Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker has been pretty good through his first four motos of his return from injury, but that streak ended at Millville when a first turn crash in moto one and a bad start in moto two left him wayyyyy back early on. Sethro did get a lot of passing points as he worked his way up to score points in what had to be a frustrating day for him and the team.
But overall, Hammaker’s been off to a strong start and last week on the PulpMX Show we had him on to talk about his return and more.
Racer X Online: Four motos in. Good starts. Running up front. I think you’re doing really well. Are you happy?
How much time did you have on the bike to get ready for RedBud? How ready were you?
I thought I heard you were only going to miss some of supercross? Or you never were?
It was pretty much done. If it would have just been my radius and ulna, I probably could have made the end of supercross. But with the scaphoid injury, that was the biggest blow in the injury for sure.
Obviously, it’s a different class, different bike. I get it. But you look at [Jason] Anderson jumping in, and he’s struggling. That’s fine, it’s going to happen. He wasn’t off nearly as long as you. Again, different bike, different competition and all that, but I’m just saying that for guys to jump in halfway through the series, it’s tough. But you’ve got to be pretty impressed. I think you’ve been riding pretty well, and your fitness seems good. It’s not easy to do, so good job.
It’s definitely been some good results. I can see you getting on the box here overall at some point. We’ve got ourselves quite a series going on right now for sure. We got to stop getting injured. You’ve got a great future ahead of you. You’re fast. Quit getting injured, dammit!
I know you know that and I’m kidding obviously, but it’s got to be a bit of a bummer for you to have these stops and starts. Have you looked at any common theme on why you get hurt when you crash or anything else? Is there anything that you’ve been trying to change?
Yeah, absolutely. Some guys have the biggest crashes and never get hurt. They just get up. So, I don't know if there’s anything that anybody can do, or anything that can change. Sometimes it’s just crappy luck. But you’re signed up for next year, right?
So, they believe in you. Kawasaki believes in you, and all of that. You’ve shown I think some speed and all that when you can stay on the track. For this year in outdoors, do you have any specific goals you want to hit, or do you just want to make it through the season, just keep riding good, and then focus on supercross for next year?
Seventh place at Millville last year. Millville coming up this weekend. You like it? It’s a good track for you, or what are your thoughts on it?
Is High Point your first?
How are you with the grates? We had Justin Cooper on talking about the grates. He’s not a fan. What about you?