GEICO Honda Race Report: L.A.
LOS ANGELES -- GEICO Honda rider Eli Tomac rode to a convincing victory Saturday night at venerable Dodger Stadium to surge into the Supercross Lites West points lead for the first time in his young career. Staring from Gate 3, Tomac took the holeshot and never looked back, quickly building a lead of several seconds that he held throughout the 15-lap main event.
Combined with a third-place finish in Anaheim and a fourth-place result in Phoenix, Tomac moved from fourth to first in the championship standings and now sits one point ahead of Dean Wilson.
"It's always nice to be in the front, whether it's in a race or the points," Tomac said. "Tonight we got both, so I'm happy. I'm comfortable in the lead.
"I've been riding well all year. I had fast lap of the first two main events but my starts weren't there. That's what I've been working on this past week.
"It started off as a stressful day because we only had the one practice session and we had to learn the track in those 12 minutes. I was second there, which gave me a good gate pick for the heat race. Then I had a good start but overshot the first turn and gave up the lead. But I learned something there and it definitely helped in the main because in that same spot I let off for a second and was able to sneak underneath everyone. Once I got out front I just checked out. I was totally focused."
Team member Brian Kranz was named Mechanic of the Race, worth $500 from MMI. Kranz serves as mechanic of Tomac's CRF250.
The Supercross main event was red-flagged when Trey Canard, a former rider on the GEICO Honda team, was landed on by another rider. The scary incident forced officials to stop the race for several minutes while Canard was tended to by the medical staff.
On the restart, a rattled Windham was bunched up in the middle of the pack where he rode for the rest of the night, finally finishing ninth overall.
"Trey's crash really affected me," Windham admitted. "I saw the whole thing and it was really bad. It happened right in front of me. Thank God he's alright.
"It ruined my night. I thought about him the whole race. Of course, at that point we didn't know his condition. Trey is one of the best kids I've ever been around and I couldn't think of anything else. I didn't even want to ride but we made it through and got some points. I'm just glad the night is over and Trey's okay."
Fill-in rider Gavin Faith finished a lap down in the Lites main, ranking 18th on the night. Faith earned the final transfer spot into the main during a hard-fought LCQ battle. He missed qualifying in his heat race by one spot.
