Eli Tomac narrowed the gap in the points between himself and defending champion Ryan Dungey Saturday night with a win at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California. It was his second consecutive win of the season, and he now sits just 17 points back of Dungey.
While neither should never be discounted for the win, both riders had struggled in the Heats and had to go through to the Semis, where they took their respective wins.
While it was Vince Friese who took the Holeshot in the Main, Dungey was right with him, and quickly took over the top spot. Meanwhile, Tomac had had a less-than-stellar start, and was down in eighth place at the end of the first lap.
Tomac worked his way up through the field however, finally making it up into second after a battle with rookie Cooper Webb, who had a solid night which ended in a third-place finish. For Webb, it was his first career 450SX podium finish.
As the race entered its closing stages, Tomac gradually ate into Dungey’s lead, taking the top spot with just five minutes left to go in the event.
Jason Anderson and Cole Seely rounded out the top five, while Davi Millsaps, Blake Baggett, Chad Reed, Marvin Musquin and Dean Wilson rounded out the top 10. Malcolm Stewart had had a solid top-10 run going, but went down mid-race, ultimately finishing in 17th position.
Meanwhile, a new rider will be sporting the red plate in the 250SX West class next week as the series heads to Oakland, as Justin Hill picked up his third consecutive win. However, it wasn’t without drama.
Martin Davalos took the Holeshot in the 250SX Main while Austin Forkner went down from second place in Turn 2, triggering a pile-up. Hill was able to make it through and soon disposed of Davalos for the lead.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Decotis and Shane McElrath, who had collided together in their Heat race, were battling for third. While McElrath emerged triumphant in that battle, it was not enough to hold on for the points lead.
Hill almost threw it all away though when he went down from the lead after hitting a piece of wood in a deep rut in the middle of the race. Fortunately for Hill, he had an eight-second lead at the time, and was able to remount in the lead. Hill went on to take the win, giving him a one-point lead over McElrath.
Unofficial 450SX results:
1. Eli Tomac
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Cooper Webb
4. Jason Anderson
5. Cole Seely
6. Davi Millsaps
7. Blake Baggett
8. Chad Reed
9. Marvin Musquin
10. Dean Wilson
Unofficial 250SX West results:
1. Justin Hill
2. Martin Davalos
3. Shane McElrath
4. Jimmy Decotis
5. Phil Nicoletti
6. Aaron Plessinger
7. Kyle Chisholm
8. Justin Starling
9. Noah Mcconahy
10. Heath Harrison
