Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1193082
450MX AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPION ELI TOMAC P154 Interview ROUND 2 Fox Raceway in Pala, California, hosted AMA nationals back in both 2010 and 2011 but was removed from the calendar to make way for the Southern California-based race at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino. Pala returned this year. Undaunted by it all, Tomac spooled up to fantas- tic late-race charges to sweep both motos in Pala. "So we made our way to Pala the next week. That was a great day for us; that was a dominant day. We were back there for the first time in a few years, and it was great for us. It was a nice high-speed and rough track. It got some really good character towards the end of the day and we really shined. I was behind on my starts there and never got the FOX RACEWAY PALA, CALIFORNIA MAY 25, 2019 1st PLACE (1-1) Even though he won both motos, Tomac was still keeping a close eye on Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin. even more so. It just took me a little bit to get going this year and really find my groove there and figure out what I liked. I'm actu- ally blaming most of my slow start this year on December [2018]. I mean, I was behind on my mo- torcycle. That hurt me. Anyway, I started cranking out the wins in supercross, but the bummer part is that is what the broken record part of it is for me. I've been really dominant in the middle of the season, but towards the end, I feel like I'm the guy, but I'm not the guy picking up that big trophy for the championship." Even though Tomac is still trying to put all the pieces together when it comes to supercross, he defi- nitely has things sorted out when it comes to the outdoor nationals. "You start to transition into mo- tocross, and that starts at the be- ginning of April," reflected Tomac of how he switched gears to not only try and close hard in AMA Supercross but also to ensure the Monster Energy Kawasaki 450cc house was in order come Hang- town in May. "You start transition- ing and training and splitting your week between motocross and supercross and the bike. And at that point—at the end of the supercross season—I'm ready for a reset in the points. I had plenty of race wins [in supercross], but when the championship is out of touch, you're ready for thenew series to start, and that's the motocross series for us." How did all play out? How did Eli Tomac string together another excellent outdoor campaign that resulted in yet another championship? We sat down with Mr. Tomac to find out.