“Eight is Great” said Eli Tomac after extending his win record at Daytona International Speedway. Tomac proved why he is considered the King of Daytona by dominating the night show, even though Hunter Lawrence was 0.6 of a second faster than him in timed qualifying. Or maybe because Eli is the King, and that gave him the confidence to pull it all together when it mattered. As he said in the post-race press conference:
“Yeah, I felt like I really came around in the night show," he said. "I was good in practice, but I wasn't feeling my best. It was okay. But then the heat race, I felt like I was on, and I knew I was going to be right in the mix of this thing. So put myself in a decent position. The gates were really, really bad, probably the worst I've actually ever seen it, so that was really technical in that main. Yeah, I had to make some passes there. The good thing about Daytona is there's no lack of passing opportunity, places to make up time, and try different lines and slingshot. The sand was wild. Of course, the split lane offered some opportunity for some good moves there. And somehow, I'm at eight of these wins here.”
Tomac performed when it mattered. He pulled the holeshot in his heat and won by over five seconds over Cooper Webb. Then in the main event he got a top five start but still had to pass his top title rivals in Webb, Hunter Lawrence and last year’s Daytona winner, Ken Roczen.
Daytona was Eli’s 57th supercross win, and he sits second on the all-time win list, but what is it specifically about Daytona that caters to his style?
“It just fits me. It fits my riding style. It must be something with the soil and maybe what I grew up on with the sand and whatnot and being able to just open the throttle up and spray those sandy berms. Eight is great. It's good.”
Eight is certainly incredible, but fans and media alike can’t help but wonder if nine is possible? Will he keep racing through 2027? For Eli it's too early to say. “Yeah, no comment on that yet, but the clock's ticking, but still racing good. Just, I don't know. I'm not sure. Not sure yet. We're still a little early for that.”
Eight wins in twelve tries. It was an absolutely perfect night for Tomac. Well, almost perfect. We cannot talk about Tomac at Daytona without mentioning how when he tried to pick up his trophy on the podium, the trophy came apart, hit him in the face and broke his tooth! Tomac seemed understandably perturbed at first (who wants to go to the dentist?) but by the time the press conference happened he could see the humor in the situation.
“But apparently eight gives you a cracked tooth. I popped my tooth out lifting the trophy up, my front tooth. I'm looking like a pretty good hillbilly right now, so I'm trying not to smile.”
To be fair after his win in Seattle, Eli said he won’t smile again until he has the red plate back. He now sits one point behind Hunter. Could he be smiling this time next week after Indianapolis?
