Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac and Justin Cooper each secured second overall finishes in their respective classes at the 2025 FIM Motocross of Nations (MXoN), helping secure a runner-up overall finish for Team USA. Joined by fellow American rider RJ Hampshire, it was a hard-fought battle for top honors at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Tomac, who was the Team USA Captain and MXGP representative, earned 4-2 scores, with Cooper showing strength in the MX2 class and scoring a pair of top-10 finishes aboard his YZ250F in the combined 450 and 250 races.
Eli Tomac – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“Well, we got on the podium. It’s so hard to beat Team Australia when they get all of those first and second-place finishes. That’s all I can say. I’m proud of Justin for stepping up and proud of RJ (Hampshire) for also stepping up to the plate here. We gave it our best effort. Australia is just very good right now, and they are hard to beat.
“Today, personally, I went for it too. I felt like I improved my riding every time on the track this weekend. To be totally honest, I was struggling a little bit yesterday on the qualifying day, but today, I was much better in the motos and was pretty happy with my riding.”
Justin Cooper – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“It was a tough weekend all around. Bad outside gate picks were kind of on the menu for me all weekend, but we pulled through. We got on the podium and finished second. RJ had some unlucky scenarios, so that kind of took away our chances to win, but we came together as a team, and that’s what matters. Everyone was in this together, and we were all in. You don’t get any other races like this, so it’s special and even more special when you have all the fans cheering for you around the whole track. It keeps you going out there.”
