Seth Hammaker Out for Loretta Lynn's

July 28, 2020, 5:40pm

Hurricane Mills, TN AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship (Loretta Lynn's)Amateur National Motocross Championship

Team Green Kawasaki's Seth Hammaker will not be racing the upcoming 2020 Monster Energy Loretta Lynn's Amateur National Championship next week and provided an update today as to why. The Pennsylvania native has returned home to recover from what has now been diagnosed as Epstein-Barr Virus and thus will also not be attempting any of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship either.

Hammaker was discussed as a potential fill-in for either Austin Forkner, Jordon Smith, or Garrett Marchbanks at Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki for the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship after all three riders were hurt during supercross. Now we know why he wasn't ever considered an option for Mitch Payton to plug and play.

Read the full update from Hammaker below:

View this post on Instagram
Hello everyone, with Loretta’s coming up I wanted to provide you with an update on why I unfortunately won’t be racing. After the Spring Nationals in March when everything shut down, my focus had been on being ready to compete in the outdoor nationals when the time came and to accomplish my goals of winning at Loretta Lynn’s to finish off my amateur career. At the end of May I all of a sudden began feeling very weak and fatigued which made it difficult to continue with my riding and training. I raced my regional qualifier the first week of June to make sure I had a spot for Loretta’s but immediately returned home to Pennsylvania to get some answers. Unfortunately I was diagnosed with Epstein Barr Virus, but the good news was that we caught it early and I did not continue wearing my body down. I’ve been at home recovering and making progress to overcome the virus in order to get better as quickly as possible. It’s disappointing to miss racing Loretta Lynn’s, but as I look towards my transition to professional racing in 2021, I know it’s more important to make the right choices now and make sure I’m ready to give it my best effort. I appreciate the support from @racekawasaki and @pcraceteam in helping me make this decision and looking out for my future. I want to say good luck to my Team Green teammates and friends racing at Loretta’s. Can’t wait to get back at it and see everyone at the races.
A post shared by Seth Hammaker (@sethhammaker_510) on Jul 28, 2020 at 1:48pm PDT

*Main image courtesy of Andrew Fredrickson.

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