PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania: Seth Hammaker crashed on the first lap of the 250 Feature at Lincoln Financial Field as Cole Davies took the lead on Lap 1. Heavy rain made this the first full-blown mudder of the season and it impacted the final results as riders battled to survive.
Davies rode an intelligent, cautious pace, which was enough to pull away from the field. He joined teammate Haiden Deegan as a 250 divisional championship, which takes the pressure off the season-finale in two weeks at Salt Lake City.
“I’ve been stressed all season,” Davies said in the post-race media scrum. “But I’m alright now.”
A red flag waved after the leader completed three laps, with seven minutes and 22 seconds on the clock. That erased a 31-second gap for Hammaker and gave him a second chance to push force the championship into the final round, but the staggered start minimized his opportunity to catch and pass Davies.
Davies rode away from the field and scored a 13-second victory over Daxton Bennick.
Hammaker charged through the field before coming up one position shy of forcing the championship battle to the season finale. At the checkered flag, he was 26 points behind Davies and 20 points ahead of Bennick.
Fourth-place Coty Schock and Nate Thrasher rounded out the top five.
Schock qualified via the Last Chance Qualifier and Thrasher overcame an early crash in the Philadelphia Feature.
In-Race Notes
The 250 main events was shortened by three minutes.
Hammaker took the early lead, but he cross-rutted on the first rhythm section and crashed. He fell to 21st as Davies rode into second.
Derek Kelley secured the early lead, but Davies took the position on Lap 2. He immediately scooted away from the field.
Davies crashed on Lap 3, but had a large enough gap on Kelley to keep from giving up the lead.
Bennick rounded out the top three.
The red flag waved on Lap 3 after Davies completed three laps. Hammaker erased his gap, but was still mired in the field.
The red flag was for a crash involving Izaih Clark.
Hammaker lined up 12th for the restart.
Davies got the jump on the restart with Kelley and Bennick giving chase.
Kelley dropped a position to Bennick and Devin Simonson.
Hammaker charged and moved into fourth on Lap 4. Simonson also crashed on that lap to give Hammaker one of those spots.
Schock also moved up. He was in third.
With four minutes on the clock, Davies had a 5.8-second lead over Bennick.
Hammaker took third from Schock on Lap 6.
Davies took the white flag over Bennick. Hammaker was closing, but the clock was winding down.
Davies held on for the victory with Bennick in second. That ended Hammaker’s championship battle. He finished third.
