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00:002.50 main. We're back in New Jersey. Let's do it.
00:06This could have a big impact on how the championship looks.
00:09Leaving here, it's Nate Thrasher on the inside.
00:13He's done what he did in his heat.
00:16Oh, a repeat. These first couple laps are going to be so important,
00:21especially for Seth Hammacher in front of RJ Hampshire
00:25with the water being laid down, takes the lead.
00:28Whoa, look at that. Hammacher, that was awesome.
00:32Thrasher, and then RJ Hampshire in the mix.
00:36Fial gives himself a better chance,
00:38and Austin Forkner is in the mix on the triumph.
00:40Incredible pass by Seth Hammacher to go up that inside,
00:45make the move on the 41 of Nate Thrasher.
00:48It'll be interesting these next couple laps,
00:52see if the 56 of Hammacher can build a gap,
00:55almost loses it at the exit of the whoops.
00:59Look at the difference. Look at the different style going through the whoops.
01:02Nate Thrasher is on the attack.
01:05Championship leader up against the championship hopeful.
01:09Thrasher's back in sixth in the points and needs another win.
01:13He won in Birmingham earlier in the year.
01:15This would be phenomenal if he could come back.
01:19Wow, Seth looking very good.
01:21Greases that triple into the corner.
01:23A nice apex through the 90.
01:27Riding right in his zone,
01:29defending any counter attack from the 41 of Thrasher.
01:33Oh, no!
01:34That's Chance Hymus, is it?
01:35Yep.
01:38Oh, no.
01:40Remember, he's coming off of an ACL repair.
01:43He had a slow start to the season.
01:45Basically, he got no riding in the offseason.
01:48Another bobble by the 56 of Hammacher.
01:51Just going too fast in the whoops.
01:53Misses one with his front end.
01:54Nice save.
01:55Look at this.
01:56Nate Thrasher is feeling good.
01:59That hand has healed well.
02:01He's feeling strong and is on the attack
02:05up against the championship co-leader.
02:09Yellow flags out right now.
02:11Just proceed with caution.
02:12They can still jump the rhythm lanes.
02:16I like these lines that Jorge was talking about.
02:18That inside is going to be multiple lines.
02:21That was a great view of that.
02:23You may have noticed Hymus off to the side of the track
02:26in the hands of the Alpinestar medical unit.
02:28Here is the UFO pass moment of the race early on.
02:34Watch bike 10.
02:35I'm watching 10, yep.
02:36Oh, he comes up short.
02:37As he comes up short,
02:38he starts to lean the bike to initiate the turn,
02:41and he isn't perfectly squared up
02:43when he comes short and just high sides.
02:47Oh, that happens so fast.
02:52The guy who was fourth in points at the drop of the gate
02:55and certainly wasn't counting himself out of being a title contender.
02:59But JT, that certainly hurts his chances.
03:02Yeah, they're in that exact section.
03:04You see Nate Thrasher land on that very triple.
03:06And the tough part of that is you want to land right on the downside
03:10because they immediately have to turn right and set up for that next triple.
03:13So you'd be, you know, wondering why would Chance Hymus cut it so close?
03:17Why would he land right on the edge?
03:18Well, it almost has to to make that corner.
03:21And that's how tight the margins are in Monster.
03:24Your supercross to go a little bit too long, guess what?
03:26You're off the racetrack, come a little bit too short, and you're over the handlebars.
03:29Right, and exactly what JT was saying too.
03:32As he started to try to make that 90-degree corner,
03:35if he's angled just a little bit and he doesn't land on the backside,
03:40it's so easy to high side like that.
03:43Hopefully, he's going to be okay.
03:45Remember, he just wanted to get through the supercross season
03:48and contend for the promoter cross championship.
03:51And hopefully, he'll be all right.
03:53But man, this is a battle.
03:56Oh, you see the 56 of Hamaker.
03:59That could have easily happened to him as well.
04:02Just got a report that Chance Hymus, there it is.
04:05He's off and up the tunnel, out of this race.
04:08And we'll see him next week in Pittsburgh.
