The Conversation: Eli Tomac

The 2023 Glendale Supercross saw similarities and differences to the ’22 event. First off, the ’22 event took place last February (round five of the season) whereas this year’s event was early April (round 12). Both the 2022 and the 2023 events inside Arizona’s State Farm Stadium were both Triple Crown events. And the results in the 450SX Class were similar, with Eli Tomac getting three great starts (all from outside the doghouse) again this go round en route to the overall win—just as he did last year.

The later visit to Arizona this year meant each finishing position and point mattered more. Tomac’s win on Saturday gave him seven wins on the season, taking his total 450SX tally to 51 career 450SX main event wins, giving him sole possession of second on the all-time AMA Supercross premier class wins list behind only Jeremy McGrath. ET3 was tied with James Stewart at 50 a piece following his win in Seattle, Washington, at the 11th round in late March.

But more importantly, Tomac now takes sole possession of the 450SX points lead. He entered the day tied with Cooper Webb at 248 points apiece, but Webb finished 2-5-4 for fourth overall, giving Tomac a seven-point advantage on the night. With five races to go here in the final stretch run, Tomac has been more focused on the wins and championship points this season than his all-time wins tally as he wants this third 450SX title.

Here is what Tomac said during the post-race press conference.

Eli you now sit second all-time in supercross wins behind Jeremy McGrath. Let’s just talk about the race tonight, excellent starts, and very comfortable riding to take it home.
Eli Tomac: Yeah, the key was the starts for me. The way this track raced, it was very important to be up front, as it is every race, but this one in particular. It was really high speed. It was one of the drier, more hard-packed tracks that we’ve had in a long time. I honestly don’t remember a track this hard, maybe back to Las Vegas or an old-school Phoenix. It was cool to have a change up, not every track has to be perfect. Yeah, all three motos were pretty solid there. Had a lot of pressure in moto one and in moto three for the ones I won. And obviously Chase rode really good there in moto two.

This was good for me. My first two Triple Crowns this year were not good at all. I crashed in both those events. I came into the day just focused on trying not to crash in one of these motos.