Tomac, Hangtown 2015: Most Dominant Ever?

Well, what better way to get things started than talking about this race at Hangtown? Look, we all know you came out at your first ever national and won this thing at Hangtown just after turning pro. Then this race, too, you just crushed everybody. Twenty-two second lead in the first moto, minute and a half in the second moto. I guess, is this that you're good at every track, you love every track but was this domination was a little bit like because you love Hangtown?
I wouldn't say I love Hangtown. It's not like I just can't wait to get there, but for me, it's one of those tracks where I can separate myself if everything is going the right way. Like body feels good, bike's working good. I mean, that's what happened in 2015, like my bike set up, my body, everything was just right.

And that day, the track specifically was super gnarly. I remember going up one of those long roller up hills, as you go towards the back of the track or top of the track. And the ruts were just crazy deep, but I was going through those like it was no big deal! [Laughs] Yeah, it was, it was crazy. My bike was just floating around the track and I don't know, I was just crushing guys.

Does this one stand out for you? Cause again, you've had a lot of one-one days where you crushed everyone. But does this one in particular stand out for you?
Yeah. Moto two was just ridiculous, how much faster I could go than anyone. [Laughs] I mean, I remember looking at the pit board and not really believing what I was seeing! Moto two I had like everything right. I think I holeshotted it, I was in first or second, and then, dude, it was just like I was riding a different track than everyone. I was jumping bumps. I don't know, I could just hit bumps. It was like I was just not riding a normal track. I was just floating around the thing, and it was fairly easy, as crazy as it sounds. And no arm pump, nothing. I could go as hard as I wanted, and that was it.

Watch the full second 450 Hangtown moto below!

So, Dave Arnold, who you were working with back then, told me about this race. I don't know if you remember, you won the first moto and came in and said, “I think my forks could be better.” And Dave was like, “Dude, you just smashed everyone by 30 seconds!" And you were like, “No, I think my forks could be a little better.” And Dave was like, “Alright, well, let's try.” And then you beat everybody by a minute 22 in the second moto!
Well, I remember not being happy because I got some arm pump. Of course, I blame the bike. [Laughs] You know, that's really what happened is I got arm pump, and it was kind of holding me back to at like 90 percent. And I wasn't able to unleash the beast.

Right. Yeah, because Dave was like, “Okay.”
I remember being pissed that I kind of was getting tired and I was kind of fighting some things and it was good to win and whatnot, but it wasn't perfect by any means.

Eli, you ended up going to Kawasaki for 2016. How far along was that deal or was it already done? Because just watching this race, I have to think, everything was clicking really well. If the deal was done, were you thinking, “Man, did I make a mistake? Should I stay on this bike?” Or how far along was that Kawi deal for the following year?
The Kawi deal was done sometime in supercross, because I think most of the contracts are written to where you can start a negotiating like February or March. I mean, I guess everyone's unique, but that's basically how mine have been.

Anyway, I was signed with Kawi in March, but when I think back to that day and time, I didn't struggle, but I wasn't completely satisfied with everything that I had going on at Honda. Kawi was the move for me. And I struggled a lot on the Honda in supercross on being consistent and I just felt like it was really good in certain tracks and other tracks, I was just fighting it a lot. And, you know, the Kawi in my opinion was going to be the better overall package. I looked at the team and everything too. I mean, of course it looks crazy when I had that performance at Hangtown to go away from Honda. But we just had like the setting of God that day for how good that bike was.

So, you won the next week at Glen Helen and Colorado started out great. At no point in those five motos where you were like, “Wait a minute” ? You were still cool with the Kawi decision.
No, because more of my decision was basing it off of supercross. And I mean, yeah, of course those things somewhat cross your mind, but based on what I was seeing, what Villopoto was doing on that [Kawasaki] motorcycle and on all their previous results, like I was totally psyched on Kawi.

Eli, you were in the GEICO truck. Did you have access to everything Honda had for works parts, or were there things that you couldn't get that Factory Honda did?
I think we could access typically anything. And I'm trying to remember what, I don't know what factory Honda was running for suspension then, I don't remember if they were KYB or Showa.

I think they were both.
Yeah maybe they had one of each. Yeah, but I didn't have any limitations. I felt like I had even more freedom at my position at GEICO. So, I was happy with it, because we could access those parts and have the freedom to do it.

