Tomac Takes Over Points Lead with Spring Creek Sweep
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac kept his win streak rolling at the Spring Creek National, scoring his seventh-consecutive moto victory to take over the top spot in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross 450MX Championship. His teammate Christian Craig put in a great ride in Millville, Minnesota, to finish fourth overall with a 5-3 moto score.
Tomac showed speed straight away, topping the first qualifying session and qualifying fourth in the combined times. He then got off to a flying start to lead the first moto. Around the halfway point, Tomac was passed by his championship rival, but a few laps later, he reclaimed the lead after the race leader went down and rode on to a 14-second margin of victory.
Although he didn’t repeat his start in the second moto, Tomac quickly wove his way from fourth to the runner-up spot and then took over the lead on Lap 4. He set a blistering pace up front, but his title rival kept him in sight. The reigning 450SX Supercross Champion kept cool under pressure to hold off advances and sweep the weekend at the Spring Creek MX Park. Tomac’s impressive win streak – seven-consecutive moto wins and four-straight overall victories – has him leaving Minnesota with the red plate and a five-point lead in the premier class.
Craig also enjoyed a good day at what he considers one of his home tracks. He qualified eighth and matched that position after the start but then made his way through to the top five by the third lap. The Californian kept pushing and had the podium in sight but ultimately finished fifth. He got a better start in the second moto and was fifth after the first lap. Craig continued his forward push and took over third on Lap 6, but the frontrunners had already amassed a healthy gap and would ride on to take his fourth moto podium of the season. His 5-3 result earned him fourth overall and moved him to fifth in the championship standings.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team heads back west to Washougal, Washington, for Round 8 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at the Washougal MX Park on Saturday, July 23.
Jeremy Coker
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager
“It was a really good day for the team. Eli continued his 1-1 streak, which is pretty incredible. That’s a hard thing to do, and he’s continuing to show that he’s the best guy out there, and that’s pretty awesome. I’m really proud of Christian. It’s a bummer that he missed the overall podium again by a couple of points, but he had a moto podium and gave us a double podium in the second moto. I’m proud of the whole team. We’ve just got to keep it going.”
Eli Tomac
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“It was an awesome weekend for us here at Millville. We had two great motos. The first moto was kind of a learning moto for me. I even got passed at one point, but we tried to learn from our mistakes, and we were able to improve on our weak spots. We took those changes into the second moto and made passes to the front, and I felt like we were the fastest guy in Moto 2. It was nice to get that red plate this weekend, and hopefully, we’ll keep it going.”
Christian Craig
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“It was a good day. I always enjoy coming here. This is one of my favorite tracks on the circuit. I spent a lot of time here in the past, so I’ve got a lot of family and friends that show up here. I had a decent qualifying and then I had a good first moto and got off to a decent start. I got close to fourth for a while and had third in sight but settled with fifth. In the second moto, I made some good passes early on and got into third pretty quick, but the top two had pretty much checked out. So yeah, 5-3 for fourth overall, that moves me into fifth in points which is where I want to be. I just want to try and improve each weekend and keep it going at Washougal.”
