Tomac 2nd, Stew 3rd

Park Boys
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3866
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Location
USA
9/7/2026 1:42pm
I’d argue that Kenny only got those two titles because of Eli’s injuries. Eli absolutely smoked Kenny in 2013 outdoors, then the meat grinder of 450...

I’d argue that Kenny only got those two titles because of Eli’s injuries. Eli absolutely smoked Kenny in 2013 outdoors, then the meat grinder of 450 sx took him out. Kenny in 2016 outdoors was one of the best mx season I’ve ever witnessed, but hard to say that 2015 perfect season until getting hurt Eli wouldn’t have been up for the challenge. That woulda been such an epic summer!

Kenny was leading the points in 2013 until his big crash at Millville which was round 9 that’s when Eli started going 1-1 every round. Until that race Kenny won first motos and Eli second motos usually. That was where you could see the cracks in Kenny’s fitness though. 

9/7/2026 2:32pm
Omg I cant with the Eli 2015 shit. It was insane, yes! For 6 motos. There's 24 in a season, folks. Maybe he was riding over...

Omg I cant with the Eli 2015 shit. It was insane, yes! For 6 motos. There's 24 in a season, folks. Maybe he was riding over his head pushing those gaps. He never beat Dunge for a title. And you wanna play the woulda, coulda, should, game? If RD doesn't retire in his prime he wins the '17 mx title, EASY. Also '18 sx over Ando. But without those titles he still has more than Eli retiring much younger. The Ryan's > Eli

RD isn’t even in the same class as ET or RV. It’s okay if you favor him over Eli but it’s not even a close comparison. Give me RD’s most impressive performance and I’ll give you twenty from Eli that are better. RD would never beat a healthy Jett even on Jett’s worst day. Eli made it look easy.

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urbanlift707
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Humboldt, CA, USA
9/7/2026 2:44pm
Park Boys wrote:
Kenny was leading the points in 2013 until his big crash at Millville which was round 9 that’s when Eli started going 1-1 every round. Until...

Kenny was leading the points in 2013 until his big crash at Millville which was round 9 that’s when Eli started going 1-1 every round. Until that race Kenny won first motos and Eli second motos usually. That was where you could see the cracks in Kenny’s fitness though. 

I’ve watched that season at least 4x start to finish, such epic performances by each. Kenny did have the points lead up until that crash but Eli was already gaining momentum prior to it and clearly was the faster/stronger rider.

this guy “mxforos” has all the motos. 

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11qk0c

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Chris_Buehler
Posts
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Location
PORTLAND, CT, USA
9/7/2026 3:17pm
Park Boys wrote:
Kenny was leading the points in 2013 until his big crash at Millville which was round 9 that’s when Eli started going 1-1 every round. Until...

Kenny was leading the points in 2013 until his big crash at Millville which was round 9 that’s when Eli started going 1-1 every round. Until that race Kenny won first motos and Eli second motos usually. That was where you could see the cracks in Kenny’s fitness though. 

I’ve watched that season at least 4x start to finish, such epic performances by each. Kenny did have the points lead up until that crash but...

I’ve watched that season at least 4x start to finish, such epic performances by each. Kenny did have the points lead up until that crash but Eli was already gaining momentum prior to it and clearly was the faster/stronger rider.

this guy “mxforos” has all the motos. 

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11qk0c

That's how I remember it and I was obsessed with their battle that year. Eli had started peaking and wearing Kenny down prior to his Millville crash. Eli was coming no matter what happened to Kenny

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The Shop

9/7/2026 4:31pm
I’ve only ever seen RC, JS, and ET3 stomp the living shit out of other would-be goats—at their peak. What Eli did to prime RD in...

I’ve only ever seen RC, JS, and ET3 stomp the living shit out of other would-be goats—at their peak. What Eli did to prime RD in ‘15 mx for me ends all discussions about who is superior. From then on RD had to capitalize whenever Eli shit the bed and that was about all he could do to beat Eli. 10yrs later, at age 32, Eli man handled 21yr old prime Jett Lawrence at the ‘25 San Diego sx in their first fully healthy head to head match up, which none of the younger guys could manage to do at that time and still can’t today if Jett is fully healthy.

Eli has a case for Top 3 all time given his span of accomplishments. The gravity of his individual performances can’t be understated. Much like JS, the raw stats hardly tell the entire story for Eli. Guys like RD had great consistency, but they never managed to leave your jaw on the floor. Eli has dozens of jaw dropping performances against three generations of competition to go along with the stats.


Some of the riders that Eli curb stomped while they were at the height of their power and fully healthy:

Ryan Dungey

Ken Roczen

Tony Cairoli 

Jett Lawrence

Cooper Webb

Chase Sexton

Only JS has more impressive scalps having smoked RC, CR, RD and RV.

