Eli Tomac of Cortez, racing in a Supercross triple feature Saturday night, put up a come-from-behind performance in Race 1, a strong run at the front in Race 2, and a duel for the lead in Race 3 to win the overall 450cc crown in Arlington, Texas.
Tomac entered AT&T Stadium with a narrow, three-point lead in the 2022 rider point standings after a sixth-place finish in Minneapolis.
With a third-place finish in Race 1 and second-place finishes in Races 2 and 3, he edged Jason Anderson – sixth in the first race and first in the next two – for the crown by one point, 7-8.
He now has a six-point lead over fellow Southwesterner Anderson of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, 177 to 171. Malcolm Stewart is third, with 149 points, and Cooper Webb and Justin Barcia round out the top five with 149 and 147 points overall.
Next week, Tomac will race for a record sixth win at Daytona International Speedway.
“Daytona’s our house, I love it,” Tomac told the Daytona Beach News-Journal last year. “I love riding my bike here, and it shows.”
Marvin Musquin went to the lead in the first of two 450SX races Saturday, with Vince Friese, Anderson, Stewart and Barcia in tow.
Friese faltered and dropped to 14th place in Lap 2.
Stewart went to the lead, and Anderson followed to take second place in Lap 3 as Musquin faded, and Barcia and Webb moved into contending roles in fourth and fifth place.
Tomac was 15th after the first lap but charged to the front, and sat in sixth place in Lap 11.
But as the top four riders prepared for the sprint to the finish in Lap 12, Anderson and Stewart went down, giving the lead to Barcia and dropping into fifth and sixth place. Webb and Chase Sexton took over the second and third positions, and Tomac moved into fourth.
Webb passed Barcia in the final, 16th lap, and Tomac slipped by Sexton for the third and final podium position.
Sexton won the holeshot, with Anderson, Tomac and Webb close behind.
Tomac quickly challenged Anderson for second place and got by him, but Anderson countered with a pass, then closed the gap behind Sexton and passed him in Lap 8.
With less than three minutes left in the race, Tomac passed Sexton for second place in Lap 11 as Anderson pulled away in the lead.
Tomac ran his fastest lap of the race in Lap 13 as he pursued Anderson. Anderson, however, did not let up until the while flag came out, signaling the final lap, and went on to win by 2.749 seconds.
Sexton held on for third place, and Webb and Dylan Ferrandis finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Tomac got off to a fast start in the final race of the night, and overtook Shane McElrath for the lead in the first lap.
As Anderson moved into second place, the race again became a two-man duel – a rematch of Anaheim 3 on Feb. 12 – as Anderson closed the gap to the lead to less than a second, and both riders left the rest of the field more than 8 seconds behind them.
For six laps, Anderson lunged and attacked, and Tomac dodged. But Anderson eventually drew first blood, getting past Tomac in Lap 9 and holding on for the victory.
Stewart was third, nearly 17 seconds behind the leaders. Webb was fourth, 21 seconds back, and Sexton was fifth.
Anderson’s win bumped him up into second place overall, but Tomac would win the crown.
Tomac was the fastest qualifier after two timed practice sessions, posting a lap in 48.151 seconds on his Star Racing Yamaha YZ450F. Roczen, racing for Honda, was second-best at 48.187, and Sexton, also racing for Honda, was third at 48.621. Dylan Tomac’s teammate, Dylan Ferrandis, was fourth at 48.629 seconds, and Cooper Webb of KTM was fifth at 48.665
Eighteen of the 45 riders qualified during the time trials for the main event. Four additional riders qualified for the main event after finishing in the top four of the last-chance qualifying race.
The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champions series begins the second half of the 17-race season Saturday, March 5, at the famous Daytona International Speedway in Florida.
Tomac, tied with the legendary cyclist Ricky Carmichael at five wins in Daytona, will be racing for a sixth win and the solo record at the track.
In 2021, Tomac won the race wire to wire, beating eventual series champion Webb by 3.856 seconds. Tomac, then racing for Monster Energy Kawasaki, finished third in series last year, behind Webb and Roczen.
