Eli Tomac, returning from an injury in the AMA Monster Energy Supercross series, on Saturday night won the triple crown title in Anaheim, California.
Trailing Cole Seely overall after two races for the triple crown title at Angel Stadium, Tomac grabbed the holeshot in the third and deciding race, and led the pack until Jason Anderson passed him in the sixth lap and went on to win.
Tomac’s second place in the finale was good enough for the overall win. Cole Seeley, the overall leader after two races, finished seventh.
Tomac won the title with eight place points – placing fifth in Race No. 1, first in Race No. 2, and second in Race No. 3. Seely was second overall after placing first, second and seventh. Anderson was third after finishing seventh, third and first.
With Saturday’s overall win, Tomac moved into 13th place in the series standings, with 27 total points. Anderson leads the series with 70 points.
Tomac’s strongest performance came in Race 2.
The Kawasaki rider from Cortez, Colorado, got to the lead early in the second race after holeshot winner Vince Friese of Honda went down in the first lap.
Tomac led all 16 laps. He was followed closely by Seely, who fell back into a comfortable second place after an apparent gear-shifting mistake. Seely was followed by Anderson of Husqvarna, and Tomac teammate Josh Grant of Kawasaki.
In the first race, Seely of Honda grabbed the holeshot and won wire to wire, leading all 11 laps. He was followed by teammate Justin Brayton, Blake Baggett of KTM and Weston Peick of Suzuki.
Tomac ran in sixth place for the first four laps, before passing Grant. He remained in fifth the rest of the way.
Earlier Saturday afternoon, Tomac set the pace in the first of two qualifying rounds with the fastest lap, at 51.038 seconds. In the second qualifying round, Tomac was third-fastest, with a best lap of 50.331 seconds.
Tomac has been recovering from a bruised shoulder after crashing out of the season-opening 450SX race in Anaheim, California, on Jan. 6.