Photo by: Hoppenworld
Over the first eight rounds of Eli Tomac‘s 2014 450SX season, the 450SX Rookie of the Year hopeful missed four rounds due to a shoulder injury sustained at round one and only scored a total of twenty-six points in the four main events he did start. At round nine in Indianapolis, though, the GEICO Powersports rider with Factory backing from American Honda got a great start, rode a solid twenty laps on the toughest track of the year, finished second in the main event and nearly doubled his points total for the year. With Tomac’s 250SX rival, Red Bull/KTM’s Ken Roczen, already having five podiums and two 450SX wins, the #3’s struggles in 2014 had to be weighing on him mentally, but things can change quickly in supercross, and this second place finish could be the spark that ignites Eli’s season on fire. We won’t know if that’s the case until next weekend in Daytona, but either way it had to rip a huge monkey off the freshman’s back
After the Indianapolis SX main event was over, MotoXAddicts’ Chase Yocom caught Eli at the GEICO/Honda rig and asked the 2013 250 National Motocross Champion a few questions. Check out Chase’s interview with Eli below.
Eli, second place on the night. You have to be stoked to score your first-ever 450SX podium?
Yeah, totally. The way this season has been, this feels like a dang win. Today, all around, was better for me—better qualifying practice, really good starts, got a holeshot in the heat race, got second in the heat race, and I’m kind of coming out of my shell a little bit. I’ve been riding really tight lately, and I’m trying to loosen up to be myself like I was on my 250.
Then, going into the main, I came out around third on the start, and I actually tried to make some moves on [Mike] Alessi early on, but I just couldn’t quite get by him. Then, I ended up making a mistake—going over the bars—and, at that point, I was just kind of settled in for second. Congrats to Ryan [Dungey] on winning, also.
The track looked gnarly tonight. What were your thoughts on the conditions and the incredibly deep ruts that formed by the end of your main event?
It was gnarly. It was Ruts City. I don’t even know how many ruts there were in the whoops, but there must have been fifteen from left to right. It was like a slot car track.
Is there anywhere to train for ruts like tonight? I know there’s not much like this in Cali, but do you ever get ruts like these to practice on in Colorado?
In Colorado, on my outdoor track, I do get some ruts. Honestly, I really like the ruts. I’m normally comfortable in them, so it’s something I usually do really well on. I like it.
At Anaheim 1 your season started off rough when you tangled with Jake Weimer and hurt your shoulder. You ended up missing four rounds, and I know, for a while, you weren’t able to really ride much during the week to prepare. How’s the shoulder now, and are you able to ride and train now during the week?
Yeah, it’s finally good enough to where I can ride during the week, to where it’s not really hindering me at all on the bike. After I came back, my first couple of rounds, it was a little bit of an issue of riding tight and not being myself, so I’m finally coming around.
You hit on it a little bit earlier talking about your starts being good tonight, but that’s been a struggle for you over the years. Is that something you and the team have been working on to make better?
You know, honestly, I’ve always been a good starter my whole life and for some reason the 250 wasn’t good for me. I don’t know if it was the power or the way the traction was with that thing, it was just different, but now I’m in a really good spot on the 450.
A lot of riders we’ve talked to tonight talked about tonight being a really good warm up for the outdoor-like conditions of Daytona next week. With how you did here tonight, are you now really looking forward to Daytona next week?
Yeah, absolutely. You know, last year, when I rode those few east coast on the 450, Daytona was the best on for me. I really like that soft track also.
I’m sure the warmer weather doesn’t hurt either. Congrats, and see you next week.
Yeah, for sure, Indy’s cold.
