Hammaker readying for supercross return after shoulder injury

Out of the action and on the sidelines since the fourth round of the 2026 AMA Pro Motocross Championship at High Point in June, when a second moto shunt threw him in the dirt and off to the operating room with a badly torn labrum in his shoulder, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki racer Seth Hammaker has been hard at work getting himself in shape and back up to racing speed. The 26-year-old is fully focused on making his competitive return and lining up behind the starting gate at either Angel Stadium (West Region) or Raymond James Stadium in Tampa (East Region) come the launch of the ’27 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.

"I’m in Florida right now starting off-season preparation for 2027 supercross," said Hammaker. "We have one more day of week two of boot camp. Michael Byrne is working us hard and we’re getting back into it. Feeling good, so it has been a solid start. I’ve been down here for probably a month now. I did a few weeks riding on the outdoor track when I got back from my shoulder injury and then I transferred over to supercross. I have a few weeks now on that, and I actually feel really good. The shoulder is strong and stable, and it continues to get better as I gain more confidence with it.

“My health is pretty good,” he continued. “My shoulder is, I would say, at about 80% at this point as far as strength and mobility and stuff like that. That will all come back with time as I ride and do my gym stuff and get that thing back to 100% strength wise. We’ll be there before the season, for sure. As far as everything else, I actually feel pretty strong. Cardio and everything feels good. I feel like I can go the distance. We’re early yet, so we’re not really too worried about intensity. We’re just logging the laps and getting the time in. Just stacking that volume.”

The 26-year-old is happy to have completed the lion's share of his recovery and be back to work on the motorcycle.

“It’s good to back,” he said. “It feels amazing. I missed it. It’s tough when you’re on the sidelines and watching everybody else go at it on the weekends. Saturday is normally your favorite day of the week when you are racing, but then when you’re hurt, it’s something you dread because everyone else is out there and you’re on the couch watching. This is what I love to do. Our sport is tough. Everyone has their ups and downs.”

"We’re early yet, so we’re not really too worried about intensity," Hammaker said of his return to riding. "We’re just logging the laps and getting the time in. Just stacking that volume.”

Hammaker is amongst a group of world-class racers all currently based down in Florida as they get everything in order for the 2027 season.

“Right now we’re riding with Hunter and Jett [Lawrence], and Malcom Stewart is down here,” he explained. “He’s on Kawasaki now, which is awesome. He’s fun to have around. R.J. Hampshire is new to the compound, which is cool. Chance Hymas and Drew Adams are down there. Me and Drew are really close. We’re teammates, and our lockers are right next to each other. We spend a lot of time together. It’s good. We have a good crew. My practice mechanic Jacob Martin does my everyday stuff. He used to be my race mechanic, so we have a good relationship. We just work on our bike and work on our stuff and try to do the best we can.

“We eased back into it all the first two weeks. Now that we’re in the swing of things, we’re kind of back going pretty hard. As a racer, you kind of just do what you can to get back to that level as soon as possible. There is always a lot to gain, so you try to get there pretty quickly. A lot goes into it. It really does. It’s draining, and any little slipup that you have can be catastrophic, so you have to be sharp every day at the practice track. You have to train hard, but then also try not to take any unnecessary risks. I feel that as I go in my career and the more experience I get, I can kind of manage that a little bit better. That’s just experience and age, you know? That’s just part of life as it is.

"Even with the younger kids here, I try and tell them my experiences and what’s helped me and what has not. That way maybe they can avoid things and get to their success faster. I’m just trying to learn off everybody. I can learn off Jett and Hunter, you know? They’ve been through it, and they’re at the top of the sport. I’m just happy with where I’m at right now, and the people that I get to do this with are pretty cool.”

Hammaker has been working off an objective of wanting to always be growing and improving in all aspects of the sport to make him a better athlete and racer.

“Every day, I wake up and go, ‘How can I be better on my dirt bike? What’s going to make me better?’ I love what I do now more than I ever have, really. I’m maturing and I can see the growth and that I’m in a good spot that I can do my job. It’s pretty fun.”

While he posts up the laps and the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team gets Seth Hammaker prepared for the 2027 race year, the Pennsylvanian does not yet know if he’ll compete in the West or East Region.

“I don’t know yet,” he pointed out. “I talked to Mitch [Payton] a little bit about it, but it’s just too early to know. Honestly, I don’t really have a preference. I guess it depends on how I look to Mitch and the team. If I’m ready to go West, and they want me to go West, I’m all up for that. If not, we’ll wait a couple more weeks and go East. I’m not too worried about that decision at the moment. I’m just trying to make sure whatever Region I do race, I’m going to be the most prepared for. Hopefully we’ll know sooner than later, just so we can develop a game plan. Probably in a couple more weeks. It’s a fun time of year just because everyone is kind of talking about racing and stuff like that.”

What marks does Hammaker hope to hit come the 2027 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship?

“I want to go win the championship, for sure,” answered Hammaker, runner-up in both the 2025 and 2026 250SX East title fights. “It’s time to do that. I’ve been close the last two years. I was runner-up the last two years. 2025 and coming down to the wire right there, it was just awesome to be in that position. Obviously, I didn’t end up winning the championship, but I still learned a lot. Last year racing against Cole [Davies], he definitely raised my game. I think every year I continue to elevate, as does everybody. I think with the preparation that I’m putting in this year, and with the experience that I have from the past couple years, I know I can get it done.”