Eli Tomac of Cortez on Saturday took an early lead and won a moto to claim second place overall at the RedBud motocross in Buchanan, Michigan.
It was the three-time champion’s second podium finish this season and came on the heels of his first moto win of the season and a third-place finish overall at High Point Raceway in Pennsylvania on June 19.
In the series standings, Tomac jumped two places, into fifth overall, with eight races to go.
Series-leading Dylan Ferrandis, who won the overall victory at RedBud, now leads Ken Roczen in points, 179 to 165. Aaron Plessinger is in third, with 143 points, and Chase Sexton is fourth, with 132. Tomac has 129.
Plessinger and Roczen went to the lead after one lap in the first moto, with Adam Cianciarulo, Cooper Webb and Tomac in tow. Ferrandis was sixth.
Tomac passed Webb for fourth place in Lap 2 and mounted an attack on Kawasaki teammate Cianciarulo, as Ferrandis began his charge from sixth.
The race picked up in the first third of the race.
Roczen took the lead from Plessinger in Lap 5, Ferrandis got past Tomac in Lap 6, and Tomac followed Ferrandis past Cianciarulo in Lap 7.
By Lap 9 of 16 total laps, the racers seemed to have found their stride, but Ferrandis was just getting going. He got past Plessinger in Lap 12, then ran 2 seconds faster in Lap 13 to take the lead from Roczen. Plessinger dropped to third, and Tomac and Christian Craig filled out the top five and the leaders crossed the finish line.
Tomac passed Plessinger for the lead in Lap 2, and the pair ran in front for the first five laps as Ferrandis dueled Roczen for third. Ferrandis passed Roczen in Lap 7, and went by Yamaha teammate Plessinger in Lap 14.
In the final two laps, the charging Ferrandis picked up nearly 2 seconds on Tomac, who held on for a 1.5-second win.
Sexton and Craig finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Tomac’s performance put him ahead of teammate Cianciarulo, who crashed in the first lap and dropped three spots into seventh place in the season standings.
As speculation surrounds the future of a Monster Energy Kawasaki team without Tomac and whether he will move to Yamaha, the rider from Cortez’s resurgence on the track seems to tell his fans that he won’t go away quietly.
In an interview after High Point on June 19, Tomac was asked for insight into his sudden rise to the podium.
“I was like a whole different guy, and I don’t even really know why ... other than, like I said, just put myself in an early track position up there.”
He also was asked about “wild” talk in racing circles that suggested that Tomac might be getting substandard motorcycle parts.
He tried to put it to rest.
“I could say .. I had a different setup on – you know, I went to Round 1 with something else, you know suspension wise,” Tomac said. “But, you know, the second race (in Colorado) I had what I had today (June 19), so I don’t know what was going on. I was getting tight in those other motos, so I don’t know if I had something going on with my body.”
“Yeah, with the conspiracy stuff, I think we’re all, uh, you know, bigger better people than that,” Tomac said.
The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross next goes to Southwick, Massachusetts, on July 10 for the fifth of 12 races in the 2021 series.
