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Monster Energy®/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki Rider Cameron McAdoo Scores Back-To-Back Podiums in Atlanta
Round 14 of the Monster Energy® AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship saw Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Cameron McAdoo put together a lionhearted performance to finish on the podium in the 250SX Main Event on Tuesday. McAdoo overcame a vicious crash early in the main event to finish in third place, while his teammate Seth Hammaker finished in ninth place. In the 450SX class, defending series champion Eli Tomac fought hard from a mid-pack start to finish the race in fifth place.
The No. 31 of McAdoo started the day on a positive note by posting the second-fastest lap time in timed qualifying with a 1:36.916. Fellow Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Hammaker also showed his speed early in the day by clocking in a 1:39.000 lap time, good for fifth overall in qualifying.
Once the gate dropped on 250SX Heat 1, McAdoo jumped out the gate to reach the first corner in third place before quickly moving up to second on the opening lap. With the lead rider in his sight, McAdoo wasted no time closing the gap ahead and with two laps left he used the sand section to make a pass for the lead and pull away to win by over 10 seconds. Facing a stacked field in the second 250SX heat race, Hammaker launched out the gate inside the top-5 and made quick work of the riders ahead to move up into second place. However, mistakes late in the race would drop the rookie outside of a transfer position and send him to the 250SX Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ).
Hammaker started the 250SX LCQ inside the top-5 and quickly moved into second place by the end of Lap 1. Determined to place his Kawasaki KX™250 into the main event, the No. 150 didn’t risk losing a transfer position and settled for second at the finish.
As the gate dropped on the 250SX Main Event, McAdoo found himself sitting in fifth after the first corner and immediately began applying pressure to the riders in front but suffered a ferocious crash on the opening lap that forced a red flag and a complete restart of the main event. After being evaluated by the Alpinestars medical staff, McAdoo was determined fit to ride and lined back up on the gate for the main event restart. On the restart, McAdoo once again launched out the gate nearly grabbing the holeshot and made quick passes in the opening laps to stay in touch with the championship leader. The No. 31 spent most of the race in second place until dropping to third with only two laps to go, where he would ultimately finish. The heroic ride by McAdoo after his spectacular crash that left his bike and body battered and bruised was the talk of the night as he showed the grit and determination to stay in the championship hunt. The Pennsylvania native Hammaker rode a consistent race inside the top-10, running in seventh for most of the main event and finished in a respectable ninth place.
“That crash was a scary moment for me. I struggled to move my leg for a moment and didn’t expect the medical staff to continue letting me ride, but I wasn’t going to give up. We’re in the middle of a heated battle for the 250SX Western Regional Championship, and I’m going to give it my all until the very last lap. Once I got the okay from the Alpinestars medical team, I refocused on the goal at hand and tried to salvage as many championship points as possible. I’m happy with the third tonight, especially considering how hard I crashed, but now it’s time to rest up and recover as much as possible before we run again on Saturday.”
- Cameron McAdoo
“I had an okay day today. My bike was feeling great, but I couldn’t find my flow out there all day, and in the end, that cost me. Having to go through the LCQ to qualify took up a good amount of energy before the main event even started, but I pushed as hard as I could for as long as possible and came out with a ninth-place finish. I’m going to take this as a learning experience and head into Saturday’s race refreshed, refocused and ready to battle with the top guys.”
- Seth Hammaker
Monster Energy Kawasaki rider and defending 450SX series champion Tomac started the day from inside Atlanta Motor Speedway by clocking in a lap time of 1:35.513 in practice, qualifying him in fifth overall.
Once the gate dropped on 450SX Heat 2, Tomac found himself inside the top-10 on Lap 1. The Colorado native made quick work of the competition, advancing into fifth, and began chasing down the rest of the field but would run out of time before he could move up any further.
Looking to carry momentum from his win on Saturday night, Tomac rocketed out of the gate on his KX™450 to a third place start before chaos heading into the first corner forced the defending series champion wide. The No. 1 spent the majority of the main event picking off the competition methodically which saw Tomac advance up to fifth place just before the checkered flag.
“I got a decent start aboard my KX450 during the main event but had to check up before a few turns because of all the chaos going on around me. I tried avoiding as many riders as possible, and that forced me to take a different line in the whoops section, which slowed me down even more and allowed others to get around. I worked hard to get into fifth place, but the track was so demanding that by then, it was already too late, and I ran out of time. It’s not the result I was expecting, but we managed a top-5 finish, so we’ll take it and now shift our focus on how we can improve for Saturday.”
- Eli Tomac