INTERVIEW: Eli Tomac

ELI TOMAC: It’s unreal. I think back on it, I just think of this place and it's one of those places where it’s either good for you or it’s not. It’s just been really good for me.

Today though, I had a lot of doubt in my mind. To be honest, I was not feeling great in practice. I was dinking with clickers and going back and forth on stuff. I felt like I had my work cut out for me. But once the lights came on, it was like everything started working again. Six is crazy.

ET: Yeah, it was yo-yo. The problem is I thought I was catching him a little bit in the whoops but then he would pull me actually after that, I think around the finish line and then even a little bit before the whoops through the tunnel.

So I could never really get really close to him. That lap that the pass happened, I was a little bit closer and then obviously it was a gift on the exit of the whoops. It was crazy wire to wire. We were just on rails really that whole race.

ET: It’s just racing. We put ourselves in a good position. I credit that to everyone around me. Just a good group as a whole. Thankful to do it here tonight with the win.

ET: I was thinking that. I even glanced up at the big tower to see where Jason was, and then when I saw that it was like, 'second, I may have to settle with that'. At the same time, [at] Daytona, anything can happen. I kind of kept trucking along, and that was it.

I never felt like I was in a position getting too wild or too crazy. Just trying to stay on Cooper’s wheel as much as I could.

ET: I had no idea. They did mention it to me afterwards, but it was probably that sand and the way the whole track is. It’s just a beast. It’s like the Southwick of supercross. It’s torn up. The ruts are all crazy. Before the tunnel jump, the rut was more than above the pegs. We were making this tiny lip on the side. It was putting the bikes to the test.

ET: It was just a sand blast. You can kind of see and you’re just hoping that the rut doesn’t go away. The right-hander was the sketchy one, for sure. It was getting a big hook in it, a big hockey-stick rut in it. You get sprayed in that turn, really bad. As much as it covers your hands. You can feel it on your grips and your hands. That section is tough.

ET: Yeah. Turn two was just sketchy, it was like a big sandwich. I went in and I tried to half guard the inside. It’s always tough to know how far you need to go inside on that second turn. I came in and I ended up bumping into Malcolm, and then Jason came inside of me and bumped me.

Then it was a little bit of an explosion and Malcolm went flying off the track. That was it. I was just in a sandwich. Turn two is always like that for us in supercross. It seems like there’s always some sort of contact. [I was] lucky to get out of that one clean.

ET: It doesn’t top the title, but it’s very cool. I don't know what it is with this place, but it’s just worked for me. It’s clicked for me. That’s the mindset you have to have here and how you have to go about the day here. It was so cool.

That was the biggest crowd we’ve had here and with the best energy. Not even close. It was cool to see.

ET: I remember it a little bit. It was a pretty good step out, but not anything that was like, “Oh, my. I need to change up my line.” Maybe it looked worse. I felt like I was okay in there for what it was.

ET: Yeah, this track is a whole other beast. It changes the whole night, the whole day. I would say this year specifically, it was even more broken down by the end of the night. Bigger ruts, more lines. Just super challenging. You u have to ride super-hard here.

I think it’s because it has so much sand in it, it’s like rushing things a lot of times doesn’t work and you have to focus on momentum and traction and not making a mistake.

There’s so many places when it gets torn up like this where you can make the mistake and guys can sneak away. Here you’ve got to master the sand and think about traction.