by Davey Coombs
250 Words: Steel City
Monday, September 3, 2012 | 12:00 PM
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If I'm Blake Baggett, I'm staying off the computer this week. And I'm not checking my email or Twitter accounts. And forget about watching Steel City on the DVR. That's because the last thing I would want to see or hear about right now is Eli “Rising” Tomac's rise right now as the series comes to its conclusion at Lake Elsinore on Saturday afternoon. Baggett, who has worn the red plate as points leader since the very first race, is suddenly not looking like the fastest man on the track anymore. In fact, he hasn't all month.
GEICO Honda's Tomac, on the other hand, was absolutely on fire once again at Steel City. Besides doing things no one else was doing—like tripling into the uphill rollers next to the starting line for much of the second moto—he was simply riding faster than everyone else. He finally took the overall win he probably should have had at Southwick and Unadilla too, but bad luck and small mistakes conspired to keep a few non-very-valuable points away from him.
One round stands between Blake Baggett and his first career championship.
Simon Cudby photo
The points are actually the thing that's probably slowed Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Baggett down. He's not only wearing that heavy #1 plate, but is caring the weight of leading the whole way and being the young man everyone wants to supplant. And they still won't be able to do it at Lake Elsinore so long as he has a day as relatively mediocre as he did yesterday in Pennsylvania: two fourth-place moto finishes. Because Baggett still has a 14-point lead on Tomac with two motos to go, and even if Eli wins both motos again, his early wins and speed will be enough to carry him to the championship.
So go old-school, Blake Baggett. Ride your old practice tracks, hang out with your friends, go to the movies and forget about all of the bench-racers and virtual experts who are going to tell you how damn fast Eli Tomac is going right now—you don't have to beat him to win your title. Worry about being yourself, because that's enough to get the close this deal and get the job done.
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Good advise just relax BB your work has already been done, so kick back and enjoy your easy last race where you don't even need to podium to win,
Managing a championship from the front is hard. It's easier to ride like you don't have anything to lose. Not to take anything away for Tomac, kid is killing it, but BB gun still has it, one more to go.
Tomac and BB have so many fans, and neither are antagonists in the MX world. Both have many great races ahead.
Crossing my fingers for another 2010 finally! Not that I want BB to get hurt like Pourcel did that year but Tomac needs something to go wrong so he can win this title like Canard did in 2010.....
This will be interesting for sure, it will all be how Blake manages these last 2 moto's. Hopefully the thought have having so many family, friends and fans there this weekend will not cause Blake to fold. So like a few of have already said "Relax and have fun".
Blake's in a tough spot and not because Tomac is on fire but because Barcia and Rockzin are also turning incredible lap times and running strong up front. Should be interesting.
So did RacerX just state who they want to win?
just started reading the article and a pop up, covering the text, offers me a green card so i can work in the US? wtf, racerx?
'non-very-valuable points'?!? I think they were VERY valuable points, no matter whether you were talking about Tomac or Baggett.
And rather than 'Rising' Tomac, I vote for 'Tomahawk' Tomac, given he's from the Four Corners area, plus the fact that he's been chopping up the competition.
I very much doubt BB was "managing" the race and come in 4 in both motos. No one has raced elsinore...ever. There is no home advantage to baggett because he is based out of SoCal. IF!! Tomac can go 1-1 this weekend Baggett will still have a great ride to be better than 3-5, or 4-4. with the way Barcia has been riding, roczen being able to closeout races now and musqiun finding his groove....Elsinore is going to be fun to watch
Blake is just making sure Lake Elsinore is packed with fans when they hand him the championship plate.
Going to be Great racing at he last round !!!
It is harder to manage the points lead, mentally, than to just ride your race...Blake has to be thinking of all the things that can go wrong, trying to be very careful and not throw away a lot of points..tough to ride aggressive with all that between your ears....Bagget is being smart and sees the big picture and knows that the pressure will be lifted once he can lift the championship trophy!!!
What ever you want to call him, Sly Eli - Tomac the Terrible - The Crusher - E.T. is riding out of this world right now!! He has found the C&C to take his riding to the next level..Tomac will be hard to beat at Elsinore..
Barcia just seems to have hit a speed block, when he tries to go just that little bit faster he makes small mistakes. That hurts the old confidence level, to watch your teammate pass you late, with the regularity of an old man on exlax, doesn't help it either...
Although the 250 class has provided some entertainment this season, it would appear that Baggett has the title.
The real question is in regards to the 450 class in 2013 ...
bagget will do what everyone not named james stewart would do, and that is do only what is needed to get the title he is in control hes on cruise control right now why throw it away?
and dont get me wrong im a honda guy and like both 17 and 20 but lets be real here bagget was smoking them like they were amateurs not long ago
@codjh9 I think they meant Now-valuable-points, although that does seem to go against the,"points count as much early as late" cliche.
They are all going to be feeling the pressure. Lots of fast guys in the class if someone has trouble on lap one.
Will we see a "Let Elie Buy" pit board?
When Baggett got that huge 24 point lead he has just been waiting to go home and wrap it up. He has ridden that soil a lot and has an advantage plus he still has that blazing speed.
buy,bye,by.......figure it out lol
If Eli wins both motos and BB gets 4th in both they will tie in points.Eli will have more moto wins and overalls ,so how will Blake win the title,what is the tiebreaker?
Baggett baring something bad should be all set, I hope Tomac gets 2nd too!! Either way WHAT a years in this class!! Every weekend was a WAR!!!
No
VISTAJIM they would be tied in moto wins at 9 I believe.
Then again you are right tomac is 1 up
Baggett is not pushing it.....is easy to tell when you watch him ride....he is in as they say, "Championship Mode". During the interview at Unadilla he stated that he was trying to be "steady Eddie out there". That was him making sure we know he is not pushing it......like we couldn't figure it out...lol