How did you feel heading
into the opening rounds of the
2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross
Championship?
I was confident going into
the outdoor season, especially
after our success in Supercross.
Round one was a little bit slow,
once again, but I knew that if I
didn't let the leaders get too far
away during the opening rounds,
I could still be in the game. We
basically just clawed ourselves
out of the hole all the way
through the season and I ended
up in an epic battle with Chase
Sexton all the way through. It
was basically every race where
me and Chase were just yoked
on to each other. It would be
first-second or second-first, and
it was a battle for the ages, that's
for sure.
To get both the titles in 2022,
that literally is the dream, and we
made it happen. I must say that
the motocross title was really
special; it literally was down to
the last moto. Everything was on
the line. Even in the first moto
where we went one and two.
For moto two, I was a little bit
behind on the start, and he was
in front of me, and then he made
a mistake, and I was in the lead.
I was trying to focus, and I real-
ized everything was on the line.
I'll tell you what, it was probably
the longest moto of my career. It
was all down to the wire and that
just sealed the deal.
Chase Sexton was super-
competitive and super-respect-
ful with you all summer long.
How did you like lining up and
battling with him?
Those outdoor battles with
Chase this summer were next
level. I think we elevated the
pace. It was unbelievable. We
were at 100-percent all the way
through all of those motos. I
would call him the next-gener-
ation 450 guy. I felt like Chase
and I were just raising the game.
I mean we were pushing our-
selves every weekend and nei-
INTERVIEW I 2022 CYCLE NEWS RIDER OF THE YEAR : ELI TOMAC
P82
Tomac, indeed, sealed his mark as a legend in this sport.
