Eli’s Coming: Tomac heads into the Motocross season with momentum

By May 15, 2019, 7:00 PM EDT
SupercrossLIVE
1 Comment

Eli Tomac ended the 2019 Supercross season with more momentum than any other rider, but he came up one position short of the championship. The unique thing about motorcycle racing, however, is that there is absolutely no time to rest on one’s laurels.

And for Tomac, that is a huge blessing.

As the series heads to Rancho Cordova, California and Hangtown we got Tomac on the line to discuss the end of Supercross and start of the outdoor season.

Over the final four Supercross races, Tomac won three times and swept the podium. The champion Cooper Webb had one win and an average finish of 2.25 to Tomac’s 1.5.

If that record looks eerily similar to last year, it’s because it is. In 2018 Tomac ended the Supercross season with three wins and two runner-up finishes in the last five races.

“The cool thing about our two seasons is that we’re racing the same guys,” Eli Tomac said. “We’re lining up against each other every week, so if you carry the momentum – this sport is very mental.

“In the mental game, it’s always good when you win the last race (of the season) when you’re racing against this competition.”

Tomac knows that to be true because after winning the final round of the 2018 Supercross, he stormed into the outdoor season with five straight wins and immediately established himself as the rider to beat.

The field couldn’t beat him and Tomac scored his second consecutive Motocross championship. With an average finish of 2.58 over 12 rounds, it was his best year ever.

“I feel like I’m ready again and don’t see why I can’t get another championship, the way that we’ve done the last two seasons,” Tomac said. “I don’t feel like there is anything holding me back coming into the season, so I’m ready to go and as confident as ever.”

But for all the success he’s  had, Tomac feels there is a gaping hole in his record. He has never finished worse than third in either Supercross or Motocross, but he’s missing that all important SX championship.

“This season I would say was successful, not to the point of being totally satisfied because the execution would be the championship, but we did have  good run at the end.

“And for me, looking back at it, I had to start the season with an injury that set us back a little bit. But we kept pushing forward and the positive outlook is that we made progress throughout the season and really started getting the wins toward the end while carrying that momentum.”

Would winning a third straight Motocross championship fill that void?

“I wish I could say it would, but ‘no,’ ” Tomac said. “It would be amazing to do a third one in a row, there is always going to be that empty spot until I get that Supercross title.”

Follow all of the action live this week with a

Follow Dan Beaver on Twitter

After New York whirlwind, Josef Newgarden makes special trip to simulator before Detroit

By Jun 2, 2023, 10:00 AM EDT
0 Comments

DETROIT – There’s no rest for the weary as an Indy 500 winner, but Josef Newgarden discovered there are plenty of extra laps.

The reigning Indy 500 champion added an extra trip Wednesday night back to Concord, N.C., for one last session on the GM Racing simulator before Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

After a 30-year run on the Belle Isle course, the race has been moved to a nine-turn, 1.7-mile layout downtown, so two extra hours on the simulator were worth it for Newgarden.

INDYCAR IN DETROIT: Entry list, schedule, TV info for this weekend

JOSEF’S FAMILY TIES: Newgarden wins Indy 500 with wisdom of father, wife

“I really wanted to do it,” he told NBC Sports at a Thursday media luncheon. “If there’s any time that the sim is most useful, it’s in this situation when no one has ever been on a track, and we’re able to simulate it as best as we can. We want to get some seat time.

“It’s extra important coming off the Indy 500 because you’ve been out of rhythm for a road or street course-type environment, so I really wanted some laps. I was really appreciative to Chevy. There was a few guys that just came in and stayed late for me so I could get those laps before coming up here. I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference, but I feel like it’s going to help for me.”

After a whirlwind tour of New York for two days, Newgarden arrived at the simulator (which is at the GM Racing Technical Center adjacent to Hendrick Motorsports) in time for a two hour session that started at 6 p.m. Wednesday. He stayed overnight in Charlotte and then was up for an early commercial flight to Detroit, where he had more media obligations.

Newgarden joked that if he had a jet, he would have made a quick stop in Nashville, Tennessee, but a few more days away from home (where he has yet to return in weeks) is a worthy tradeoff for winning the Greatest Spectacle in Racing – though the nonstop interviews can take a toll.

“It’s the hardest part of the gig for me is all this fanfare and celebration,” Newgarden said. “I love doing it because I’m so passionate about the Indy 500 and that racetrack and what that race represents. I feel honored to be able to speak about it. It’s been really natural and easy for me to enjoy it because I’ve been there for so many years.

“Speaking about this win has been almost the easiest job I’ve ever had for postrace celebrations. But it’s still for me a lot of work. I get worn out pretty easily. I’m very introverted. So to do this for three days straight, it’s been a lot.”

Though he is terrified of heights, touring the top of the Empire State Building for the first time was a major highlight (and produced the tour’s most viral moment).

“I was scared to get to the very top level,” Newgarden said. “That thing was swaying. No one else thought it was swaying. I’m pretty sure it was. I really impressed by the facility. I’d never seen it before. It’s one of those bucket list things. If you go to New York, it’s really special to do that. So to be there with the wreath and the whole setup, it just felt like an honor to be in that moment.”

Now the attention shifts to Detroit and an inaugural circuit that’s expected to be challenging. Along with a Jefferson Avenue straightaway that’s 0.9 miles long, the track has several low-speed corners and a “split” pit lane (teams will stop on both sides of a rectangular area) with a narrow exit that blends just before a 90-degree lefthand turn into Turn 1.

Newgarden thinks the track is most similar to the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.

“It’s really hard to predict with this stuff until we actually run,” he said. “Maybe we go super smooth and have no issues. Typically when you have a new event, you’re going to have some teething issues. That’s understandable. We’ve always got to massage the event to get it where we want it, but this team has worked pretty hard. They’ve tried to get feedback constantly on what are we doing right, what do we need to look out for. They’ve done a ton of grinding to make sure this surface is in as good of shape as possible.

“There’s been no expense spared, but you can’t foresee everything. I have no idea how it’s going to race. I think typically when you look at a circuit that seems simple on paper, people tend to think it’s not going to be an exciting race, or challenging. I find the opposite always happens when we think that way. Watch it be the most exciting, chaotic, entertaining race.

Newgarden won the last two pole positions at Belle Isle’s 2.35-mile layout and hopes to continue the momentum while avoiding any post-Brickyard letdown.

“I love this is an opportunity for us to get something right quicker than anyone else,” he said. “A new track is always exciting from that standpoint. I feel I’m in a different spot. I’m pretty run down. I’m really trying to refocus and gain some energy back for tomorrow. Which I’ll have time to today, which is great.

“I don’t want that Indy 500 hangover. People always talk about it. They’ve always observed it. That doesn’t mean we have to win this weekend, but I’d like to leave here feeling like we had a really complete event, did a good job and had a solid finish leading into the summer. I want to win everywhere I go, but if we come out of here with a solid result and no mistakes, then probably everyone will be happy with it.”