Eli Tomac of Cortez bounced back from a disappointing start to the 2020 AMA Motocross series with a convincing victory Saturday at the Ironman National in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
Tomac lined up for the Ironman on the heels of last week’s disastrous day at the Loretta Lynn’s National in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, where he finished 16th overall after his bike died in a cloud of smoke.
Saturday, after qualifying 13th in timed trials, the Kawasaki ace from Cortez got to the front of the pack in both motocross races, placing second in the first moto to wire-to-wire winner Marvin Musquin of France, and passing teammate Adam Cianciarulo for the victory in the second moto. The first- and second-place finishes gave Tomac the overall Ironman title and catapulted him from seventh place in the season standings to fourth.
Musquin and Tomac avoided a pileup at the opening turn to take the lead, and Zach Osborne, Cianciarulo and Max Anstie followed them into Lap 2.
Musquin and Tomac dueled out in front, posting fast lap times of 2 minutes, 4 seconds – 5 seconds faster than the top qualifying time of 2:09 seconds – as Osborne gave chase in third.
But despite several challenges by Tomac, Musquin held his lead, and by Lap 9, was almost 3 seconds ahead as the frontrunners began lapping slower riders. In Lap 13, Cianciarulo and Chase Sexton passed Osborne for third and fourth, respectively, and Blake Baggett passed Osborne in Lap 15 to lock up the top five places. Musquin crossed the finish line 2.275 seconds ahead of Tomac.
Series-leading Osborne won the holeshot in Moto 2, with Kawasaki teammates Cianciarulo and Tomac in tow.
Cianciarulo passed Osborne for the lead in Lap 3. Tomac moved into second place in Lap 10 as he and Justin Barcia went by Osborne.
In Lap 12, Cianciarulo went wide, giving Tomac the lead, and Barcia and Osborne second and third.
Tomac held his ground against the charging Barcia and won by 1.1 seconds. Osborne, Cianciarulo and Sexton rounded out the top five.
Tomac’s victory at Ironman gave him a total of 47 points, enough to put him in fourth place with 95 points, just 1 point behind Barcia. Osborne leads the series with 122 points. Musquin is second with 109.
Next week, the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship goes to the Redbud National in Buchanan, Michigan, for races Friday and Monday, Sept. 4 and Sept 7. The nine-race series then goes to Spring Creek in Millville, Minnesota, on Sept. 19; WW Ranch in Jacksonville, Florida, on Sept. 26; and Thunder Valley in Lakewood, Colorado, on Oct. 3. The series ends at Fox Raceway in Pala, California, on Oct. 10.
Series standings
1. Zachary Osborne Husqvarna 122
2. Marvin Musquin KTM 109
3. Justin Barcia Yamaha 96
4. Eli Tomac Kawasaki 95
5. Adam Cianciarulo Kawasaki 89
6. Blake Baggett KTM 81
7. Chase Sexton Honda 78
8. Broc Tickle Yamaha 71
9. Christian Craig Honda 59
10. Jason Anderson Husqvarna 58
