Over the last few weeks, Eli Tomac has been as fast as any rider in the AMA Supercross Series and as a result, the Cortez native found his way to the podium in St. Louis on March 28.
Tomac’s second place finish was by no means easy however, as the GEICO Honda rider had to fight off several hard-charging competitors in the main event after crashing in his heat race.
“(The main event) was very hard-fought,” said Tomac in a GEICO Motorcycle press release. “I’ll absolutely take a second.”
Among the reasons for Tomac’s satisfaction was the fact that he did not initially qualify for the main event after crashing in his first heat race on the evening of March 28.
Because of his crash, Tomac was forced to compete in a semifinal round prior to the main event, which he won easily. Tomac was unable to select a favorable gate-position for the main event however, and as a result, fell behind race winner Ryan Dungey early-on.
“When Ryan gets out front, there’s too much ground between us,” said Tomac. “I wasn’t that much faster to even have a chance. It was a big fight for second.”
Thanks to his second-place finish, Tomac now sits second in the Series points standings behind Dungey with just five races left in the season.
While Tomac appears unlikely to win the championship given the 80-point spread between he and Dungey, the Cortez native plans to continue racing hard and winning races.
Tomac’s next race will take place at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on April 11.