race recap
ELI TOMAC | GRIT-213 | 450SX
March 15, 2023 · Eli Tomac
ELI TOMAC | GRIT-212 | SX 450
The red-plate holder would continue to ride the wave of dominance as he and the 450cc brigade arrived in Indianapolis. After the astounding performance in Daytona had been conducted, enthusiasts of the sport were excited to see if a victorious run could be generated in Indiana for round nine of the 2023 championship as well. And Eli would begin the day on a high note, riding with confidence as he barreled through ruts that were around the course. With a rather simplistic circuit at his disposal, time could only seemed to be made up by the elimination of mistakes and amongst subtle (but crucial) characteristics of race-craft, like entrance speed into corners. Nevertheless, Tomac would rise to the occasion, and dashed from the starting gate for heat two while looking to take top honors. Flowing through the circuit while in first, his Yamaha would be swift and appear maneuverable throughout all facets; leading to a pace that would stay atop the leaderboard for the opening two sequences of action. However an absence of speed in the whoop section would allow Chase Sexton by while he was forced to second. And in the laps that followed, it was Tomac who was overtaken by Plessinger (for third) and Anderson (for fourth) in the same sequences! His line on the inside of the whoops simply wasn't working and was the catalyst for his falling throughout the overall standings. Arriving in fourth at the finish line, those in his supporting cast were hoping for an improvement in the main event. But his lackluster night was only beginning, with the red-plate holder never finding his groove after an eleventh place start. Steadily working his way through the field, he would be victim of dodging downed riders while navigating through troublesome ruts; charging to the rear fender of Jason Anderson from the first quarter, to the halfway point, but never seeming able to work his way around. Chase Sexton had crashed (which Tomac took advantage of) and as he made his way by, the Colorado native understood that the championship points implication had changed. Though yearning to capitalize on that, he was unable to do much more; lingering in the latter half of the top ten (i.e. seventh) until the final laps of the race. This was unlike Eli, where the track's deterioration was a definite deterrent in his overall quest for success, and even with being past by Christian Craig with only minutes remaining, his eighth overall on the evening was still enough to keep him in second amid the points series.