Eli Tomac of Cortez dominated the 450 motocross Saturday at Fox Raceway in Pala, California, sweeping the two motos and seizing first place in the series standings.
The victory lifted defending champion Tomac into first place in the overall standings over Ken Roczen, who finished second in the first moto and third in the second. Marvin Musquin jumped from sixth place in the overall standings into third with third- and second-place finishes.
Tomac appeared unstoppable. On Friday, he published a short video on Instagram and stated he was “feeling the flow on this one.�
On Saturday, he gained momentum as each race neared the checkered flag.
Feeling the flow on this one.... #pala #letthebigdogeat. 📹 @axellhodges
In the first moto, Tomac was in seventh place after one lap but moved to fifth, behind Cooper Webb, after three. Series-leading Ken Roczen was out in front with a five-second lead over Marvin Musquin, and Jason Anderson was in third. Tomac passed Webb in the seventh lap and Anderson in the 13th to begin his charge to the lead. With three laps to go, Tomac went by both Musquin and Roczen for the lead, and streaked to the finish line almost 4 seconds ahead of Roczen.
In the second moto, Tomac raced on Musquin’s heels for the first eight laps before taking the lead in the ninth. Once past Musquin, Tomac went to a commanding lead and won by 11 seconds. Musquin held on for second place despite a challenge from Roczen, and Zach Osborne and Anderson rounded out the top five.
It was the third consecutive win for Tomac. After a fourth-place finish in his first moto of the season last week, Tomac won the next three, for a 3-1 record.
Earlier Saturday, Tomac was second-fastest in qualifying rounds, with a best lap of 2 minutes and 7.389 seconds. Roczen was fastest at 2:07.107, and Anderson, Musquin and Baggett rounded out the top five.
Next Saturday, the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series goes to Tomac’s home state and Thunder Valley Motocross in Lakewood, Colorado, for the third of 12 races.
