Now in his third year as a factory satellite 250cc competitor, Levi Kitchen has three 250SX Supercross main event wins but is yet to win an overall AMA Pro Motocross Championship.
“Yeah, I'm really hoping for my first outdoor race win,” he said ahead of this weekend's season opener at Fox Raceway in Pala, California.
“I'm feeling good and I think I just need two good starts. That's what I need to win this race. I just need to put two races together. I had the speed last year. I was able to put together strong races pretty often. I think I just need to get two good starts and go from there. The good thing about outdoor racing is you don't necessarily have to win to win the overall. You can win two races in a row and win the overall. Just putting two races together well increases your chances of winning a lot.
“I'm feeling good going into Pala this weekend. I've done some testing so I'm in a good position. Yeah, I'm feeling good. I'm feeling like I want revenge after the Supercross series.”
After losing the 2024 AMA 250SX West Division Supercross Championship to rival RJ Hampshire by four seconds and five points at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City last May, Kitchen spoke about his emotions afterward.
“Now that it's all over, I can say it's tough to lose,” he said, “but to be honest, a few days later it wasn't so bad. I kind of turned the page and now I'm just focusing on outdoors. I couldn't believe it came to me so quickly. I don't want to say I forgot about it, but there are more races coming up so it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.”
In a recent interview, Kitchen spoke about his confidence in world-class motocross racing. “Once you win, you know how to do it, and I think I've finally learned that part,” Kitchen told Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto recently. “It helps me. Now I feel a lot more confident when I go out and race.”
I asked Kitchen if he had made any efforts to improve his confidence going into races.
“Yeah, for sure,” he said. “The mindset is totally different this year. Especially in Supercross, I've led from start to finish and won some races, so I know I can win. I also felt like I was in a good position overall speed-wise. I don't have a lot of time in Supercross, but outdoors, if I can start in the top five and let the race come to me, I think I can make some runs and win some of these races.”
“To be honest, after I win once, I'm not satisfied unless I win again. Your mindset changes. Last year, if I'd made it to the podium, I would have been jumping for joy. I'm still grateful for the result and that I was able to do it, but now I'm not really excited or happy unless I win. My motivation has changed a little bit.”
Now in his first year as a member of the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team, Kitchens believes he has aligned himself well with the corps of mechanics and technicians led by team owner Mitch Payton.
“It's just an incredible relationship,” he says. “Mitch is there, and the whole crew is great. They're very laid back, which is kind of my personality. They trust me enough that I know what to do, which I think is really helpful when you don't have someone in your ear telling you what to do all the time. It takes trust to do all of that, and I feel like they trust me, and I trust them. It's a really good relationship. I'm staying at Mitch's house while I'm here in California. He has his own little apartment. It's just like family. I think it's definitely a different vibe than the teams I was on before.”
Kitchens spoke about the emotions Payton felt after losing the 250SX West title.
“He was the same as me, he didn't want to talk to anybody, he was just upset and taking it all in,” he said. “I know that sounds awful, but it's good to see how upset Mitch is, it shows he wants it, and so do I. So yeah, I think he's in a good place right now and he's super motivated, like all of us, which is great, he's just so hungry for it that it's like he's racing right along with us.”
The next stop is Pala Raceway and the starting gate in Southern California this Saturday afternoon, and Kitchen spoke about the challenges he'll face in Saturday's opening Pro Motocross round.
“I'm going to approach it the same way I did Anaheim I,” said Kitchen, who finished on the podium at Anaheim II earlier this year. “I think I'll be nervous, but that's normal because you don't know what you're capable of at the first round. At the same time, I think I kind of know what I'm capable of and I know who to watch out for. I know who's going to be good. I've been doing it long enough now. I've been here for over three years and I've learned. I know who's good in the late moto races and who's a sprinter in the early moto races. Everybody has their strengths. I don't know. I think I'm that guy.”
