VOL. 55 ISSUE 22 JUNE 5, 2018 P57
BY JEFF BUCHANAN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BROWNDOG WILSON
T
he week leading up to the
third round of the Lucas
Oil AMA Pro Motocross
Championship at Thunder Valley
saw a shake-up in the 450MX
class. The first casualty was
Christian Craig (Honda HRC)
announcing he had torn his ACL
from his crash at Glen Helen the
week prior and would be out for
the rest of the year. Then, the
Thursday before Colorado, word
came in that Jason Anderson
(Rockstar Energy Husqvarna
had broken his foot in a training
crash and would be out of action
until at least August. But the one
thing that didn't get shaken up
was Eli Tomac's early dominance
of the 2018 series.
Tomac extended his win
streak to three, which includes
six-straight moto wins. Much like
his previous Hangtown and Glen
Helen victories, Tomac's suc-
cess in Colorado again showed
what might be viewed as "the
new" Tomac—a more patient and
calculated Tomac who, instead
of rushing to the front and mak-
ing risky passes, is using the
longer (compared to supercross)
30-minute moto format to his ad-
vantage by pressuring and wear-
ing down his prey before safely
pouncing. He didn't force any
issues in Colorado but chose to
wait things out before making his
moves.
There was a bit of déjà vu for
Tomac, too, as he once before
(2015) came into the Colorado
Justin Barcia nails
the 450MX first-moto
holeshot. He led until
the race was red-
flagged and re-started.
STELLAR
Eli Tomac does it again with
1-1 sweep; Jeremy Martin
fights for 250MX win