04:11Meanwhile, heading back to his home state next week is the race leader, Seth Hamaker.
04:15It is hugely emotional and important for him to be racing here in the Northeast
04:20where he grew up well, and he is in the form of his career.
04:24And it's a renaissance of sorts.
04:27I spoke at the top of the show there about how he's just had a career
04:30that has just been a string of injuries.
04:33And the big change to that, he made a move to Florida from California,
04:36got a new trainer.
04:37He's training with the Lawrence brothers, Jet and Hunter and their dad
04:41and his trainer, Michael Byrne, and it's made all the difference.
04:44And when I tried to get Seth to zone in on, whoa, those differences were.
04:47He said, when I used to make mistakes before,
04:49it's like my riding technique wasn't great and they would get amplified
04:52and I would end up on the ground.
04:53That would result in the injuries.
04:55He said, we've eliminated so much of that.
04:58We've seen so many saves, if you want to call them that,
05:01out of Seth Hamaker since that.
05:02These tracks are tough, but he seems to handle them extremely well.
05:06Here's the man who was pressuring Hamaker earlier.
05:15Nate Thrasher, after a super heat racing start, has dropped back somewhat.
05:23Championship points updated, bottom left of your screen.
05:26And Seth Hamaker would take the lead to Pittsburgh next week
05:29by three points over Hampshire.
05:32Watch the second bike and rider.
05:34Watch Thrasher to the right of your screen.
05:36Oh, no, he goes down.
05:38And then RJ, great heads up riding.
05:42Hate that for Thrasher.
05:44You know, from the Hamaker standpoint, Thrasher was in the perfect spot,
05:49building the buffer between Seth and RJ.
05:53Add a little bit of a points gap.
05:56That's going to close things up, possibly.
05:59Actually, no.
06:01It stays the same three-point ad for Hamaker.
06:04And what Will was saying, just watching the progression
06:07and the improvements that Seth has made where years passed,
06:10he probably would have overridden and not pulled back.
06:13And that's what he said in the offseason, told us,
06:15knowing when those moments are, to go for it and maybe not go back for it.
06:20Be more reserved.
06:21And he's been able to do that all season long, it seems like.
06:24And it's been incredible to watch.
06:26Here's the 24-year-old Frenchman Tom Vial, the reigning champion in the East Division,
06:30aboard his Red Bull KTM.
06:33He's going to be watching his teammate, Chase Sexton,
06:35try and get back-to-back wins here shortly when the 450s line up.
06:38But Tom's got his own business to take care of.
06:40There is Chase warming up on the stationary bike.
06:43And Vial said, look, it's as simple as this.
06:45After having three consecutive podiums to finish last in Foxborough
06:50and then sixth last weekend in Philly is far from ideal.
06:54But I'm still in the championship, Chase.
06:56I can't believe it, but I still am.
06:58I'll take that.
06:59He's going to bleed some more points here,
07:01even though he's on the podium at the moment with eight minutes plus a lap to go.
07:05It's kind of heading in the wrong direction as the rounds wind down.
07:10It is, sadly.
07:11But as they start to come up through the lappers,
07:14maybe that will help him make some time up.
07:16RJ isn't far from him, was it?
07:20So it's still a fighting chance for Tom.
07:23And it just seems like he had more of a speed.
07:26He had more speed last year.
07:27It was closer to his contenders, the guys that he was racing for.
07:30But, again, these guys have three more rounds left,
07:33or two more rounds after this race,
07:35with including a showdown at the season finale
07:38of Monster Energy Supercross in Salt Lake.
07:40Showdowns when the East Division and West Division come together.
07:43That's what we enjoyed most recently.
07:45By the way, we're over the halfway mark.
07:47Quick reminder to stock up on Monster Energy drinks.
07:49Available at 7.11.
07:51I want to give a shout-out to Austin Faulkner.
07:53He's in the top five on the Triumph.
07:56That would be his season-best result.
07:58He's ahead of Cullen Park, Maxwell, and Devin Simonson,
08:02who, by the way, had his equal-best heat result earlier today.
