Thirteen years, four AMA Pro Motocross 450 titles and two Monster Energy Supercross Championships on from winning on his AMA Pro Racing debut at the Hangtown Motocross Classic in 2010, Tomac is still hard at it, now locked up in a titanic tussle for the 2023 stadium title with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing pilot Cooper Webb.
He’s tied with Webb at 244 points as the series prepares to head to Arizona’s State Farm Stadium for the 12th round of the championship fight. RACER checked in with him to get the lowdown as the battle for the title heads towards its climax.
Q: Last summer it was Chase Sexton. This winter it’s Cooper Webb. You’ve been at this for quite a long time now and here you are caught up in another winner-take-all march to a title. That ever get old?
ELI TOMAC: It doesn’t, actually. I’m enjoying the competition. Yes, it’s stressful, but I’m enjoying the competition right now. Like you said, Chase Sexton and Cooper Webb have been the two really strong guys that I’ve been battling with during the season for the points lead. Perhaps even more so I’ve been battling with Cooper as of late. I wouldn’t expect anything less, and each season is a little bit different. Yeah, the competition is strong. You know, when I lost that points lead again to Webb, I was pretty frustrated. When you have those bad weekends, for me, it just gives me motivation to go back home, study, figure out what I did wrong, figure out where I could be better, find out if I need to fall back on something that I’ve done in the past to improve myself. My mindset is that I’m always trying to get better and always trying to improve and to never settle. If I get beat, I really try to figure out why I got beat and then be better the next weekend.”
Q: Six wins and a couple of off-song results, especially the eighth you posted up at Indianapolis. What’s your take on your season thus far?
ET: It’s been another great season. It’s unique in that I started off really hot, you know? I have not won Anaheim 1 on a 450 snd this is first year doing it. That was a big change for me. Another big ch ange is that I haven’t had to change my motorcycle a whole lot since the beginning of the season. That’s been different this season. And the guy I’m battling with in this championship is a different player this year and that’s Cooper Webb.
As far as this season, I love everything about it. It’s totally unique. It doesn’t really feel the same at all. They never are. Obviously, it’s going to be a barnburner, so we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing. That’s what I live for, is racing and lining up on the starting gate. That’s how I’ve made it this far in my career and nothing can relpace that feeling for me, you know? That’s why I line up.
