ELI TOMAC - GRIT 246 450SX

GRIT-246 |450 SX

May 20, 2024 9:45 am

"The King" of the Triple Crown format returned to the city of St.Louis, Missouri on Saturday. After showcasing brilliant speed in practice, there seemed to be little that could stand in his way as gates arose for the opening event of the night show. With pins unlatching, the Colorado native somehow avoided one of the largest pile-ups seen in quite sometime amongst a long rhythm lane, and was established in second behind Australia's Hunter Lawrence. Lawrence then crashed just after the two-minute mark, granting Eli the lead as the veteran leaped over the large, converging rhythm lane gap near the first turn. Now in the "driver's seat" so to speak, he was doing rather well in the first-place position before feeling a bit of pressure from Ohio's Aaron Plessinger. Though the countless attempts of the KTM rider (to try and overtake Eli) weren't successful...leaving the number three at the front of the pack with only a little bit of time remaining. Proceeding to demolish berms, rhythm sections, and the whoop-pad alike, Tomac would cross the line with an opening victory which set the stage for events to come. For moto two, Eli nearly claimed the hole-shot but would drift a bit wide as Lawrence and Justin Cooper snuck under him per se. He resided third, but with just over nine minutes left on the clock, he would make the pass on his teammate Justin Cooper over the latter "SX" triple. He did his best, from that point forward, to mimic Jett...and though the gap between the two opponents was very slim at times, Eli would slide to roughly a straightaway (or so) behind as the moto neared conclusion. He stayed within the fight, however, and as he crossed the finish-line in second, many in the industry seemed a bit baffled. Jett Lawrence had jumped on a red-cross flag, with a downed rider in between the finish-line obstacles - which subsequently cost him two positions (via penalty). With Eli then rolling the jump, the Colorado native was then designated the winner! His start for the last moto was brilliant, and he combatted all others in the field to begin the trek with a stunning showing of speed. Minute by minute, he remained in control of the field; heavily feathering the clutch with an absurd amount of power being possessed amongst the plates and fibers, while constructing incredible lap-times aboard the Yamaha. He was consistent, and maintained the lead throughout the entire process of the moto...taking a gigantic victory for both he and team - remaining in the championship fight, for the rest of the 2024 season!

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