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MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI SCORES TWO PODIUMS IN THE TREACHEROUS PHILADELPHIA MUD
Pennsylvania’s own Monster Energy® Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Seth Hammaker displayed a gritty, determined ride to battle his way to a podium position in the treacherous mud-soaked conditions of Philadelphia for Round 15 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. Teammate Nick Romano scored his first career heat race win in commanding fashion and, while fighting the elements in the main event, secured 14th place. Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green™ rider, Kade Johnson, put his KX™250 on the box to score second in the SMX Next AMA National Championship, while teammate Vincent Wey missed the event due to an injury sustained while prepping for Philadelphia. Both Monster Energy Kawasaki riders battled through adversity in the main event as Chase Sexton took home seventh place and Garrett Marchbanks secured ninth.
In 250SX Qualifying, Hammaker set the pace in the class. Although losing his fastest lap in the second session due to cutting the track, his time from the first session kept him on top to secure fastest qualifier. Romano improved his time in the second session, shaving over a second off his time to secure one of his best qualifying positions with eighth overall.
As the riders boarded the gate for the heat races, it began to downpour and continued throughout the entire night, creating a very sticky, slick, and challenging track.
In 250 Heat 1, Romano rocketed out of the gate, maneuvering his KX™250 through the tight first turn in second, then quickly moving into first place a few turns later. Romano’s quick pass into the lead allowed him an open track, giving him the best vision to race to the checkered flag. The No. 141 Kawasaki celebrated his first career heat race win as he crossed the finish line.
In 250 Heat 2, Hammaker pulled a strong start, placing him in the Top 3 through the first turn. He quickly moved into the lead on Lap 1 and controlled the race through the finish line. Hammaker matched his teammate’s heat race win, giving both Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders ideal gate picks for the main event.
With the rain showing no sign of letting up, the organizers shortened both the 250 and 450 Main Events by three minutes, while the SMX Next Main Event was cut down to only six minutes in length.
In the 250 Main Event, Hammaker pulled a commanding holeshot, but through the first rhythm section, he got cross-rutted off the face of a jump that caused him to go down. Covered in mud, the No. 10 Kawasaki regrouped and focused on getting back to the front. Midway through the race, a downed rider forced a red flag, putting the field back together in a staggered restart, which allowed the riders a moment to clean themselves off for better grip and vision. In the restart, Hammaker was 11th, and Romano 22nd after going down in the opening laps. As the green flag flew, Hammaker pushed to get back to the front, quickly moving from 11th to fourth, and a couple of laps later into third. With the field already too spread out, Hammaker settled for a third-place podium finish in front of his home crowd. Meanwhile, Romano used the restart to his advantage by passing half the field, but the sticky mud would cause him to go down again, fighting his way back to finish 14th on the night. Despite a hard-fought battle in the 250 Eastern Divisional Championship, Hammaker’s championship campaign would end in Philadelphia as the championship was clinched early by the current points leader.
In SMX Next Qualifying, Kade Johnson bettered his time in the second session to grab second overall, only four hundredths of a second behind the top qualifying spot. In the SMX Next Main Event, Johnson nearly pulled the holeshot aboard his KX™250. The No. 177 Kawasaki quickly settled into second place, while keeping his eyes on the leader. Johnson clicked off solid laps throughout the muddy race and crossed the finish line in second place.
In 450SX Qualifying, Sexton pushed his KX™450SR machine as he recorded faster times lap after lap. The No. 4 Kawasaki swapped positions in the Top 3 through the second session before ultimately qualifying third overall. As the track continued to develop and the rain began to come down, Marchbanks bettered his time in the second session to put him 16th overall.
In 450 Heat 1, Marchbanks got off to a midpack start but quickly moved his way into the Top 5 by the midway point. With track conditions incredibly slick and challenging, the field was very spread out, making it difficult to make up any ground on the competition. Marchbanks continued pushing forward but was unable to make up the gap, settling for a solid fifth-place finish.
In 450 Heat 2, Sexton got a less-than-ideal start, placing him midpack. The No. 4 Kawasaki pushed through the treacherous conditions to move forward. While fighting to make up time on his competition, Sexton set the fastest lap of the race and crossed the finish line in seventh place.
In the 450 Main Event, Sexton and Marchbanks pulled less-than-ideal starts in 20th and 17th, respectively. The pair would charge through the field, passing an impressive amount of riders, but both would face separate challenges in the process. Sexton had made up places and was fighting for a Top 5 before he found himself down with several other riders in the rhythm section, dropping him back to 12th midway through the race. Undeterred, Sexton remounted and began laying down 1:03 laptimes that matched that of the leaders to fight past as many riders as possible. Marchbanks became tangled with other riders but was able to fight back and salvage 10th place as he charged past seven riders through the treacherous conditions. After the race, Marchbanks’ finishing position was adjusted to ninth as the rider in front of him was penalized three positions for cutting the track. Despite Sexton’s setback, he was able to pass 13 riders to finish the night in seventh place.
“I’m definitely a little bummed. I had big title hopes, but I was up against a tough competitor, so credit to Cole [Davies] and his team. I feel like I took a big step forward this year, even if it doesn’t always show in the results. I’ve been riding well and staying consistent, but I just didn’t have everything fall into place the way I wanted. I actually felt pretty comfortable in the conditions tonight. I was trying to be loose with the bike and not try to fight where it wanted to go too much. I got off to a great start in the main event, but went down early and had to fight from way back. I was hurting pretty bad after I went down, but I’m happy to come away with another podium, especially here at home. It means a lot. Big thanks to my whole team, my family, and everyone who supports me. We’ll go into Salt Lake looking to end this thing strong.”
- Seth Hammaker
“It was a good day here in Philadelphia. I qualified eighth when the track was dry, which I was happy about. Then the skies opened up, and it started raining pretty heavily. I was able to get my first career heat race win in the mud, so I was ecstatic with that. I know it's just a heat race win, but a win's a win. It's been a long time since I've won something, so I was stoked on that. I got off to a so-so start in the main event. I unfortunately hit someone and went down on the first lap, putting me in last. I made a good charge, but then they restarted it, and I went from last to ninth again. Then I went down yet again and ended up in 14th. It was a so-so day, but I’m really happy with the progress, even though it was in the mud with the win. I’ll just keep trucking along and we'll be at it for Salt Lake.”
- Nick Romano
“I qualified better here in Philadelphia, qualifying third. Then it started raining, so it was a bit chaotic after that. I had a bad start in the heat race and just tried to make it through. In the main event, I had another bad start. I made it up to around seventh, and then I fell, and I went back to around 12th, and then just worked my way back to seventh. I actually rode a decent race, just a bad start and a fall kept me from the podium. We’ll go back to work. The team is coming back to Florida this week, and we plan to make some progress and get ready for Denver."
- Chase Sexton
“Philadelphia was a bit up and down, but I was happy to end it on a good note in the main event. Qualifying was OK I was just trying to do my laps and get comfortable in the first session. In the second session, I felt like I had some solid laps. I didn’t get the lap time I wanted, but I was able to feel more comfortable on the bike and felt really good going into the heat race. I went into the heat race with an OK start, just put my laps in and got into fifth, and rode my own race from there. In the main event, I had two big mistakes. I stalled the bike and got tangled up with some guys, and just charged from last to 10th. There were two guys in front of me the last two laps, and I tried to make a pass, but I couldn’t quite make it happen. I wish the night had gone a bit better, but I’m happy to be back in the Top 10 again.”
- Garrett Marchbanks