Image: Octopi Media.

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki press release:

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki earned back-to-back wins thanks to the breakout ride from Seth Hammaker, who captured his very first win during his rookie season inside AT&T Stadium. The win from Hammaker marked the second straight race for first-time winners, including teammate Cameron McAdoo’s first win last weekend in Daytona. McAdoo joined his teammate on the podium with a hard-fought third-place finish and extended his points lead, while Jordon Smith ended the night early and was credited 22nd.

Hammaker looked impressive all day and started with a second in qualifying. That was the confidence-booster he needed as Hammaker went out and won his first heat race. With another great start in the main event, Hammaker led the field at the start of the race and was able to hold off any pressure from behind to take his very first win in only his third professional race.

“That was the longest race of my life,” said Hammaker. “I was just trying to think about hitting my lines clean and getting to the end. I’m so stoked on this. To start the season, my first goal was to get into the top five and I have felt like I’ve had the speed but circumstances kept me from hitting that goal. But now we checked off a win and it’s hard to not want more. Getting that start really helped and hopefully, we can do it again on Tuesday.”

After securing his first win and the points lead last weekend in Daytona, McAdoo was looking for a good showing to keep the momentum going. He finished second in his heat race, but his main event start pushed him outside the top 10. He made quick work and was into fourth by Lap 3. McAdoo inherited third after his teammate went down and pushed his way towards the front runners. He held off pressure from behind and was able to finish with his third consecutive podium and extend his points lead to six.

“That was a hard-fought one,” said McAdoo. “I made a mistake on the start and I was buried. I was happy with parts of how I rode and not really happy with others. I got to third and couldn’t make anything happen beyond that. Everyone was riding really good, but super happy with the points lead. There is so much work that goes into being in this place and we won’t take a solid finish for granted.”

Smith had a good start to the day in Arlington with a fourth-place result in qualifying. He finished just behind his teammate Hammaker in second during his heat race. Smith got a great start in the main event and was running in second in the opening laps. He fell back to third but was holding steady until he slid out on Lap 7 and was unable to continue.