Utah Supercross venue as close to home cooking as GEICO Honda's Tomac will find

SALT
LAKE CITY (April 25) – GEICO Honda rider Eli Tomac might be a Colorado
native, but Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium seems a lot like home.

With
its high altitude, thin air and proximity to his home base in Cortez,
Colo., Tomac said he's going to have an advantage heading into this
Saturday's Monster Energy AMA Lites West Supercross race.

"It's
just like a home track for me, for sure," Tomac said. "It's only six
hours away so I can drive there. I've been spending a lot of time in
California this season but I've been back in Colorado this week so I can
get readjusted to the elevation and be ready to race."

The
Salt Lake City track is similar to Seattle – another track in Tomac's
comfort zone – because the conditions can be unpredictable.

"You
can have just about anything there," Tomac said. "It could rain, snow
or be really nice; you just never know. It's going to be fun no matter
what happens."

The
majority of Tomac's sunny outlook can be traced back to the fact he
regained the Lites West points lead (and the coveted leader's red plate)
last Saturday in Seattle with a third-place finish.

"I
didn't like my bike with the black plate on it," Tomac said. "I wanted
the red plate back and I made it happen. I've got two more races to hang
on and win this championship."

Four
riders still have a shot at the Lites West title. Tomac leads
second-place Dean Wilson by four points; third-place Cole Seely is 15
back of the lead and Marvin Musquin is in fourth, 23 behind.

GEICO
Honda's other Lites West rider, Wil Hahn, is looking to make another
leap forward and land on the podium in a year where he has been beset by
injury.

"I've
been in good spots, I've just not been able to capitalize," Hahn said.
"I've been building and moving forward. I'm back and I'm racing every
weekend, so I'm happy about that."

Kevin
Windham, GEICO Honda's Supercross rider, is still battling multiple
injuries suffered from a crash in Houston. While the veteran said he's
making progress healing, he's once again doubtful to make the trip to
Salt Lake City.

Practice
for Saturday's Monster Energy AMA Supercross race begins at 12:30 p.m.
MDT at Rice-Eccles Stadium with opening ceremonies getting started at 7
p.m. CBS affiliates nationwide will air the Supercross race on Sunday
(check local listings for time and channel), while SPEED will air the
Lites race beginning at 6 p.m. EDT on Sunday.