So, there was one point in the moto, you hit a lapper, almost went down. He probably didn't know how fast you were coming up on him. Do you remember anything else or was it just like you said, one of those dream days?
As far as little moments, that's the stuff I don't remember. It was just moto two, that was just, just ridiculous. And I mean, I wish I remember more of all the laps themselves, but honestly, I don't, I just remember it being really easy and I could just go as hard as I wanted just floating around the track. You know, I could count the number of times on my hands of how I've felt like that.

The gap it makes this look like this is one of the all time rides. Is there any possible way even in your mind, can you say, “Nah, every year we get two percent faster, do in 2025 I'm going faster than I was in 2015, the bikes, everything advances.” Is there any way we can even compare? I mean, you would be the only one that knows, Any idea how 2015 compares to now?
I mean, things evolve. Things evolve, but damn, that [2015] was fast. That was really fast!

I'm wondering, if we put you on your 2015 Honda bike, like, is your Yamaha right now better? You know, I don't know. That's a great question.
Yeah, that's a very good question. I don't know.

It's like on paper, scientifically, the 2025 is probably better. But obviously you had a special feeling going that day that's hard to probably quantify on a chart.
Yeah, that's a very hard one because, I mean, for a normal conditioned track, I mean, I was blowing those guys out bad. I mean, what was that? Four or five seconds faster [per lap] than second? So, it just, none of it really made sense.

Was there any foreshadowing of this for you coming into this race? Did you start outdoor prep earlier than normal during the supercross season? Did you expect this? Or was this really just a day from somewhere else that came out of nowhere?
No, I didn't expect it. We had the like the kind of the normal deal, we got probably two or three test days before the race. It's always like a cram, because you're in supercross and trying to figure out how much do I need to ride of each and whatnot. I had two tests that year. One at Glen Helen and then we got up to Hangtown early at some point. So, we had a Hangtown test and then at Glen Helen. I think that may have changed a shock spring like on press day or something. Then we went racing, yep.

You had to have been pretty frustrated, too, because you came into the 450 class outdoors. You got hurt your first year, you jumped in and were immediately competitive and on the podium and winning races. And then this year, you win the first five motos and then you have that crash at Colorado. You're two years into your 450 class, you're coming off your 250 outdoor title and you're like, “I'm probably the fastest guy and I have nothing to show for it for two outdoor seasons” right? Like, you're probably pretty frustrated.
Yeah, it was disgusting. I mean, there's no other way to put it. It was just sickening and it's just hard. Knowing the limit is so hard when you're in that moment, in that zone, because when I was in that zone, it was so easy to go fast, and I was kind of having fun with it. And that's what bit me at Lakewood. I was like, “You know, I'm going to kick it up another gear” because it was getting pretty easy again. And that's exactly when it bit my rear end there and just caught me off, with a little bit of slicker dirt and mud there and a little bit off camber and that was it. That's all she wrote.

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Yeah, I was going to ask you about the crash itself at Lakewood. It was dirty for sure. And so yeah, it was more of a case of you, yeah, trying to show off a little bit and…
Yeah, it's exactly what it was because I had like a straightaway on everyone and I was kind of showing off again trying to, you know, have this big lead and it bit me.

That shoulder injury at Colorado, or you did both your shoulders, correct?
Yeah, there was both. My left shoulder was rotator cuff damage, and my right shoulder was labrum, because I dislocated my right one in that crash also.

I remember in '16 when you switched to the Kawi, maybe people being a little hard on you because you got off to a slow start that year and whatnot, and everyone was talking about, “Oh, he shouldn't have switched to the Kawi and blah, blah, blah." But I just know is that had to be a massive injury to come back from. So, my last question is, for '16, how much did that injury and those surgeries linger on as far as affecting you in the next year, or was it really just getting used to the new bike and team?
It affected me. I mean, that thing would ache. My rotator cuff side almost ached for a year before it stopped fatiguing out before my right shoulder. So, it's similar to what happened to my Achilles, you don't get that last 10 percent until a year down the road. When you have those big tendon injuries or ligament stuff, it takes so long to get that real solid strength back, and it affects you. It definitely does.

Yeah. That's what I always just thought from the outside looking in. The shoulders have to be an issue.
It does. I remember doing motos in the summer that year, and my rotator cuff would get really tired. It would tire out way quicker than my other side. And you can't really do anything about it. Just deal with it and get through it and let time do its thing.