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ELI TOMAC
450 SX / 1ST
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> It has been a tumultuous season so far for Eli Tomac. The main title contender coming into the year has had some bad luck and suffered some self-in icted errors that have put him all the way down to twelfth in the points standings. The injury he suffered at round one kept him out of round two which certainly hasn’t helped his cause. It feels like nearly every race the Colorado native stumbles into a new problem. But at the races he has been able to be mistake free, he has had dominating wins. After another rough one last weekend where he nished in last place, he was eager to clean the slate and start fresh at the rst east coast round of the season. Tomac started his way in Arlington in dominating fashion. He threw down the fastest lap time
of the two qualifying practice sessions and he was a half second faster than anyone else. He looked extremely comfortable and appeared to be meshing well with the track. He could not wait for the gates to drop to go racing.
Holeshots have been Tomac’s Achilles heel in the past but it sure did not look like it in his heat race. The lead Monster Energy Kawasaki rider rocketed out of the gate in impressive fashion. He led the eld down the start straight by a bike length as they stormed into turn number one. Of course, he got through clean and proceeded to execute a awless race. Dean Wilson started behind him in second and ran with him for a lap or two before Tomac stretched it out just a
bit. On lap four, after getting around Wilson, our points leader Jason Anderson tried running him down, but he had built too big of a cushion. Tomac would ride away with the victory hardly breaking a sweat. He rode back to the pits satis ed and looking to have a repeat performance in the main event.
The start of the main looked like a reenactment from Tomac’s heat race because he charged out of the gate again and held a lead going down the start straight. He got through the rst
few corners clean, building a quick little cushion and the rest is history. Anderson started right behind him and everyone watching in the stadium and at home were eagerly anticipating a battle between the two fastest guys. But before Anderson could settle in to try and make things interesting, he would wash out in a corner. Thus, leaving Tomac to ride off into the sunset uncontested for the win. This race was just what Tomac needed to rejuvenate his season. He performed the rare “sweep” which is when a rider sets the fastest lap time in practice, wins his heat and wins the main event. That dominating performance could propel him going forward into the next race at Tampa.
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GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 18, 2018