It was Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Eli Tomac who secured the victory at Arlington in the second Triple Crown of the Monster Energy Supercross season to extend his points-lead in 450SX, as Cameron McAdoo came out on top 250SX East, now level on points for the red plate as the series heads to Daytona. Both riders were available to the media following the race for this Debrief interview feature.

450SX

Image: Octopi Media.

You and I have joked about it in the past, you’re really, really good at these [Triple Crowns], two for two on the season. Now that you’ve been through these two, what are your thoughts as we have one more on the schedule?

They’re good for me, for some reason. It was kind of a night of consistency, I felt like moto one, I got pretty lucky with a lot of just wild stuff going on. That was it and then moto two and three, that was the good racing for me, it was exciting. Me and Jason [Anderson] made a bunch of passes on each-other, it was just a fun night of racing, so can’t complain about these things at this point. Another overall, just a good weekend.

You didn’t win the third race, but was it still fun to get into that back and forth like that? You guys were playing a little bit of a game, the crowd was into it. Is it still fun even when you don’t come out on top?

Oh, yeah, it was fun. We had a couple good moments. One time when we went over the finish line I almost thought we were going to roll it [laughs]! We were both like, ‘wait, wait, wait, then we doubled it’! Then another time, going into that 90 before the whoops, I felt like he was better than me on the inside rut, so then I moved to the inside rut and that lap that I went over there he rolled it. I’m like, ‘gosh, dang it, that was maybe my chance’. Other than that, I just tucked in behind him and that was it, I knew the points spread, so I just stayed there.

Break down for us a little bit your current schedule for training. Whereabouts are you? What are the advantages of that and the things that make it a bit more difficult? 

Now I’m back in Colorado, so that’s it for me, I made the move last week. Right now, that’s all I’m doing. We’ve got Daytona next week, so I’m staying there, I don’t have any plans to do anything else right now.

With you in the championship lead, obviously you’re where you want to be, so how do you take on these next few weeks?

Just try to keep doing what we’re doing. Looking forward to what we have in front of us for races. That’s it. Last week I really couldn’t believe it, that lap that I made that mistake on the double with my teammate, so glad for the rebound this week and looking forward to Daytona and what we’ve got in front of us.

We are at the halfway point in the championship, you’re where you want to be with the championship lead. How do you take on these next few weeks?

Just try to keep doing what we are doing, and looking forward to what we have in front of us. Last week, I really couldn’t believe it, whenever I made that mistake on the double, with teammate, after the rebound this week looking forward to Daytona, what we have got in front of us.

Tonight the roller-coaster up and down of your results, good rides, having to come through the pack, is it more mentally fatiguing a night like tonight than say what you had to go through last night coming through the back of the pack? What’s the difference between the two?

Well, the thing is with these, if you have a bad first one or if you podium you’re like, ‘well, I have a chance still – I’m still in the game’. That’s the good thing about them, but the bad thing is there’s three races and they’re gnarly and a lot of stuff happens in them, that’s just the way they are, I don’t know. Tonight it didn’t feel too bad, too gnarly. There are definitely certain tracks and certain places where they are gnarly, but I’m okay with them, I guess, now.

Watching the race tonight I think a lot of riders in both classes were caught out by track conditions, maybe it being a little bit less traction than some guys expected, based on the amount of mistakes we saw. Did you notice personally a difference in Arlington this year? Between the three mains did you have to change anything to adapt to the material tonight?

It was a track that had a hard base on it. The dirt looks really good and it is – it has good fluff in it – but there was still a dry base underneath that you kind of had to fight and pay attention to, it was easy to slide. Once again, the whoops were pretty nasty, I mean they get beat up every weekend, but these were kind of west coast style whoops where you’re dancing around. It was a little bit of both. You’d get some traction in some of the fluff, but there was definitely a base there.

250SX

Image: Octopi Media.

We had a pretty good conversation yesterday just about your narrative and how you used to be a little looser, a little wilder, and how that’s changed. You reminded me that last year for the majority of the season, that’s how it was. A couple big get-offs, but for the most part, you progressed a lot last year. This year, it seems like the next step… Congratulations.

Thank you. Your boy will still get loose, for sure, I’m trying to do my best to eliminate those mistakes and to be there each time. Tonight, it was very important to get three good starts and be consistent. I did my best to really lock-in, especially going into the last race with a three-way tie was pretty intense. It felt good to get the job done and to have a rather uneventful night for me, so, it was nice.

