Hammaker 2nd in Vegas SMX 250; Tomac 3rd Overall in 450 Series

You live by the sword – and you die by the sword. And in the case of Monster Energy’s 2025 SX/MX 250 champion, Haiden Deegan (Star Racing/Yamaha), he ended up stabbing himself with it.

The most polarizing dirt bike racer on the planet this year was the odds-on favorite to win his third consecutive 250 class Monster Energy SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX). But an unfortunate incident with fellow Monster Energy racer Levi Kitchen (Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) at last weekend’s St. Louis SMX round would have Deegan playing catch up to former Monster Energy-backed racer Jo Shimoda (Honda) at “The Strip” in Vegas this past Saturday at SMX’s third and final round. And try as he may, pulling out all the stops in an aggressive play to, quite literally, ‘unseat’ Shimoda from his point lead in the second of two motos on Saturday, Deegan wound up crashing himself – and, reportedly, breaking his collarbone in the process.

Said NBC announcer Ricky Carmichael: “This (the Deegan/Shimoda battle) is a byproduct of the SMX format – the guys going down to the wire like that. And whether you love it or hate it, this is what they do.”

Emerging from the mayhem with a very under-publicized near heroic effort, not only for the Vegas SMX finals, but also for the SX/MX season, was Monster Energy’s Seth Hammaker. The Pennsylvania native, who fought a year-long shoulder injury, battled aboard the Mitch Payton-tuned #56 Kawasaki KX250F and rode well enough (3-1) to have the overall Vegas SMX 250 win in the bag, only to have Shimoda pass KTM’s Tom Vialle on the final corner to take the overall with a 1-2 effort.”

Said Hammaker: “It was kind of wild. I thought that was how it was going to play out. Haiden (Deegan) got into the lead, but then he would slow up to try and mess with Jo (Shimoda). So I didn’t know when (a possible Deegan/Shimoda wreck) it was coming, but I knew I needed to be there to capitalize on it when it did.”

Rounding out the 250 Vegas SMX top ten were a bevy of Monster Energy-backed racers, including: Nate Thrasher (Star Racing/Yamaha) in 4^th, Ty Masterpool (Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) in 5^th, Garrett Marchbanks (Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) in 7^thand Deegan in 9^th.

On the 450s Monster Energy received yet another podium effort from one of the greatest SX/MX racers of all-time, Eli Tomac (Star Racing/Yamaha). Tomac was the picture of consistency throughout the season-ending three round SMX series, going 3-3-3 for 135 points and a podium 3^rd place overall finish.

“It was kind of like the same thing over again, racing both of these brothers,” said Tomac of the Lawrence brothers, Jett and Hunter, who went 1-2 overall in the SMX series. 

Tomac’s teammate, Justin Cooper, would score a top five overall finish at the Vegas SMX, which put him in 5^th place overall on the SMX season. And rounding out the Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha top ten scoring at Vegas was the 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross champ, Cooper Webb, who placed 7^th at Vegas and 6^th overall on the SMX season.

Notes & Quotes

• In the Vegas SMX 250 Moto 1, Deegan and Ryder DiFrancesco were involved in a scary crash that had Deegan, unintentionally, clip the helmet of the fallen Gas Gas racer. Deegan was able to remount and battle back to 2^ndplace.
• “He (Deegan) definitely clicked it into another gear.” – NBC announcer Ricky Carmichael on Deegan’s charge back to 2^nd in Moto 1 following the DiFrancesco incident.
• “The crowd went crazy and I knew; ‘Here’s my opportunity.’” – Hammaker on the Deegan/Shimoda wreck.
• “The sand turn, before the tunnel, I kept going outside. I should have been going inside. Jett (Lawrence) was going inside, and I think it was like three-quarters of a second or something. If I’d have hit that for ten laps it probably would have been a whole different race.” – Tomac
• Tomac on the Motocross Des Nations in two weeks in Indiana: “Right now, I have no idea what happens. I’m more concerned about my team. That all got blown apart tonight.” Both Deegan and Chase Sexton (KTM) are ‘Questionable,’ at best, for Team USA at MXDN. “Tonight was terrible for Team USA.”
• Hammaker on his 2025 SX/MX season: It was a lot of adversity. A lot of ups and downs. But overall, it was nice to get through the season. I only missed one race and the goal was to make it to every race.”
• “Moved to Florida, kind of changed up (my) riding style and mindset stuff… it just feels good to see all that stuff pay off. Never gave up. And it kind of feels like a new chapter in my career.” – Hammaker
• Hat’s off to Seth Hammaker. Incredible ride. And his shoulder’s absolutely destroyed.” - Carmichael

Monster Energy SMX Round 3 Results, Las Vegas, NV

Up next: The 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross kicks off at Anaheim (Calif.) Stadium on Saturday, January 10, 2026.