Slaw
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen is back on top of the 250 Pro Motocross standings, but he took a painful route to get there.
In a championship that has already delivered plenty of twists, Saturday’s opening moto at Spring Creek may have been the wildest yet.
The first turn erupted into chaos as multiple pileups collected a large portion of the field. Kitchen was one of the riders caught in the carnage and, even after the race, wasn’t entirely sure what happened.
“I really can’t because I don’t know what happened, but I got body checked by a Star bike,” he said. “I’m pretty sore. Really thankful to be somewhat all right from that. That sucked.”
Despite the crash, Kitchen salvaged an impressive eighth-place finish in Moto 1 before rebounding with second in Moto 2 to secure third overall. But the damage from the opening-lap incident lingered all day.
Asked how he was feeling after the race, Kitchen didn’t hold back on the details.
“More so I just was hurting pretty bad,” he said. “So did what I could. I just knew I needed to beat the 37 and then I got a pit board saying 37 out. So, I was like, all right, I’m not going to have another big one. Because I actually almost ate it in the back pretty bad. I was just like, dude, just get to the finish line. And then Moto 1, same thing. Couldn’t really stand up after like 15 minutes. I got a sprocket basically under by my butt and up into my thigh. So it’s kind of gross, but hopefully it’s good by Washougal.”
Kitchen admitted he was still trying to charge late in Moto 1, but between the pain and running out of tear-offs, there wasn’t much left in the tank.
“I was trying the best I could, but I was out of tear offs, dirt all in my goggles,” he said. “I knew I was bleeding down there and I was just hurting, man. I was just trying to go. I really was just thankful I got up because I thought when I was going down, I’m like, there’s my day. It’s done. So thankful for my trainer, Peter Park, and just everybody around me trying to have some strength because you can’t really take those hits if you’re not prepared. I’m just thankful to be walking.”
Kitchen’s gritty ride, combined with Cole Davies running out of fuel after his bike was damaged in the opening-lap crash, completely reshuffled the championship. Kitchen now carries a 24-point lead over Spring Creek winner Julien Beaumer and a 25-point advantage over Davies as the series heads to Kitchen’s home race at Washougal.
Photos: octopi.media
