GEICO Honda Pre-Race Report
MT. MORRIS, Pa. - GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac is enjoying his best start in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship series, and he's expecting that trend to continue Saturday at the GEICO High Point National.
After three races this season, Tomac sits in second place in the standings, six points behind leader Ken Roczen. Tomac has never been higher than fourth at this point in a motocross season, but this year his consistency -- he has five podium finishes in six motos -- has been the difference.
"Experience has a lot to do with it," Tomac said. "You learn your bike, you learn the tracks, and you've got to be physically stronger. It's a little bit of everything."
High on that list of everything contributing to Tomac's strong early season has been his starts.
"Last week I got my first holeshot, and the rest of my starts have been pretty dang close to the front," Tomac said. "It's so important to start these motos close to the front because making up time and making passes is difficult.
"It's not easy to make up points at the end of the season, so you've got to do your best not to give any away at the beginning of the year."
Tomac's teammates Zach Osborne and Justin Bogle have come on strong in the last couple of motos, and that has made the atmosphere around the track a lot of fun.
"When everyone's running well it makes things better in the hauler," Tomac said. "Plus it's great to have teammates who can get between me and other competitors. It's always better to have a teammate back there battling for points."
Osborne had two top-six finishes last week and moved into the top five in the standings, 14 points behind fourth-place Blake Baggett.
"Things are going pretty good," Osborne said. "I've started running with the tail end of the lead pack. Now I've just got to make some small improvements to get to the front. I'm right there in the mix.
"Coming into the season I didn't feel like I knew what I was doing because I hadn't raced a national for five years. It feels real good to be right up there so soon."
Bogle had season-best overall (seventh) and moto (sixth) finishes last weekend in Tennessee and wants to keep improving.
"I got two good starts last week and even led for a while before I had a fall," Bogle said. "I'm learning every weekend and trying to get better. I know now I can keep pace with the fast guys, which makes me excited going into this weekend."
Practice for the GEICO High Point National gets under way at 8:30 a.m. EDT Saturday at High Point Raceway with the opening ceremony starting at 12:40 p.m. FUEL TV will carry the first motos live starting at 1 p.m. EDT Saturday and NBC Sports Network will broadcast Moto 2 at 5 p.m.
