SALT LAKE CITY, Utah: Haiden Deegan dominated the East / West Showdown in the Supercross finale, but that is not where fans’ eyes were glued.
“That was wild,” Deegan said. “I just heard bikes revving behind me and thought, oh my god, they are going at it. I saw Seth [Hammaker] for a moment and then he was gone, and I thought, oh now, they got into it.”
The 250 East Championship was hotly contested with Tom Vialle settling into second early, fading in the middle of the race, and inheriting the lead when RJ Hampshire cleaned out Hammaker as they race for second.
With a handful of laps remaining Hammaker put himself in a position to win the championship. He battled with Julien Beaumer for second, but Beaumer, Vialle’s teammate with Red Bull KTM, had an incentive to race hard. Both riders had a good advantage on Hampshire at the time, but when Beaumer pressed Hammaker hard in a turn, things began to fall apart. One lap later, Beaumer slowed and gave the position back, but that stalled the momentum of both riders and allowed Hampshire to get on Hammaker’s back tire.
With the race winding down, Hampshire saw the position he needed to tie Hammaker in points, but that would not be enough. The tiebreaker of the most wins was in Hammaker’s favor. Hampshire rode into the turn immediately in front of the finish line jump and cleaned Hammaker out. Unfortunately, he went down as well.
Hammaker remounted first, but the damage was done. Vialle got around both riders and put himself back in championship contention.
“It was a great season,” Hammaker said. “I came up a little short, which is a bummer when you come that close. That was a crazy race. I got off to a great start and it was just chaos from there. ... I got around [Julien] and he kind of ran up on me; a teammate thing. Then RJ was coming in hot in that corner before the finish line and just took us both down.”
Hammaker will have next year to battle for a 250 championship again; Hampshire will make the move to the 450 division in two weeks at Fox Raceway in Pala, California.
“I had a great start,” Vialle said after the race. “My first five or six laps were great. I was feeling good, thinking this was mine. Then I started to make a few mistakes and Seth and RJ got me. They got a little gap and my only chance was that, if something happened, and that is what happened tonight.”
Beaumer re-inherited second with the Hammaker vs. Hampshire incident.
Vialle finished third.
Fourth-place Hammaker and Michael Mosiman rounded out the top five.
250 East / West Showdown Results
In Race Notes
Haiden Deegan got the holeshot with Tom Vialle and Seth Hammaker running second and third.
Hammaker and Vialle are separated by one point. Hampshire’s poor gate pick contributed to a seventh-place position on Lap 1.
Hammaker bobbled and was passed by Julien Beaumer on Lap 2.
Hampshire moved up to fifth on Lap 6 and had Hammaker in sight, three seconds ahead.
Now Beaumer is up to second, which brought Hammaker back into contact with Vialle.
Hammaker takes Vialle on Lap 9. If Vialle cannot respond, Hammaker will be the champ.
Hampshire gets around Vialle on Lap 11. Hampshire is flying, but may not have time to catch Hammaker.
Meanwhile, Deegan and Beaumer continue to run 1-2.
Hammaker had the position on Beaumer, but the door is slammed and Hammaker also goes down. This allows Hampshire to close.
Beaumer slows, allowing Hammaker to get by and Hampshire to get right on his back tire.
Hampshire and Hammaker crash just shy of the finish line on Lap 16. Vialle passes them both.
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