With what you went through last year in the Supercross season and, of course, your outdoor nationals and then the off-season, all wins seem awesome for you guys, but this seemed like a huge relief for you. Was this just a culmination of all the pressure you’ve been under?

Yeah, totally, I’ve been through a lot. All of us have… We’re dirt bike racers, we put ourselves through a lot. Towards the end of the last Supercross season, obviously, everyone knows that I had some pretty scary moments and some pretty big struggles and then my first race outdoors, I tore my ACL and my meniscus and had a full knee reconstruction, so to sit out all outdoors, I just had to work so hard to get back to this point and it’s special. Like, to win at this level any time is special, it felt really good tonight – these guys are riding so well, it was really special and I’m enjoying it.

How many times did you tell yourself during that third moto, ‘don’t crash’?

It wasn’t don’t crash, it was basically just focus. That’s really what my pit board said every lap for the last… After I saw five minutes, all I saw was ‘focus’. That was helpful because that’s really what you had to do tonight with how slick it was. I had such a big lead where it’s pretty easy to start trying to settle back, but that’s really when stuff can go south. Until I crossed the mechanics area on the last lap, I got a fist pump, and I got in a little trouble for that [laughs]. I knew I had enough room to roll through the whoops and make it happen, so I really had to focus. The track was slick and it could get you if you didn’t focus.

Last week we talked about a podium finish starting off on the right foot, so now you get this win tonight. You’re sharing the points lead with Jett [Lawrence]. Obviously, it doesn’t guarantee anything, but do you have more confidence heading into Daytona, somewhere that you’ve had success before?

Yeah, obviously, winning always gives you a little more confidence and it feels good. The bike ride Monday morning is going to be a little bit easier [laughs]… It’s awesome. Honestly, all these guys are going fast, like I said, I think I said it earlier, there are six, seven of us that are really good right now on this coast, I feel. I think we have to bring our best selves each weekend to be able to be here at the press conferences and talking to you guys each week. So, that’s the plan, I’m going to work hard this week. There’s still areas that I can improve, I didn’t win all three mains. Jett’s riding fast, Jeremy [Martin] is riding fast, hopefully Austin [Forkner] is back and RJ [Hampshire], there’s a lot of guys – got to keep working for these.

Obviously the Triple Crown with the three races, they’re all important and the starts are everything, but what were your thoughts on the right-hand first turn and did that change your game plan at all?

It didn’t really change my game plan a lot, it was definitely different. I think that was maybe the second right-handed [first] turn I’ve ever raced in Supercross, maybe the second or third, and it was pretty hectic. A lot of guys can come underneath you because you don’t have your rear brake. It’s definitely you’ve got to be strategic, that was really important tonight was the start. I felt like I put myself up front fairly well on two of them, for sure. The second main, it was a little bit more chaotic back there, so, it felt good to get good starts, for sure.

Now that you’ve kind of gotten these first two rounds out of the way and you’re sitting there tied for the points lead, does that kind of give you some validation?

I felt like I gave myself some validation last year, honestly. This is kind of what I expected to be battling up front with these guys and what I worked for. That was the goal so it’s definitely a relief. I think we all go into the season kind of unsure where we’re going to be. We do a lot of laps at the test track, but it just feels really good to get racing and to get on the plane, come to the races and let the work pay off. The goal is just to keep working hard and keep doing my very best to execute as best as I can and see where it puts us, so I think we’re going to have the same approach all the way throughout the year.

Up until this point, the last couple seasons you’ve been with Pro Circuit, you did kind of a lot of bouncing around to find your home [beforehand]. A lot of people would, of course, kill to be on Pro Circuit Kawasaki, but you entered at a weird time, in an era where the team has struggled a little bit more. Even though it’s early into the season, this has definitely been a great start for you and the team, so do you feel that the results you’re putting in right now and the consistency, can you feel it uplift the team and feel like Pro Circuit is kind of back on track?

Yeah, totally, they work so hard. I think everyone in our sport knows Mitch Payton and knows how much he wants to win and likes to win. It really feels good to be able to do that for the team and for myself. We all work so hard together, the mechanics, the crew chiefs, our suspension guys, it takes a big team. I’ve had my struggles and the team stuck with me through it, so it does feel good to give the team back what we’re working for. Hopefully we can continue on and keep climbing up and doing better, we’ve got to find a little more speed I think, too.