Tomac, what changed?

I would say mental maturity or attention to detail.

This doesn't just come automatically with age, I think it's something that needs to be actively worked on. I see this in the corporate world and in just about any craft. Some folks simply make less and less mistakes as they get older, others seem to never figure it out. 

I think winning the sx title in 2020 was a huge monkey off his back which allowed him to relax and settle in a bit. 

Two things imho

#1 He is in a much better place psychologically now. This move to Star Yamaha proved to be wildly successful, he is on a year long roll and he knows he is just about done risking his neck every week. Not to mention his fitness base seems to be off the charts.

#2 Dungey was relentless as all hell and way better than he will ever get credit for.

I heard the actual story might be that something didn't change. I heard he was possibly on the 2022 frame. 

I was thinking maybe it is a lack of pressure. Before it seemed like whenever there were more pressure filled times, he would not ride like himself. Maybe he either learned how to handle that pressure better, Or has stopped putting the pressure on himself to go out and win. And as a result he goes out to have fun, and is able to ride at that amazing level more often. 

Another thing I was thinking it could have been, injuries that he never said anything about. That would cause those funky races he had more often years ago.  And he was just riding hurt or almost hurt a lot of the time.

At that level the mental part makes such a big impact too. I would bet whatever it was ,it was most likely a mental thing. It could be that he just really enjoys being insanely fit, and riding and racing , so he's putting in all the effort. So that his body can do what he is doing, but has stopped caring so much about if he wins or not. And that lets him ride at the high level he has always rode at until what seemed like pressure of a title got to him. Maybe both. Maybe a little of what everybody is saying. Interesting to think about . And very cool to watch him riding at the level he is at.

I would argue that his "mental case" period came from having two broken/dislocated shoulders, not from a wardrobe malfunction. He won outdoor titles despite the long-term medical and psychological effects those injuries can inflict. However, there were races when he wasn't "feeling it." 
Now that he has had a change of pace and has done well, he's on a roll. His career would have been a lot more dominant than it was to this point had he never received that injury. 

I saw 2015 Tomac at Glen Helen in person, and I tell you, that rider was unstoppable. I think he is now who that guy was, plus a few years of wisdom and racecraft. 

He never seemed "happy" when at Kawi.    He's a completely different guy now.   

Dungey went through something a little bit similar. Tons of seconds then he began to dominate.

SX might not come as naturally to him as outdoors. So for him , riding SX felt more on the edge. I grew up riding with a friend that became a pretty fast local . He had lap times inside the top 10 fastest at  Southwick at a few national's in practice.  But he would never try the Supercross or the Arenacross races that some of the other ,slower or faster guys went to.  He could jump everything, and was often one of  the first few guys to jump stuff. But he did not feel comfortable trying SX. He rode on a couple practice tracks that were SX like. But not Pro level SX tracks , so he had an idea of what to expect. And he was very comfortable being uncomfortable at higher speeds on very rough sandy tracks. He even had the second fastest average lap time one year in practice at Southwick. It didn't count for anything. But it was cool to see his name on a list in order of fastest to slowest, and it start with RC ,him, then I think Stewart, Reed , and down the line. I don't remember the exact order after RC then Him. Just that those other guys were all there. He got a top5 start that year but crashed while passing into 3rd or 4th. And then finished just outside the top 20. Second moto wasn't great. And then the next spring he got injured badly when his throttle stuck and he overjumped a tabletop by 100'. after that crash he was never the same. But before it , he was able to be one of the fastest guys on a sand track. But uncomfortable with SX to the point he never even tried to ride or race on a real SX or Arenacross track.

Maybe Eli has a similar comfort level with the faster outdoor style tracks. And SX was not  in that same comfort zone ,making it more noticeable when he backed it down and had those strange rides?    

Or Honda

Having it Mentally is a very strong thing.

Great bike which he is comfortable on. 

Great place mentally in his personal life and is happy being at the races.

More mature as a racer where he’s not making unforced mistakes.

