasn’t over yet.

Hill had to finish on the podium if he wanted to clinch the title. He dropped back to third behind Mitchell Oldenberg and then to fourth behind Martin Davalos. But, in the final turn, Hill got back by Davalos and edged him out by a wheel at the line - just enough to take home the championship.

Unofficial 450SX results:

1. Eli Tomac
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Jason Anderson
4. Marvin Musquin
5. Joshua Grant
6. Chad Reed
7. Davi Millsaps
8. Blake Baggett
9. Cooper Webb
10. Dean Wilson

Unofficial 250SX West results:

1. Shane McElrath
2. Mitchell Oldenburg
3. Justin Hill
4. Martin Davalos
5. Jimmy Decotis
6. Austin Forkner
7. Dan Reardon
8. Hayden Mellross
9. Kyle Chisholm
10. Tyler Bowers