Both Seth Hammaker and Jo Shimoda need points to swing their direction in 250SX East Division title fight before series' leader Cole Davies really opens this up. A championship-defining swing could start as early as this weekend, with the second 250SX East/West Showdown of the season—just two weeks after the first one in Alabama. Davies, Hammaker, and Shimoda were three of the top four riders in the Birmingham showdown—could that be the case again? Or will 250SX West Division riders slot in and mix up the points?
With finishes of 5-2-1-1-1, Davies has established himself as the rider to beat. Hammaker experienced a title fight firsthand last year when he took the East Division battle down to the last round. Similarly, Shimoda knows what it takes from his title-clinching title run at the Monster Energy SuperMotocross World Championship Finals in Las Vegas, where he captured the 250SMX title over Haiden Deegan. Will their experience trump Davies’ raw speed? The young New Zealand native has proved he is mentally tough, as well.
The biggest separator, however, has been the whoops—where Davies has held a clear advantage over the entire field. Hammaker has improved his bike setup and technique but knows Davies will be tough to top in the whoops right now.
“Yeah, I've been way better in that area, but it's tough when you've got Cole hitting them as good as he does and the worse they get, I feel like the better he gets in them,” Hammaker said. “Don't want to talk about that too much, though. I feel like a lot of racing left and we'll be just fine.”
Shimoda, third in Michigan, was not thrilled with is ride, saying in the post-race media scrum:
“Yeah, just like what I said on the podium, honestly, there's nothing good about it today. I was slow, just couldn't figure it out. Yeah, just didn't make a smart decision. Yeah, nothing to really talk about.”
![Seth Hammaker]()
Seth Hammaker Align Media ![Seth Hammaker]()
Seth Hammaker Align Media
Hammaker rebounded from a heat race crash to finish second in the main event. All things considered, his P2 is much better than his average of 19th in his previous two starts in Ford Field (a 21st in 2024 and a 17th in 2025). But he was leading when Nate Thrasher crashed out in the whoops and then Davies tracked him down and blasted away, winning by over 12 seconds. Davies physically caught, battled, and pulled away from Hammaker and Shimoda both on the track Saturday and in the championship standings.
“Definitely not ideal to start off the night like that,” Hammaker said of his heat race crash. “Felt really good but just went a little bit deep on that last triple at the end of the rhythm section. Hand came off and then kind of had to eject from the bike, went over the bars. Got pretty banged up but nothing like too major. And just had to reset, stay calm. Glad to bounce back the way we did. It was a good finish for what I’ve been here in the past.”
Once Davies got by, Hammaker played it smart.
“Yeah, once Cole got around me, I tried to see if he was doing anything different or where he was going in the whoops,” he said, “I got stuck with the lapper then kind of lost tow to him and after that had a couple moments in the whoops and then just kind of rode in to second. Didn't do anything too crazy and didn't want to make a big mistake and put myself behind. Glad I was able to kind of mentally put myself in that position and not ask too much out of it. That was smart riding by me. It’s tough because you want to win so bad, but sometimes you just got to take it for what it is.”
![Jo Shimoda]()
Jo Shimoda Align Media ![Jo Shimoda and Cole Davies]()
Jo Shimoda and Cole Davies Align Media ![Jo Shimoda]()
Jo Shimoda Align Media
Shimoda would have likely landed fourth on the night had Coty Schock—who passed him—not crashed in the whoops. The Honda HRC Progressive rider knows he needs to go for wins from here on out.
“My plan was to…we're five rounds in now, and I think this is the halfway point for the East Coast, so I need to step it up,” he said. “I need to go for the wins now. We were getting better, and today we went backwards. Honestly, I just need to do better. I was 15, 20 seconds off from the leaders today, so it just wasn't it—you can't win it like this.”
“We did a lot of bike tests…actually we did a test this last week in a new direction and hoping that it was gonna work today but just couldn't find the comfort,” Shimoda explained. “The track was pretty jumpy today and had massive whoops, really cupped out. And yeah, just was uncomfortable. I think I need to get better in those, making better decisions. The tool's there, but I'm not using it correctly, so I think it's on me.”
They both know this weekend’s St. Louis SX showdown could be a key turning point. You never know what can happen in showdowns. Remember when Kawasaki had both Levi Kitchen and Cameron McAdoo in their respective championship leads at the 2024 Nashville SX showdown, only for them to crash into each other? Neither end up winning their title that year? Weird things could happen!
“Great opportunity next weekend, another East/West,” Hammaker said. “The goal would be to win that and put West finishers, or whoever, between me and Cole. It's a good opportunity to gain more points, but you can lose them as well, so just need to execute.”
Shimoda echoed the significance of what a showdown could do for him.
“I think the showdown is the most opportunity for the situation I'm in right now,” Shimoda said. “So yeah, next week we really have to lock in and we have to deliver. I gotta step it up and perform better.”
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Cole Davies | Waitoki, New Zealand  | 114 |
| 2 |  Seth Hammaker | Bainbridge, PA  | 105 |
| 3 |  Jo Shimoda | Suzuka, Japan  | 100 |
| 4 |  Daxton Bennick | Morganton, NC | 87 |
| 5 |  Coty Schock | Dover, DE | 77 |
