Whether or not GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac takes part in Saturday night’s Phoenix Supercross won’t be known until… well, until Saturday.
“I’m going there this Saturday, and if my shoulder is good, it’s good; if it’s not, it’s not,” Tomac said in a team release. “It’s still bad enough that I’m not sure which way it will go.”
Tomac suffered the shoulder injury on the opening lap of his heat race at the Anaheim Supercross last Saturday night. He has since seen doctors and has begun a physical therapy regimen in order to try to be ready to race.
“I want to make sure I’m safe enough to ride,” Tomac said. “As much of a bummer it would be to miss this race, I don’t want to push it too hard and risk having to miss a lot of time.”
Tomac’s teammate Wil Hahn, meanwhile, is hoping to improve upon his 11th place finish from Anaheim.
“Riding with the best guys in the world is such an awesome feeling,” Hahn said. “You’re at the next step of your career, the final step, and now it’s time to realize all of your dreams. It’s nerve-wracking at times because these are the guys I’ve always looked up to and now I’m racing them. It’s a very cool deal and something I hope to pass along some day to my younger peers.”
With the experience and excitement of his first 450SX race behind him, Hahn is focusing on what he can do to become a contender for a podium spot.
“I need to do a better job of carrying all the positive things I do during the week into Phoenix,” Hahn said. “I was on a roller coaster in Anaheim, and I need to fix that and just be smooth. I actually haven’t raced Phoenix in quite a while, but I always enjoyed racing there in the past. I’ll be ready.”
If healthy, Tomac is eager to race in Phoenix as well.
“The track gets pretty hard-packed late in the day,” Tomac said. “It’s kind of one of my home tracks, so it’s kind of a bummer to go into the race a little beaten up. I do enjoy that place.”