08:07Miller is in the top ten after that big crash,
08:10being forced to the LCQ.
08:12And then coming back, here's Austin Faulkner on the 83.
08:17You saw that special Alpine Star technology to protect the rider when it inflated,
08:22to protect his upper torso and back area.
08:25Well, this is a great run for this man right here,
08:28number 83, Austin Faulkner, on that Triumph racing machine.
08:32And he had a major surgery in the off-season,
08:36coming back from a gnarly crash last year as well.
08:40And confidence banged up.
08:43But he came here today, had a great qualifying session earlier on,
08:51had good speed in the heat race.
08:54Well, look, I think when the Triumph executives turn up, Ricky,
08:57the good results come.
08:58When Jordan Smith won earlier in the year, they were there.
09:01Paul Stroud from Triumph in the UK is here,
09:04and Austin's putting up his season-best result.
09:08It's going well so far, Weege, for Faulkner.
09:14It is going well for Faulkner, not going so well, unfortunately,
09:17for the heat race winner, Chance Heimus.
09:18He saw that crash.
09:19He did get back to the pit and walk off under his own power.
09:22His mechanic, Tommy Harris, says he's banged up, but otherwise okay.
09:25Hopefully we get him back next weekend in Pittsburgh.
09:29Yeah, hopefully he's all right.
09:31It's so frustrating when you're working towards a goal.
09:34You just want to get through the Supercross season healthy
09:37and set your sights on the Promotocross Championship.
09:41And then one little slip up.
09:46I think that if Austin's able to continue this fantastic ride,
09:50this is something that he'll be able to build on.
09:52Whoa, that was close.
09:54Again, very similar to what Heimus did.
09:56Comes up a little short.
09:57Bike isn't perfectly straight.
09:59Wants to pitch him off as a high side crash.
10:02But going back, I think if he able to finish this ride off,
10:05it's something that he can build on and continue to get that confidence back.
10:08This is a kid that was at one stage in 2019, I believe,
10:14had won the first five or six rounds.
10:17He blows his ACL out in Nashville.
10:21And that's when Chase Sexton got his first regional championship.
10:25Sexton was in second at the time.
10:31Let's go a little further ahead to RJ Hampshire.
10:34Aboard the Rockstar Energy Factory Husqvarna.
10:38Sits just under four seconds behind race leader Seth Hamaker,
10:41who he came into this race tied with in the championship.
10:45So RJ will leave here in position state as is.
10:49Three points adrift of Hamaker.
10:51And RJ was able to win that 250 West Division championship last year.
10:56He did it in probably the hardest atmosphere to be able to do that.
11:01What I mean by that, whoever wins wins the championship.
11:04He just edged out Levi Kitchen.
11:07And it was so cool to see RJ be able to do that, Will.
11:11It was incredible, wasn't it, Ricky?
11:13Just one of the most determined athletes you are ever going to meet.
11:17And to that point, he came into this season with a wrist injury,
11:20hardware in his wrist from breaking it.
11:22And he's had to tape it up just to get through the races all season long.
11:26But what that's done is it's had an effect on how he has had to set up his bike.
11:30He's wanted a softer set up in order to go easy on that wrist.
11:33But the Supercross tracks, they require a stiffer set up.
11:36So trying to find that balance for RJ has just been an extra challenge.
11:39Well, you talk about suspension and finding that balance.
11:43And suspension, everything is a compromise.
11:45When Jason Wygant was giving us that, showing us the valves and the volume of oil
11:50that they push going through on a standard setting, a production setting,
11:55versus the volume of oil it pushes from a factory setting.
11:59And, you know, it's a fine balance of having enough compression, stiff compression,
12:04to carry the speed and the stiffness through the rhythm lanes and the whoops,
12:08but also having the bike soft enough to where you get good drive
12:12and you create as much lateral grip as possible to where you have some comfort
12:17and gives you the comfort of being able to twist that throttle.
12:22And RC, just like that, there's only 2 minutes 40 seconds plus a lap to go
12:27for Seth Hamaker aboard that Monster Engine Pro Circuit Kawasaki.
12:32Here he is.
