With 53,537 fans watching from the stands, Eli Tomac navigated his GEICO Honda 450cc motorcycle way around a sandy track in Atlanta to finish second in the ninth round of the AMA Supercross Series on Feb. 28.
The podium finish was Tomac’s first since Jan. 31 when he finished third in Anaheim, Calif. The Cortez native currently sits fourth in the series point standings behind Ken Roczen, Trey Canard and series leader Ryan Dungey.
“I didn’t hit the dirt with my body, so that was nice,” said Tomac in a Geiger Media Global press release. “Three weeks in a row before this, I went down.”
Although the crashes to which Tomac was referring were relatively minor, they caused him to sixth in San Diego on Feb. 7, seventh in Arlington on Feb. 14 and 20th in Atlanta on Feb. 21.
Racing in Atlanta last weekend however, Tomac had no issues staying on his bike and after sitting in fourth place after the start, worked his way up to third place before passing Canard and finishing second.
Tomac said vision problems caused by sand on his visor prevented him from making a push for the top spot on the podium.
“I ran out of tear-offs, so I was a little bummed,” said the Cortez native. “There were some bad roosts and a lot of sand on the over-under.”
Looking to continue to move up in the series standings, Tomac will next compete at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Fla., on March 7.
“I’m pretty happy with the bike,” said Tomac. I’ve only made a few changes all year, and I think I’m in a pretty good spot. I just need to improve myself and go get another win.”