After winning nine Supercross main events in 2017 and then going on to win the 2017 450 AMA Motocross National Championship, Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac was on the top of almost everyone’s list to be the heir apparent for the vacated 450SX Monster Energy Supercross title in 2018. And seven laps into the first main event of 2018 with Eli checking out to an eight-second lead, the #3 looked well prepared to live up to those expectations. Things can change quickly in SX, and with one crash at A1 and just one point scored in the first two rounds, Eli came into round three with a 48-point deficit in the Championship.
After injuring his shoulder in his crash at A1 and not racing the Houston main event, we all wondered what we would see from Eli at round three. He quickly put a lot of the questions to rest by setting the fastest lap time in the opening qualifying session. In the final session, he set third fastest lap—qualifying third overall heading into the main events.
With the Anaheim 2 SX being the first of three “Triple Crown” three-race format races in 2018, Eli would have to test his injured shoulder in three main events instead of just one. In the first main event—an 8-minute sprint—Eli got a sixth place start, and with everyone so evenly matched on a track most riders were calling basic, he was only able to climb one spot to finish fifth.
In the 12-minute plus one lap second main event, Eli pulled the holeshot, and despite pressure from Cole Seely—winner of main event one—he would go on to lead from start to finish. In the final main event of the night, Eli went right back to the front, but this time, it was the red plate holder, Jason Anderson, applying the pressure. Eli led the first five laps of the 15-minute plus one lap final main event, but in the end, Anderson had too much pace for the Kawasaki rider. Anderson made an aggressive statement pass and ran away with the final win of the night. Eli’s consistent 5-1-2 score on the night, however, gave him his much needed first win of 2018.
After the first ever “Triple Crown” main events were concluded, Eli answered some questions for the press.
Eli, congratulations. A week ago in Houston in qualifying, it was pretty evident that you were struggling with the injury. This week you bounce back and get the win. Do you think it was maybe some of the therapy and the things you did during the week, or was it the track maybe that seemed a little bit more forgiving on the injury?
It was just time. I don’t want to sit here and make up the sob story of, “Oh, I was hurt,” but it was just time. I just hammered my shoulder and just needed time to recover. Honestly, the thing just wasn’t getting better. When you hammer something that bad, it takes more than a week to really come around. The past two days, it just made big, big leaps to where we were able to ride a little bit Wednesday and Thursday. So I knew we were going to be able to give it a good run tonight. This three main event format was something else.
After the first Anaheim when you had your crash, there was a lot of rumors about different injuries you had. You openly talked about your shoulder, but I’ve also heard that you hit your head. Would you like to clear that up now?
Yeah, it was just shoulder. I did bump my head a little bit, but that wasn’t the reason for staying off the motorcycle at all. I was fine in that way. It was my shoulder.
Supercross tried a change tonight. Can you imagine doing a whole series with that format? Maybe would two races be better, do you think?
I think the field would struggle to make it throughout the whole season. I think you’d probably see more injuries. When you add two extra starts and that much pressure and everyone on the line, there’s quite a bit more risk involved. I think that in a whole season wouldn’t be a good thing.
After the last two weeks that you had and you’re definitely in a hole for the championship, but then to come out tonight and score 26 big points and the overall win. What does that set your plan up for the rest of the year? It’s obviously not conservation. You have the speed to win. Is it just all out now, or is it a long game because a championship chase is kind of unlikely?
Yeah, it’s so early to talk about. I’m just glad that I was able to race tonight, really. That’s really early. Yeah, we did the best we could. We grabbed 26 points, but it’s way too early to talk about that. We’re going to try to do everything we can, but we’re on a big hole.
With the amount of racing and the intensity that you had, was the shoulder starting to get fatigued? Were you in conservative mode at any point, or were you pretty much able to ride like you would at any event?
I would say I felt the same throughout all three [main events] tonight. Honestly, the first one was tough with that intensity. I don’t know, I thought the first race was the hardest race. At least it was for me. Once the second one and third one came around you were warmed up and you were kind of used to the pace. It never really got to a point where I was like, “Oh gosh, I’m barely hanging on.” It held together.
Photos by: Ryne Swanberg & Garth Milan
