The victory was hard-fought, as he had to use a tiebreaker to beat Chase Sexton. Both riders took first and second place in their respective motos. Jett Lawrence beat his brother, Hunter Lawrence, in the 250 class for his fourth straight overall victory.
Sexton took the first moto by storm, increasing his lead to 15 seconds before settling into cruise mode for the final five laps. Tomac was on fire but ran out of time in Moto 1 after taking too long to go around Jason Anderson.
Last week's winner Ken Roczen led Sexton and Tomac in Moto 2 as the three riders battled in a single-framed picture.
Tomac found additional speed and raced to the lead just over the midway point of the second race. However, he was unable to dislodge his opponent entirely. Sexton kept the margin small, closing to within four seconds on the penultimate lap to finish second. Tomac was granted the win on the tiebreaker, the rider with the best second moto result, with 47 points each.
Tomac told MavTV's Jason Thomas, "It seems like I've got to study my lines in the first one, and that's what we did today." "We also made a minor modification between motos, which helped." My physique was clear, and I could maintain power throughout."
"I was having a hard time with how choppy the track was," Sexton explained. "I didn't feel as well as I did in the first moto, but Eli rode fantastically." I could hear him approaching from behind. After I passed Kenny, I made a few blunders, and he passed me back. Eli licked me up and then passed me."
Jason Anderson came in third after finishing 3-5 in the motos, but it was a close race. As time ran out in Moto 2, he was trailing Aaron Plessinger for fifth place, and Ryan Dungey was running third when he witnessed Plessinger hit hard and injure his knee.
Roczen, on the other hand, beat Dungey to the line, denying him his first podium finish since returning to Pro Motocross.
Roczen's exploits in the final turn earned him a 7-3 finish and a fourth-place overall.
In Moto 2, Dungey finished fourth. He finished fifth overall, combining his sixth-place performance in the first race with his fifth-place overall finish in 2022. Dungey still has something to brag about in Moto 2: he took the hole shot and led the first few laps.
In Moto 1, Antonio Cairoli crashed while attempting an aggressive pass on Christian Craig. He was unable to complete Moto 2 due to a knee injury.
Yamaha's Eli Tomac is from Cortez, Colorado. (2-1)
Honda, Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill. (1-2)
Kawasaki's Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M. (3-5)
Ken Roczen, Honda, Germany (7-3)
Ryan Dungey of Belle Plain, Minnesota, is a KTM rider (6-4)
GasGas, Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y. (4-7)
Thomasville, Georgia's Joey Savatgy (5-8)
Yamaha, Christian Craig, Temecula, Calif. (8-6)
Garrett Marchbanks, Yamaha, Coalville, Utah (10-10)
Shane McElrath, Husqvarna, Canton, N.C. (13-9)
Standings with 450 points
Chase Sexton, Honda, La Moille, Ill. – 180
Yamaha – Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colorado – 167
Ken Roczen, Honda, Germany – 162
Kawasaki – 147 Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M.
KTM – 122, Ryan Dungey, Belle Plain, Minn.
Yamaha – Christian Craig, Temecula, Calif.
GasGas - 106 Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y.
KTM – 90, Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio
KTM – 89 Antonio Cairoli, Sicily
Garrett Marchbanks, Yamaha, Coalville, Utah – 86
Jett Lawrence will be remembered as one of the 250 overall winners, continuing his unblemished record from 2022. The second moto was one of the greatest the competition has produced this year.
Hunter Lawrence won Moto 1 to cut into his brother's lead, and Jett was forced to battle back from a 10th-place start. Jett moved closer to the front after a few tip-overs by Levi Kitchen and Michael Mosiman in Moto 1, but he finished more than four seconds back.
Seth Hammaker earned the holeshot in Moto 2 on his home track, but he tucked his wheel and struck the ground early in the race. That gave the Lawrence brothers first and second place, and it seemed like we'd finally get to watch how they battled it out for the win.
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