After sharing the red plate, first with Tom Vialle, and then with RJ Hampshire, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker came into Pittsburgh as the sole points leader. However, the Pennsylvania native’s night did not go as planned when he spun off of the gate and had to work his way up after a chaotic first couple of laps. He was able to salvage some points and now sits just one point behind Tom Vialle with one round left to go. Hammaker talked to Steve Matthes after the race to describe his wild night.
Racer X: Okay Seth Hammaker, I am sure you have been asked this a bunch, but from the start to the next few laps, what was going on?
Seth Hammaker: Oh man that was a crazy first couple of laps.
We thought something was wrong with your bike.
[Laughs] It probably looked like it. Off the start I just spun off the mesh and then was like mid pack, and then the first rhythm I got through okay. Second one on that first table I was next to [Lance] Kobusch, and he couldn’t see me, we just kind of hit. I went sideways, I went left and then my crossbar hit my helmet, and I couldn’t see. So, I am going left, and I am like “How am I still up?” because there were people behind me. And I was like, “Okay this is good” then I started going right and I’m like, “I’m still up.” Got my helmet back down, I could finally see and then the rest of that lap was just worse than that. Tried to regroup, it was pretty hectic. After that start, after that spin, just maybe panicked too much and put myself in a worse position and just had to claw my way back up. Other than that, the race was okay.
At some point your lap times were great, so you recovered nicely. But mentally you were just like “However I finish is where I finish” or no?
That’s kind of what I felt after the first two laps I was like, okay put my head down, try to get through some of these guys as safe as I could after that. Tried to regroup that way, and then my mechanic was giving me my positions and I knew [Nate] Thrasher was out front, so I was like, “That’s good.” Then I heard the crowd go wild and RJ was down. Had a couple of laps there where, maybe could put a push on him. But he regrouped pretty good and just didn’t have enough there at the end. Points are close, we are going into Salt Lake in a "Winner takes all" sort of thing.
Related: Vialle, Hammaker, and Hampshire Separated by 3 Points with One Race Left
Yeah, your position wasn’t great, but you just have to go and beat guys that you have beaten more than a few times this year.
Yeah, just go in there and try to win the thing. That’s all we can try to do. Got the west coast guys and it’ll be a crazy night like tonight probably but try to execute a good start and see where we end up.
What did you think of the split lane.
I thought it was okay. I thought the outside/inside was for the most part better all day. But I think it's cool that every now and then they switch it up. Something new, something different and I think that’s cool.
How was that 3-3 rhythm for you?
Pretty gnarly, I didn’t hit it until the last qualifier, like the couple last laps. How the transitions were, they weren’t as bad as how I thought they were from the rain. But going over the bigs is pretty gnarly. Especially because some of the ruts you hit some laps they don’t throw you the same so you either over jump it or case it, so you just have to be aware. It was pretty challenging, but I thought the race track overall tonight was a good one.
Alright one more to go, if someone had told you at the beginning of the year you’d be in this position, you’d take it right?
I’ll take it for sure. We have a great shot at this thing, so I am just grateful to be in it.
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tom Vialle | Avignon, France  | 180 |
| 2 |  Seth Hammaker | Bainbridge, PA  | 177 |
| 3 |  R.J. Hampshire | Hudson, FL | 173 |
| 4 |  Nate Thrasher | Livingston, TN | 137 |
| 5 |  Cullin Park | Clermont, FL | 131 |