12:33If he stays out in front and wins this main event,
12:36he'll become the first multi-event winner this year in the East Division.
12:41Hayden Deegan has two wins in the West Division,
12:44but it's been a different winner every time out, and Cole Davies does as well.
12:48And so for Seth Hamaker, this is going to be something really special,
12:52and he will hold the lead of the championship by himself.
12:56He's been in a tie the last two rounds, first with Vial, then with Hampshire.
13:02He will be the sole championship leader in several minutes' time.
13:06Yeah, just a couple more laps. You've got to stay engaged,
13:09not get ahead of yourself, be thinking too far ahead.
13:12You've got to stay present and in the moment, especially as it gets late in this race.
13:16This is when the track starts getting more difficult.
13:19You can see the whoops, they're starting to jump through them
13:22where they were blitzing them earlier.
13:24Then it seems like this whoops section right here has a long rut through the middle.
13:28Oh, hold on to it. See, that's what I'm talking about.
13:32So still a lot of racing left on a difficult track.
13:39That would be awesome if Seth was able to be the first repeat winner in the East Coast Division.
13:45Six guys like you were talking about, like a coupe down there at the bottom.
13:49Webb is gearing up for the 450 main,
13:52and continue his fight with Chase Sexton.
13:56But we're not done with yet with the 250 main event.
13:58A minute to go plus a lap.
14:00Hey, a little further back is Devon Simonson.
14:02He showed us some great speed earlier this morning.
14:05And then he went on with it in his heat.
14:08And here he is running eighth, which would be a career best equaling position.
14:14So it's going nicely. And his teammate Max Voland is in seventh.
14:18So, solid day. Here comes the race leader to lap him.
14:20Around goes Hammacher through the second portion of the whoops.
14:24With the clock counting down.
14:26I think Seth might make it to the checkered flag just before the countdown clock gets to zero.
14:36So then he'll have two more laps to go.
14:38It's making him earn it a little bit more.
14:40That's right.
14:42Maybe had Headcon's mechanic would be like, slow down just one second.
14:47So you don't have to do another extra lap.
14:54It has been significantly warmer today than recent rounds.
14:59And the clock, there was still time left on the clock.
15:01So it will be two more laps for Hammacher.
15:03Ricky, what about the heat and affecting the physical, the physicality for the riders?
15:08And how that drains them?
15:09Yeah, definitely a lot hotter than where it's been.
15:12And I think it plays a part, especially when these guys have their qualifying practice earlier in the day.
15:18The heat is there.
15:19So they're exerting more energy.
15:21So maybe there's going to be some more fatigue factor.
15:24So the stronger guys have some better endurance, high intensity endurance as well.
15:29Might be able to last, say, a few laps longer, a few minutes longer, which goes a long ways in Monster Energy Supercross.
15:36So for sure, fitness becoming a premium today.
15:43Man, look at the tracks getting down to the plywood there.
15:46Oh, yeah.
15:51Seth Hamaka says, show me that white flag.
15:53One more lap to go here inside MetLife Stadium.
15:58Wow.
15:59So great for an athlete like this who took him four years to win another race, close to four years to win another race after his first one.
16:10To be able to stick with it, never give up, is just incredible.
16:16It's incredible.
16:17And he's flying the flag for his team, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki, which has been plagued this year by injury after injury.
16:25And riders sidelined, unfortunately.
16:27They're in recovery mode, getting ready for pro motocross portion of the season.
16:31Meanwhile, this guy here has remained resilient, confident.
16:36He has this sense of calm about him instead of sort of rushing or a sense of urgency about him.
16:42He's like, I've got this.
16:44That win in Indianapolis did so much for Seth Hamaka and his confidence and the big picture story.
16:51Seth Hamaka wins in New Jersey.
16:54He was excited about this Northeast sweep.
16:57And now he takes the lead of the championship all alone.
17:01RJ Hamshire, Tom Villar following home.
17:04But Seth Hamaka, you've done it again.
17:07That's two wins in this 2025 season.
17:12Straight up.
17:14Gets into the lead earlier.