Eli Tomac won his first moto of the season last Saturday.
And then he won his second.
Racing in the 450 class at Southwick National in Southwick, Massachusetts, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider took the checkered flag in the opening moto for his first win of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship season.
Then, in the second moto, Tomac recovered from a minor spill to win again. After laying his bike down going into a turn, Tomac quickly picked it up, hopped back on and hit the throttle, eventually regaining the lead and holding on to win the second moto.
Southwick was the seventh race of the 12-race series, and Tomac kicked off the second half of the season by defeating current points leader Ken Roczen for his first MX National overall win since taking the Glen Helen National in May of 2015.
Roczen entered Southwick having won the previous four motos. First, he won both at the Tennessee National two weeks prior, and then he took both motos at RedBud National, winning both races overall.
But Roczen was bested by Tomac in both motos on Saturday, finishing second in both and second overall.
However, Roczen still has an edge in the overall points standings. He leads the way with 337 points, but Tomac’s win trimmed his lead slightly, as the Cortez native sits in second place with 290 points.
Tomac will try to narrow the gap even more in the next MX National on Saturday, July 16 at Spring Creek Raceway in Millville, Tennessee.