Eli Tomac traps Justin Cooper's leg in heat race crash, Tomac races in LCQ for first time in seven years
Eli Tomac and Justin Cooper were battling for a podium position at the time of the crash.
Feld Entertainment / Align Media Feld Entertainment / Align Media In one of the most bizarre accidents seen in a while, Eli Tomac and Justin Cooper crashed on Lap 4 of the second heat for Round 10 of the SuperMotocross World Championship. Cooper's leg was trapped by Tomac's rear wheel and he was dragged several yards before Tomac became aware he had an unexpected passenger. "I just checked out for Ken [Roczen] there and Eli kind of saw the opportunity go under me and kind of hesitated.
I already had my weight leaning that way. [My] leg ended up in the back wheel, and it was really scary because he was clutching it and all that. "First of all, I just wanted to get my leg out from the pipe.
My shin was getting burned by the exhaust, so once I was able to rotate my ankle away and someone came over, he knew I was there. "Once he started clutching it, I freaked out, man. So it's just racing dirt bikes .
I just had to get up. We're going to have a bad gate pick for the main, but hopefully we can get a start. " Cooper recovered and finished seventh in the heat race, but with the dust cover ripped off Tomac's bike, he headed to the mechanic's area and finished one lap off the pace.