Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac has got the ball fully rolling at the halfway point of the 2022 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Coming off his third straight overall victory with a win at this weekend’s Southwick National, Tomac sits just one point behind championship leader Chase Sexton, who has been solid as a rock to hold position at the front after his opening round victory at Fox Raceway. The championship fight is quickly becoming a two-horse race and Tomac has now strung together five straight moto victories. It seems it may only be a matter of time before Tomac is in the lead of the championship as he eyes his fourth 450 class Pro Motocross title.
After the dust had settled at Southwick, Tomac spoke to the media in the post-race press conference about his torrid run.
Eli, four straight moto wins. Now you’ve closed it down within one point of the red plate. What is it about the middle of the season that gets you going?
Eli Tomac: Well, for me, early on, I’m usually, well at least this year, first race, it’s the first race on the Yamaha. Of course I was off from where I felt comfortable. We figured it out as a team, getting into a comfortable position. Now it’s just working on all conditions for the motorcycle. Having that trust is so important, just to make everything go the right way. I’m in the meat of the season of these tracks that I really enjoy riding. So mentally it’s like, if you’re looking forward to something it usually goes in a better direction. We’re just in a couple of rounds I really enjoy riding.
How are the bike setups different from say a Hangtown to Southwick?
Well, first off, everyone goes with the paddle tire. Tire is a big deal. And then you just relax the motorcycle a little bit. I think most guys do that. I relax it a little bit. Take a little bit out of the shock. I actually even played around with fork height in the practice. It didn’t work and I went back to my base. Some years I slide my forks here, some years I don’t. But today most important was a little bit out on the shock and the paddle tire.
Little out of it, you actually took some compression out of it?
I did.
I asked a lot of people both in the industry and just fans, who would their picks be for the Nations. Chase and Eli were the top two for 450. Now, with you guys being so close in points, is that on your mind at all? Or are you focused on the season first?
Yeah, we know it’s going to come, right? The question is going to come if we can race it. At this point, we’re the two best guys and I think we should assume we’re going to get chosen for it.
One last question, and I’ll ask each one of you because we have a couple minutes to wrap this up. 450 is running first. Normally you guys are the last couple races with the NBC show. You guys have run first, 250 is last. Do you notice a difference in the track and how rough it gets?
Yeah, maybe moto one is a little bit smoother. Moto two, it’s a little bit. It’s not a huge deal, in my opinion.
Watch the full 450 class post-race press conference from Southwick:
