remainder of the race. (There
was no chance Craig, Tomac's
Yamaha teammate, would fight
Tomac for position in this moto).
Then, the unthinkable hap-
pened on the second lap—Sex-
ton crashed. It was a minor
crash but had major conse-
quences in that it allowed Tomac
to get just in front of him.
Meanwhile, Anderson had
taken over the lead with Craig
running second, and by lap four,
Tomac and Sexton were running
3-4, with Sexton posting quicker
lap times than anyone. Tomac
nearest rider in third, finishing
a whopping one minute and 15
seconds behind Sexton in the
first moto, getting second didn't
seem like a tall order for Tomac.
Still, some work had to be done.
As it turned out, a lot more work
than Tomac had anticipated.
With Sexton starting in third
and Tomac eighth in the second
moto, Sexton still had a very
good shot of taking the number-
one plate. He just needed to
pass early leader Christian Craig
and Anderson and hope Ander-
son could hold off Tomac for the
one of the most important motos
of the veteran's career.
The moto win was huge for
Tomac. It gave him some wiggle
room in the second moto regard-
ing the championship. Now, if
race two shaped up like it did
in race one, he could simply
let Sexton go and happily take
second place for the title. With
Kawasaki's Jason Anderson, the
ROUND 12 / SEPTEMBER 3, 2022
FOX RACEWAY AT PALA / PALA, CALIFORNIA
P76
MOTOCROSS I LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Runner-up in the 250MX class
championship was decided
at the Pala finale. Jo Shimoda
ended up with the position after
dominating the second moto.
