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Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki press release:

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Cameron McAdoo had a great day inside Camping World Stadium to start the Western Regional 250SX Championship, scoring a heat race win and a second-place finish aboard his Kawasaki KX250. Rookie Seth Hammaker impressed in his first-ever professional race, grabbing second in his heat and riding strong in the main to start the season off with a sixth-place finish. Teammate Jordon Smith took away several positives from the day, despite retiring early from the main event following a crash, scoring him 20th.

There are always unknowns about where you stack up when showing up to Round 1, but McAdoo was confident he was capable of turning out a podium finish. He battled with his teammate Hammaker in his heat, where he would take the win.

In the main event, McAdoo got out to a great start in second, but a red flag forced a full restart. On the second start, he was pushed back to fifth after the first turn and quickly pushed his way up to second by Lap 3. He tried to make a push for the leader but was a little too far back by the time he got to second and had to settle for runner-up.

“Tonight was a great way to start the season and we are in a good position going forward,” said McAdoo. “It feels good to see all our hard work pay off. We’ll keep at it over the next two weeks and come out swinging in Daytona.”

In his professional debut, Hammaker was turning heads as he showed both speed and composure on the track. That speed was highlighted when he led the first few laps of his heat race where he would finish second behind his teammate McAdoo.

Even with all the chaos in the opening laps of the main event, Hammaker was right there with the front runners and putting in good laps. On the restart he was seventh and used the race to find a good rhythm to keep. He went down on Lap 4 due to another rider, but managed to get up and keep pushing to race to a sixth-place finish in his debut.

“I can’t say I wasn’t nervous with it being my first supercross race, but I felt like I handled it well,” said Hammaker. “I felt good all day and qualified second which I was happy about. It was nice to be able to get the holeshot and lead some laps in my heat race where I got second. The main event was wild and I already had to do my first restart. I got a decent start in the main and then got taken out on Lap 4. I got up and never gave up to get back up to sixth. Not bad for a fall and working my way up. Definitely something to build off of.”

The opening round was going to be a test for Smith who had hurt his wrist in the off-season. He felt good all day and finished his heat race in fifth. Smith’s first start wasn’t what he hoped for and nearly escaped the carnage after the first turn. Smith’s second start was perfect, almost grabbing the holeshot and sliding into second. He was running with the leader but on Lap 3 went down in the whoops and was unable to return, scoring him 20th on the night.

“The end result wasn’t what I was looking to accomplish in this first round, but thankfully I’m okay and just a little banged up,” said Smith. “The whole day was going great and I just lost some of the needed strength for the whoops. I have a lot of positives to build on and I’m thankful I was able to walk away okay.”