Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki racer Seth Hammaker has lined up in precisely 46 AMA Supercross and Motocross events. The first race for the native of Bainbridge, Pennsylvania, came on February 20, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Hammaker placed sixth in the 250SX West main event inside Camping World Stadium. Two races later, Hammaker won his very first race, the victory coming at Arlington, Texas on March 13, 2021.
Due to injuries and setbacks along the way, Hammaker would not win again for nearly four years when it all came right at the recent 250SX East/West Showdown inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
If one looks at the arithmetic of all this, it was three years, 11 months, and 23 days between—1,456 days—between victories for one Seth Hammaker.
Over the recent off weekend and back training at the Dog Pound in Dade City, Florida before the approaching Monster Energy AMA Supercross round set for Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama, this Saturday evening, Hammaker talked about what he has been up to since the Indianapolis triumph.
“I’m in Dade City, Florida right now,” he said over the weekend. “I moved down here last November during the off-season. I made the move from California to Florida. I spent my first four years in California. When I went pro in 2021, I moved to California and was there for four years. A year or two ago, I kind of had it in my head that I wanted to make it East Coast and get back to more of where I grew up. I’m from Pennsylvania and Florida is a pretty big hot spot for training for riding and I felt like it would be a big benefit. It was something that I wanted to do, so I brought it up to the team and had an opportunity to come down here to the Dog Pound. This is where the Lawrence brothers train and they have their facility. I’ve been working with Michael Byrne, and I was just grateful and excited for the opportunity and luckily my team was allowing it and I made the move down here and it has been great ever since.”
Determined to minimize injury, reduce mistakes and to improve his on-bike riding and racing techniques, Hammaker purposely established a training base back at the Dog Pound in Florida.
“Yeah, 100-percent that’s why I came here,” explained Hammaker. “I’ve had riding coaches a little bit. Growing up, it was like I learned just off of videos and stuff like that and just rode in my backyard while growing up. I picked up on things as I went.
“Everyone has their own style, but with technique and fundamentals there were some things that I was lacking and some things that I needed to work on, and I came down here and knew that I was going to work with Michael Byrne. That was a huge point that we focused on immediately and we focused on it every day and there was a lot of old habits that I had to break. However, in order to be a fast and safe rider, the technique needs to be on point. That was a big emphasis that we worked on, and it only continues to get better as we keep working on. I feel like so far it has been a huge help and that’s just a small piece if it, but I feel like it has been huge.”
Hammaker continued on to speak of the host of injuries he has dealt with and his desire to complete a full season of competing in every race.
“Yeah, I just need to get through a full season, regardless of what the results are. Obviously, I’m a racer and I want to win super, super bad, but at the end of the day I just need laps under my belt, races, a full season of supercross and motocross and SMX to just build on something not only confidence-wise. It also builds your endurance. It’s hard when you come back from injury to build back up and then get hurt again. Just to keep everything going is a big thing for me this year. I want to keep that mindset the same no matter what the results are. Even after the win this weekend, we just want to get back to work and keep working on improving each weekend. If the win is not there, don’t do anything that is going to put me out with an injury or anything like that. That’s a big focus point this year. I just want to be healthy and to see everybody at the races every weekend.”
Hammaker has won and knows how to win.
“Yeah, and that’s a great feeling, too,” nodded the Pennsylvanian. “Especially after going so long without having a win. To get that feeling of winning again, ever since last weekend, it’s a feeling that every racer wants. It’s a confidence that you never want to get rid of. The feeling of winning is still there. It’s cool. It’s a feeling that I want to keep going.”
And of the 19-lap main East/West Showdown main event he recently raced to victory in at Indianapolis, Hammaker had plenty to reflect on.
“It felt pretty good,” offered Hammaker of his 5.766-second victory over rival Tom Vialle. “I mean I got off to a really good start and then just tried to put in some solid laps early on. I got a little bit of a gap over Tom Vialle. Honestly, from there I just tried to focus on myself. The track was really challenging with all the ruts and stuff. It kind of slowed down midway through the main event as it got rougher, and I just tried to minimize my mistakes and not worry about if Tom got a little bit closer to me or not. I just hit my marks. With five laps to go I had a big mistake, but other than that I was really a pretty smooth main event. I felt like my endurance was good. Mentally I could focus. I was really happy as all the things we’ve been working on has kind of came together. It’s one thing to practice it, but to do it means a lot.
Hammaker spoke about the feelings and emotions he has experienced between the two main event wins and the significant period of time between them.
“This one was a different feeling from the first one,” pointed out Hammaker. “The first win came so early in my career, so I feel like I was obviously super, super happy to get my first win, but this one, after so long and after so many injuries and stuff that I went through to get back to the top, was just a great feeling. It was definitely different from the first one, that’s for sure. Yeah, it was all pretty rad.”
Since he turned professional in 2021, Hammaker has been a member of the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki race team owned and operated by the one and only Mitch Payton. Through all of the highs, lows, ups and downs, the Pro Circuit outfit has had Hammaker’s back and he’s grateful for it.
“It was awesome to win for them again,” said Hammaker. “They were so pumped. Like you mentioned, Mitch has stuck behind me through so much, you know? There were a lot of injuries, but he has always had my back. It was cool to celebrate the win with the team and they were super-happy and super-proud. I’m happy for the team as much as for myself. I wanted to give back to them and they all work super-hard, so that was awesome. For Kawasaki, too. They stuck behind me. It’s pretty cool. Just that whole night we were riding that high and it was awesome to celebrate with them.”
