Eli Tomac shortened the gap behind Ryan Dungey on Saturday, posting his second consecutive win of the season at the Oakland Coliseum.
Dungey quickly went to the lead in the 450SX Class race, while Cortez native Tomac trailed in eighth place at the end of the first lap.
Behind Dungey, rookie Cooper Webb put his Yamaha into second, and Jason Anderson stayed close until he got into a battle for third with Cole Seely.
Then Tomac came into play.
Tomac climbed into fifth and caught the dueling Seely and Anderson but still trailed Dungey by 8 seconds. He slipped past Anderson and Seely, and tracked down Webb, who held Tomac off until bobbling a jump and allowing Tomac to shoot through the gap.
Still down 3 seconds on Dungey, Tomac picked up the pace. He and Dungey spent more than a lap squaring off to find the best defensive and passing lines before Tomac blew by Dungey in the bumpy whoops, taking over the top spot with 5 minutes left to go. Dungey backed off the pace for second place.
With the win, Tomac now trails Dungey by 17 points.
Webb ended up in third with his first podium finish. Anderson and Seely rounded out the top five.
On Saturday, Jan. 28, Tomac won the AMA Supercross race at University of Phoenix Stadium for his first 450SX Class victory of the season.
The Kawasaki rider from Cortez won after finishing fifth, sixth and eighth in the first three races of the season. He has five career 450SX victories.
“The only thing I can say is I’ve been in a funk lately,” Tomac said. “It’s been a bummer, and it’s been tough mentally, too. All I can say now is I feel like I’m back.”
Honda’s Chad Reed was a distant second, and KTM’s Ryan Dungey was third after winning last week in Anaheim. Dungey leads the season standings. Ken Roczen, the Honda star who won the first two races of the season, is sidelined with wrist and arm injuries suffered in a crash last week.
Kawasaki’s Justin Hill raced to his second straight Western Regional 250SK victory, taking the late lead and holding off KTM’s Shane McElrath. McElrath won the first two races of the season and leads the standings, four points ahead of Hill.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
