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MONSTER ENERGY® PRO CIRCUIT KAWASAKI RIDER SETH HAMMAKER FINISHES SECOND IN THE EASTERN DIVISION 250SX CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP
Foothill Ranch, Calif. (May 11, 2025) – Round 17 of the Monster Energy® AMA Supercross Championship featured the final East/West Showdown of the season in Salt Lake City. After a demanding season, Monster Energy® Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Seth Hammaker ended the series with an emotional fourth-place finish and claimed second in the Eastern Divisional 250SX Class standings. Teammate Garrett Marchbanks finished a consistent season with a seventh-place finish, and Drew Adams ended his rookie supercross season with a 10th-place result.
The final round of the series brought much anticipation with a supercross season filled with close battles and even closer points standings. In the 250SX Class, Hammaker showed his consistent speed by taking first in both East Division qualifying sessions and third overall. Teammates Adams and Marchbanks progressed their qualifying results in the West Division throughout the day to take eighth and 10th, respectively.
In the 250SX East Heat Race, the No. 56 of Hammaker accelerated out of the gate, pushing his competitors wide in the first turn to claim the holeshot aboard his KX™250. He quickly put a gap between himself and the field, and led the race from start to finish, giving himself an optimal gate pick for the Main Event. In the 250SX West Heat Race, Adams shot out of the gate and put himself into fifth place. After clicking off consistent laps, he finished the Heat Race in third place. Teammate Marchbanks found himself mid-pack into the first turn on the opening lap, until a rider tipped over on him in the second turn, sending him back to 19th. Marchbanks locked in after the chaotic pile-up to charge past his competitors each lap and finished the race in eighth place.
In the 250SX Main Event, the stage was set for the battle for the championship. Hammaker put himself in a solid position with the second gate pick. He launched out of the gate, holding third place as he came into the first turn. Adams was close behind his teammate through the first sector and would come across the line in 10th after the first lap, while Marchbanks had a less-than-ideal jump off the very inside gate. He was squeezed out on the straightaway and finished the first lap in 16th. Hammaker settled into third until a slight mistake in the rhythm section moved him back to fourth for a moment. The No. 56 stayed consistent and let the race come to him as he waited for the moment to make a move on his competitors. Hammaker seized the moment and made an assertive pass on his championship rival, Tom Vialle, for third halfway through the Main Event on his charge to the front. As the race came down to the wire, Hammaker made another assertive pass to take over second place until he was taken out by the rider in third, causing him to slip back to fourth with only two minutes left. Hammaker remounted and gave it all he had left to try and re-pass Vialle, but would ultimately finish the race in fourth and claim second in the Eastern Division 250SX points standings after a very impressive season. The No. 98 of Adams slipped back to 12th midway through the race but rebounded to put himself back in 10th to finish the night and 17th in the West Division points. After starting the race towards the back of the field, Marchbanks would regroup and zone in on his competitors, moving up one position almost every lap until he put himself into seventh place to finish the final race of the season. The No. 36 capped off one of his best supercross series performances with fifth in the West Division points standings.
“It was a great season, coming up a little short on this one is a bummer when you get that close. It was a crazy race. I got off to a decent start, but it was chaos from there. I got around Tom [Vialle]. I had a faster pace than him at the beginning and then I got around Juju [Beaumer], but then he ran it in on me. He was doing teammate things for Tom and I wasn’t expecting it. I shouldn’t have left the door open. Then RJ [Hampshire] was coming in hot in that corner before the finish line and took us both down and I tried to fight all the way till the end to get Tom and I got close, but second place is going to have to do this season. I want to give a big shout-out to everyone. I really wanted to get this one done for the whole Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team including Mitch [Payton], but I’ll be back. I want to thank the whole Dog Pound crew, with Michael Byrne really helping me out this year. I am going to work hard for outdoors and keep this season of building going, and congrats to Tom.”
Seth Hammaker
“Today was alright, I went into free practice and had a solid session with a P4 result. All around qualifying was a little rough this weekend. I was having a hard time gelling with the track like I was in Denver. We made some suspension tweaks throughout the day that really helped going into the heat race. I was P5 going into the heat and got off to an OK start. In turn two I had a guy cross into me and land on my shoulder and back, so I went down and came from dead last to eighth. That was not the best feeling ever, but I went into the Main Event feeling comfortable, I tried to get the best start I could from the inside, but it just didn’t work out how I wanted it to. I got pinched off and was way back in the pack. Once again, I tried to make my way up as far as I could, and I got to P7. It was just one of those nights I couldn’t get a start or put it together, but the team worked really hard this week. The speed is there, everything is there, we’re just missing starts again.”
Garrett Marchbanks
“I just finished up at the last round in Salt Lake City and it was a pretty good day. My results got better every time I was on the track, and I had a really good qualifying session, the Heat Race was really solid and in the Main Event I just really need to work on my starts. That’s the biggest thing that’s holding me back right now. I faded back a little bit at the start of the Main Event and I made a couple passes ending up P10 on the night. I’m pretty happy with it, but I am looking forward to outdoors.”
Drew Adams
