<\/p>\n
Defending AMA Motocross champion Eli Tomac of Cortez won the Thunder Valley National Saturday in Lakewood, moving into a close race for third place in the season standings.<\/p>\n
Tomac entered the 450cc class event in fourth place overall, 22 points behind Marvin Musquin. The win Saturday, combined with Musquin\u2019s sixth-place finish, gave him 278 points on the season, just five behind Musquin.<\/p>\n
With one race to go, Zachary Osborne leads the championship series with 325 points. Tomac\u2019s teammate on Kawasaki, Adam Cianciarulo, is second with 301.<\/p>\n
Before a crowd in his home state, Tomac opened the day of racing as the No. 6 qualifier. He placed third in the first moto and first in the second, to win the combined overall in a tiebreaker. Cianciarulo also posted first- and third-place finishes, but Tomac got the overall win because, according to AMA rules, he won the second race.<\/p>\n
In the first of two motos, Tomac was in sixth place after one lap. He passed Blake Baggett and Justin Barcia to tuck into fourth place behind Osborne in the fifth lap. He then passed Osborne in the 11th lap for third place behind Chase Sexton and Cianciarulo, who led the race wire to wire.<\/p>\n
In the second moto, Tomac was fifth after one lap but passed Musquin and leader Cianciarulo to grab the lead by the start of the seventh lap. He would go on to win by a convincing 8.98 seconds.<\/p>\n
It was his second win of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been kind of searching these last few races here and just not been able to move forward,\u201d Tomac told racerxonline<\/a>. \u201cToday, I was able to go forward. Obviously, I got a better start in moto two. \u2026 Everything just felt right. When things get going, they go right. So that\u2019s what it was for me.\u201d<\/p>\n With one race to go, Tomac acknowledged that it\u2019s been a rough season.<\/p>\n