Confidence rolling over from last season.

And he’s just damn amazing on a motorcycle. 

He got away from that atmosphere at Kawi.  Most guys can jump around from team to team and fit in.  Kawi, not so much.  Either your a Kawi guy or not.  I never really bought into Eli as a Kawi guy since day one.  It’s been that way as long as I can remember.

It’s all mental in my opinion. I don’t think the bike has as much to do with it as the atmosphere and mentality at the new team. Eli believes he has these guys covered and doesn’t seem to be stressed about performing. 

he will be at outdoors and will collect that Mil at the end of the SMX

As I recall, he “Decided to race…again” after riding the new bike. He chose to keep at it…Versus retiring. And it sounds like it was a well thought out choice on his part…& it sounds like his entire family was behind him and supporting his decision. That’s a Big Deal in the Tomac camp…& let’s not forget his wife…she seems to be stoked, too. 

For me, when I look at Eli and see the level of dedication and discipline that he’s shown for so many years & now…NOW… he’s decided to “Keep Winning” and with a new level of confidence compounded by knowing he’s doing it simply because he “wants to”. Again, as I was saying…

After so many years where he’s worked so hard…wanting to “win it all”…?

You know…ALL of it: SX, MX, MXoN…even sneaking in WSX & Bercy…

Well, now he’s done all that and he seems as confident as ever…but…WAY more relaxed about EVERYTHING.
THAT is what I see as “The Difference”. 

Since switching to yamaha, Tomac's style has looked more like he's "going to work", meaning it looks like he clocks-in for a SX race, races like it's his job; controlled, consistent, no drama, then goes home. Very Dungey-like. RV, RC, and JS looked on the edge more when they were dominating. On the Kawi in the later years it looked like he was trying 110% and not going any faster.

100% mental.  Tomac has always had it on the bike.  I remember in 250 days he would have a mental breakdown to the point of several crashes and i was like who is this.  I said he has a twin brother and they switch off. What you will notice is that his starts were never great in the past.  On the yami his starts are way better.  Not sure why.  He used to get bad starts which would cause him to kamikazee which often ended in disaster.  I noticed now when he gets a bad start he doesnt kamikazee and just goes with it.  The mental edge to not push it.

You must be talking about "Elitomac". Haven't seen him around these parts lately

That's the key for all the fastest dudes. Jett seems to have figured it out early. One of his only panic races of the past few years was Unadilla when he crashed on that fast right-hander.

Home life. One point for Keefer💪

The biggest thing that changed was RD retired . Eli is an all time great . Putting him ahead of RV and RD on the all time list  Is rediculous 

Well whatever the switch was to him it fixed his mental game, It was frustrating to watch a guy who basically has all timer speed struggle for basically most of his 450 career, the way he is riding now is where he should have been years and years ago.

Just now it feels like Tomac is just getting started, I hope he adds a few more years to his plans because the way he's going he could just cruise to a few more championships which he's already doing.

I 100% agree and he never looked as good as he did on Honda apart from a few races.

His last Championship on Kawi outdoors he made it so much harder than it had to be.

Yeah… RV retiring mighta been a pretty obvious reason for that….

🤣

How so? 

Lots of good points and explanations in this thread. Tying into the discussion about a changed atmosphere with the team change, I truly think he races with a better mindset because he knows he's racing on a machine that was tuned to his liking by a team that was willing to listen to him. It's been openly discussed how Kawasaki likes to keep the bike close to a certain setup that the head honchos deem is "right". After years of Eli being on that team and likely getting tons of ideas and input shut down and ignored, he probably reached a point mentally where he was a bit sour with the team, and if he went out on a track that he wasn't feeling and the bike was acting funny, his thought process could've revolved around "this team wouldn't listen to me and now I'm riding a bike that's not working and I feel so uncomfortable out here".

If that's how things were going, I'm sure it was hard for Eli to be relaxed and focused on performing rather than thinking about every little awkward movement with the bike. It's speculation though, I have no idea what was going on.