GEICO Honda's Tomac shows his mettle in Steel City

DELMONT,
Pa. (Sept. 3) – GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac had a season-best, second-place
finish at Saturday's Steel City National, the penultimate race in the
Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship season.

"I
even got to lead some laps, that was probably the highlight of my day,"
Tomac said. "I had kind of a rough weekend last weekend, so it was nice
to turn it around here."

Heat
and humidity punished Western Pennsylvania, which made endurance and
the ability to recover a premium. On this day, Tomac had both in
abundance.

"It was hot and humid here and I made it through," Tomac said. "That is a big step for me. That's a big confidence thing.

"I
was able to bounce back well from the first race. I felt this is the
best day I've had all year. The cards finally fell my way."

Tomac
led a few laps in the second moto and dueled with eventual winner Dean
Wilson for much of the first part of that race. Overall he was able to
maintain a steady pace from start to finish. With his finish, Tomac
moved around Kyle Cunningham for fourth in the season standings.

"It's
great to be the top non-green (Kawasaki) guy in the points," he said.
"It's nice to have this back and forth action. Hopefully we can take
care of business next weekend."

Tomac leads Cunningham by seven points with one race left.

Fellow
GEICO Honda 250cc pro Justin Bogle was seventh overall on the day after
finishes of sixth and 10th. It's the third time in as many tries that
he's turned in a top 10 finish as a pro.

"I
was sick this week and wasn't feeling too good today," Bogle said.
"First moto was awesome. I got to battle with Wilson, that was fun. I
just faded back a bit at the end there. It could be worse, considering
how I feel, so we'll just try to get healthier for next week."

Justin
Barcia, who is riding an American Honda CRF450R, had a solid start to
the day with a fourth-place finish in the first moto, but succumbed to
the heat in the second and pulled off the course. He finished 13th
overall.

"I
had to ride really hard in the first moto," Barcia said. "It's a really
hard track for me and I was pushing hard in the first moto. As a
result, I wasn't 100 percent for the second moto. 

"What
happened today is unacceptable for me. I really feel like I let
everybody down. I'm not going to waste this opportunity. I'm going to
work harder next week and be better prepared."

Jimmy Decotis was 24th overall with finishes of 33rd and 19th in the motos.

"It
was a tough day for me but a learned a lot," Decotis said. "I learned a
lot about myself and just had to fight through things. I haven't been
riding in this kind heat. I just need to find some confidence."

Up
next for GEICO Honda is the season finale for the Lucas Oil AMA
Motocross Championship on Sept. 10, at Pala Raceway outside San Diego.