The Moment: Anaheim 2
Monday, February 6, 2012 | 10:45 AM
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Eli Tomac has turned what was once a super deep, super competitive Lites West title series into a one-man show. Three-straight wins and a 22-point lead have made Eli the easy favorite to claim the crown.
But that doesn’t mean we have to see boring races every weekend. Big mistakes have put the likes of Dean Wilson, Cole Seely and Marvin Musquin back in the points standings, but they’re still at the races, still fast, and can make any individual race a good one. That’s the scenario we saw on Saturday night at Anaheim, when Seely, winner of the previous race in this building, got out front early over Tomac.
If not for a small crash, Cole Seely and Eli Tomac might have had the battle we've been waiting for.
Garth Milan photo
The two Honda men definitely have speed, and they proved it with a full-on sprint through the first few laps. Tomac ran two 56s right off the bat and then dipped into the 55s to try to match Seely, who had ripped off three-straight 55-second laps up front. To give you an idea how fast these two were going, Seely’s third lap was a full 1.7 seconds faster than third-place Musquin.
“Both of us were going really fast,” said Tomac. “It was going to be a battle because he [Seely] was going fast. I knew I was going to have to step it up, we were cranking!”
But then Seely threw it away on the fourth lap when he pushed a little too hard into a sweeper, and the rear tire of his Lucas Oil Troy Lee Designs Honda broke loose. “They groomed the start straight for the guys on the outside,” explained Seely. “So they tracked it over. And I actually thought to myself, when I went around that turn on the first lap, I was surprised how much traction that section had. So I guess I got a little too confident with it.”
With that, Tomac took the lead and took off. As for that battle for the lead that we want to see? Maybe next week.
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It has been an interesting season, to say the least... Hopefully the east coast will continue the trend!
Good racing so far and an interesting battle between Davey and Kevin. I thought the heat race with Weimer, Alessi and Milsaps all taking a shot a the lead, only to crash was unbelieveable. Bubbles rode a great race and you can't take anything from him on Saturday night, but RV was in control. It sure like Reed let James go by to easliy without putting up much of a fight.
CR is afraid of Bubba.
Congrats to Villopoto and Tomac. Great Wins for them.
Maybe not the battles 'going down to the checkers' we're all hoping to see every week- but still a great night of Racing. And we're now starting to see some patterns strengths and weakness' emerge from different riders.
These guys seem to be more patient than last year and are thinking '17 race series' rather than planning/executing multiple take-down corner moves.
It's amusing too, when arguments surface [here] that begin with," Well if 'blankety-blank' had kept it on two wheels and not done a soil sample he would have won because he was the fastest...
'Could haves' and 'would haves' still don't count in the Win column...
But as they say, "It's why they/we race".
The cool thing is, every week 20 guys line up in the Main', and for a few moments, it could be anyone's race. Inevitably some riders will crash and some will not. You can call some guys' lucky if you want to, but luck doesn't get written next to the "W".
And what the other 19 come back with next Saturday is believing that, "If I'm on the gate, it could be Me on top of the Box next week".
...
Once the series moves East I think it will offer a quasi-fresh start to anyone who's had a rough start to the season so far. Who will step up?
Pretty soon we'll get to see the 250 East class too. It should be as exciting if not better than the West, with even more potential winners (?) on the gate.
And we're going back to a stretch of 'LIVE' Races next week!
Can't wait!
I have noticed that there is no greater motivator on the track for Reed than JS and was suprised that CR didn't put up more of a fight and actually looked back before the pass, then I heard about him being sick all week and thought that may have played into how strong he felt. Really they all rode very well.
greenmeansgo, I think we will be seeing a lot of knock down bar banging down to the checkers racing in the very near future. I think CR,RD and JS will bring it stronger each weak and push RV for all their worth !
isnt this articla about the 250....Seely and Tomac?....hahahhaa
Reed looked over at James like many riders do when they are side by side in the air ....Reed knew James was coming and there was nothing he could do to stop him...Stewart road away from Reed and friends in the heat and was clearly faster in the main....sick or not, Reed had nothing for James this week.....I wouldnt say he "let him by"...he just couldnt "do anything" about it.
Would be great to see Seely, Tomac and Wilson swapping paint for 15 laps...
@killomoto If Reed is as sick as they say, a person can only imagine what it must be like to race at this level. For you to say he didnt have anything for Stewie sick or not was a STUPID comment. Reed has the speed to run with anyone in the class on any given night when he is feeling good.
I dont believe Reed or any of these guys fear each other. They respect each others ability's but not fear them. Thats kinda stupid sounding. Especially when all 4 of the top guys have won an overall. Reed said RV1 And JS7 flat beat him.
Heybigtireguy, Why is it that CR tried to shove RV off the track on the opening lap then looked back and pulled over for JS? If you think he did not slow down then go look at the tape again like I did many times. A lot of riders are afraid of James and give him plenty of room. Take a look at how easy he passed RD in that corner when RD went outside not normal for him or that right hander.
So if CR and RD are this much slower then James in the corners they might as well run for third place in the championship. You need to notice just how many riders will put up any kind of fight with JS when he comes for them. So it was not CR being sick that he rolled over because he was closing on James at the end of the race. Yes the top four have won a race but a couple did it with luck and only 2 riders are going to win many races this year. This is a two horse race only the rest are just field bets.
some ppl wanna write a book on these comment sections. leave a reply not a disertation