Interview: Levi Kitchen

Three rounds into into the 2024 250SX West Supercross Championship, things are going well for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Levi Kitchen.

The third place finisher at the season-opener at Angel Stadium in Orange County, California, Kitchen soldiered on through the rain and mud of Oracle Park to come up 0.913s short to main event winner Jordan Smith. One week later, also in the rain and mud, this time at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, Kitchen stalked down race leader and was looking to make a pass when he tipped over and fell. He charged back to fifth at the finish line and is now second in 250SX West points heading into Angel Stadium in Anaheium this weekend.

“I’m pretty satisfied I’d say with how it’s gone so far,” he says. “Last weekend felt like the one that got away a little bit for me. Speed-wise and stuff, I felt like I was in a good spot to win. But the positives were that I’m feeling really good on the bike and we’re still in a good spot points-wise. I’m just eight points back from Jordan Smith. I’m happy, and I’ve just got to keep plugging away. There’s a lot of racing left still. With that being said though, it also feels like there’s not a ton of racing left from a championship standpoint. I just need to make some stuff happen quick in these next few weeks. I want to turn it around a little bit. I’m happy with two podiums to start off the season, but I need to get on a roll here and try to click off some wins.”

With the competition running so deep in the 2024 250SX West series, there is no margin for error.

“No, there’s not a margin at all,” said Kitchen. “Jo [Shimoda] is, like, 30-something points down now. Statistically, he’s out of it. There’s absolutely no way now. With somebody like Jo, I could get second behind him the rest of the season and still get the championship. Jo’s off my list and Nate Thrasher is now also off my list. Those guys are great, but it’s between Jordan Smith and R.J. Hampshire now. Garrett Marchbanks is riding really well, too. But once you go down 25 points, which is pretty much a race win, it’s going to be pretty tough to come back in the championship. So I’m not too worried about the others. I just need to keep doing my thing and see where that takes me.”.

Of his Anaheim 1 third place podium ride, Kitchen was quietly pleased.

“It was alright for me,” he said. “Nerves got to me really bad on race day. That was a little bit of a bummer, but going into this weekend at Angel Stadium, the nerves are pretty much gone. Last year at A2 went well for me. I got my first supercross race win, so I’m really looking forward to this weekend. If I can just ride like myself and relax, I can do some damage.”

Displaying excellent speed at Snapdragon Stadium last Saturday, Kitchen laments what might have been.

“For sure I was bummed about San Diego,” he said. “At the same time, things could be worse. I could be off the pace and wondering how to be on pace. If anybody goes back and watches the race and looks at times or anything in that matter, I definitely had the speed to win and I felt like I could catch people whenever I needed to.