Eli Tomac Appreciation

ricky gave him permission to "enjoy this moment" of tying the goat for 4th in sx wins. heartfelt.  for real though he was solid. and fastest in the whoops by far early on in the night. what a difference a week and a change in soil makes. 

If he would have got 2nd, then everyone would have been saying he is slow. No way he was be patient, he was getting beat by a guy who crashed.

Tomac is amazing.   The heat race was proof of that.

...but Chase was walking  him in the main.      If not for Chase going tits over again, Eli was beat. 

3rd all time, soon to be second in Sx wins. Impressive, kudos to ET3.

Very true. Timing and scoring doesn’t lie. Chase was creeping away. That being said do you really think Eli couldn’t have done the same if he wanted?  He seems to know where the limit of speed vs crashing is and rarely goes over that line. Chase just hasn’t been able to figure that out yet. 

Eli rode good last night, but he was gifted that win.  You could say he was patiently waiting for Chase to unwrap that gift though 

Sexton did have the fastest lap time, but it was only about a tenth faster than Tomac, so there wasn’t a huge difference between the two in all-out sprint speed.  The difference is that Tomac does a better job of managing the race, running fast enough to win without throwing it away.  

Or you could wonder if Chase was pushing too hard to walk away and Eli was thinking, “until he proves he can finish one of these……”.  I’ve wondered if Chase might not be better off following the leader until the last 5 minutes.  Eli has done that how many times for the win?

Only eli's experience and chase's mistakes could be basically the only way for Eli to get the title as Dungey did in 2017. He will probably retire after that if he make it happen.  

ET knows whos in front of him. Its hard to beat the big dog over 17 rds. He knows how to stalk and when to stay at a pace.

Even so Chase is 7 points back, I wouldnt discount Chase yet. If he gets another win soon and starts having rides like last night where he pulls 5-7 seconds on Eli and wins the momentum will build.

Chase is either going to figure it out or he wont. So far, despite crashes, Chase is still in it.

The parallels between what’s happening with Chase right now when Tomac was battling dungey for titles is astounding. 
 

eli clearly had the speed then but made silly mistakes. Chase clearly has the speed now but makes silly mistakes. 

Did you watch A1 this year?

yes..... I know he won in the end, but he did make it harder on himself than it needed to be.

Not disagreeing with you at all, I think all of the guys who race at this level are bad ass. And I see something admirable in each and every one of them. 
 

But with a few people saying that this is a gifted win, how many of Chad’s and Ricky’s wins were similar with James throwing races away? Or even vice versa.

What’s interesting to see is the trends of similarity in both generations of racing. Not comparing chase to James, but racing at that level and speed there is no doubt you are so close to the line of things going wrong at any moment. We’ve seen it from the entire podium this weekend multiple times so far this season alone. 

Eli is riding smart. Chase can't figure out how to beat him (yet) without riding over his head and falling.

When Chase backs it down some Eli beats him. This looks like the Nationals all over again except with the little Chihuahua (Webb) in the mix.

What was up with making a big deal on TV about the "new" top 5? Eli was already in the top 5. He didn't even technically move up the list. He's tied for 3rd with RC and Reed would still be considered 5th. When/If he passes RC, then a big deal as he will be solely in 3rd.

It's cool to see records getting broken. He will catch JS7 soon also which will be cool to see. 

Appreciation for Eli is definitely building, but imagine how everyone will look at him in ten years?

I feel like he'll really be looked at as one of the greats once he leaves and everyone has time to appreciate what he's done.

Very true. Only difference is, Tomac had a pretty large speed advantage over Dungey in 2017, whereas Sexton doesn't seem to have the same dominance in pure pace (aside from heat races).

Yep. People also often forget that Eli lost a bunch of points at Arlington that year when his front brake failed and he got 15th. That right there was enough for him to win or lose the title... 

We’ve come a long way from these threads. 
 

https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Eli-ChokeMac,1354622

It is very reminiscent of Eli vs. Dungey. Dungey on a bad night would finish 5th. Now Eli is doing the same thing.

Sexton will learn too and we’ll get to watch epic races with him against Jett. 
 

Stamp it!

Imagine what his numbers would be now if he didn't waste a bunch of his prime on the Kawasaki....

https://youtu.be/WEVJlQ3FiNU

I just watched Stone Spray Sandwich this weekend (2005). Eli has a segment shredding his RM. He was asked what his goals are and to paraphrase he said “I’d like to be like Ricky”.

Nice work Champ

sexton will go faster when he slows down

I feel like Tomac is just waiting for Chase to prove he can finish the main at the pace he needs to pull away. Tomac is the old crafty guy with no ego ruling his decisions anymore, and he's earned it.

That pass he put on Chase in the heat was masterful; felt like a "not so fast youngster, I still have it when I need it."

If Chase puts a couple together, I think we'll see Tomac up his game and not let Chase get away. That being said, Chase is DANGEROUS and I also think Tomac knows that. It won't be easy, that's for sure. Last year's nationals proved that. Can't remember what interview it was but Tomac said Chase is THE next guy, without a doubt. 

I think there is a lot of respect between these two, and when Tomac does walk away I bet he'll be happy to see Chase take the reigns. 

One thing for sure is we have a hell of a year ahead of us with those two and Webb also throwing down.

We're in the middle of another "good old days" boys, don't let it slip by without recognizing it.