Park Boys wrote:
You could make the same argument for Eli vs Ken. Ken won two titles before his injury and had far more wins than Eli. It takes...

You could make the same argument for Eli vs Ken. Ken won two titles before his injury and had far more wins than Eli. It takes more than just one day of insane riding like Eli in hangtown 2015. A fully healthy Eli would have 10th place finishes out of no where. If Dungey got 4th people were thought the sky was falling. 

As a huge Tomac fan, it hurts my heart I have no logical way to disagree with your points. So...

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Chris_Buehler
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Joined
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PORTLAND, CT, USA
9/7/2026 5:03pm
Omg I cant with the Eli 2015 shit. It was insane, yes! For 6 motos. There's 24 in a season, folks. Maybe he was riding over...

Omg I cant with the Eli 2015 shit. It was insane, yes! For 6 motos. There's 24 in a season, folks. Maybe he was riding over his head pushing those gaps. He never beat Dunge for a title. And you wanna play the woulda, coulda, should, game? If RD doesn't retire in his prime he wins the '17 mx title, EASY. Also '18 sx over Ando. But without those titles he still has more than Eli retiring much younger. The Ryan's > Eli

RD isn’t even in the same class as ET or RV. It’s okay if you favor him over Eli but it’s not even a close comparison...

RD isn’t even in the same class as ET or RV. It’s okay if you favor him over Eli but it’s not even a close comparison. Give me RD’s most impressive performance and I’ll give you twenty from Eli that are better. RD would never beat a healthy Jett even on Jett’s worst day. Eli made it look easy.

The same class for outright speed? No. That's not all that defines a racer. Although RD straight up beat RV plenty. Eli beating Jett? What, once in a sx? He couldn't beat him outdoors straight up ever. He got handled. I'll just go back to Eli never beat Dunge for a title. Dunge exploited his inconsistencies perfectly. Its a fun discussion and I am absolutely bias towards RD lol. I dont mind you thinking Eli was better than Dunge as much as you grouping him in with RV. Eli isn't on Villo's level at all

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mooch
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2/16/2008
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Fantasy
9/7/2026 5:04pm

Between James being in his usual crash or win mode and then that whole Adderall BS thing seriously effected his win record.  No doubt, the disruption caused by that 16 month suspension effected his riding well after the ban was over.  I was more of an RC fan back then but was really bummed that James got what I thought was a huge shaft and that racing was gonna be less exciting without him. At the same time, it was a big wtf moment and thought how could he think he wouldn't be tested since he was a regular on the podium?  

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9/7/2026 5:34pm Edited Date/Time 9/7/2026 5:42pm
Omg I cant with the Eli 2015 shit. It was insane, yes! For 6 motos. There's 24 in a season, folks. Maybe he was riding over...

Omg I cant with the Eli 2015 shit. It was insane, yes! For 6 motos. There's 24 in a season, folks. Maybe he was riding over his head pushing those gaps. He never beat Dunge for a title. And you wanna play the woulda, coulda, should, game? If RD doesn't retire in his prime he wins the '17 mx title, EASY. Also '18 sx over Ando. But without those titles he still has more than Eli retiring much younger. The Ryan's > Eli

RD isn’t even in the same class as ET or RV. It’s okay if you favor him over Eli but it’s not even a close comparison...

RD isn’t even in the same class as ET or RV. It’s okay if you favor him over Eli but it’s not even a close comparison. Give me RD’s most impressive performance and I’ll give you twenty from Eli that are better. RD would never beat a healthy Jett even on Jett’s worst day. Eli made it look easy.

The same class for outright speed? No. That's not all that defines a racer. Although RD straight up beat RV plenty. Eli beating Jett? What, once...

The same class for outright speed? No. That's not all that defines a racer. Although RD straight up beat RV plenty. Eli beating Jett? What, once in a sx? He couldn't beat him outdoors straight up ever. He got handled. I'll just go back to Eli never beat Dunge for a title. Dunge exploited his inconsistencies perfectly. Its a fun discussion and I am absolutely bias towards RD lol. I dont mind you thinking Eli was better than Dunge as much as you grouping him in with RV. Eli isn't on Villo's level at all

The outright speed is what I’m talking about. You are a big Dungey fan so I won’t harp on him, he’s without a doubt one of the greats and he did it with relentless consistency. I’m taking Eli every time though.

Eli and Jett only raced each other at full health head to head in that one sx race. They never matched up fully healthy in outdoor. Eli was coming off a freshly plated fibula in the following mx season and he never looked full strength that summer. Plated fibulas usually swell and hurt for a solid 6-12 months and that’s if you are ginger on them. I don’t think he was well again until ‘26 sx. It’s such a robbery that we didn’t get to see those two go at it many more times. Speed for speed Eli showed he could match Jett, at 32yrs of age, which is insane. Hard to say if RV or JS could’ve done such things.

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