LEVI KITCHEN - GRIT 255 250SX

GRIT-255 | 250 SX

June 17th, 2024 3:00 pm

Surging into the fourth round of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship with a fierce mentality, championship contender Levi Kitchen would roll to the starting line for practice on Saturday with unwavering focus. There were an enormous amount of competitors who had registered for this Pennsylvania spectacle, though Washington's Kitchen was immediately portrayed as a standout athlete amongst the top racers from around the world - and would aspire to acquire as many points as possible, to stay within the title fight. Each corner on the circuit, seemed to be excelled within before he exited the raceway on a path to the first moto...rolling back to the team's pit area to be briefed on what was to come in the two-moto sequences thereafter. Though once it was he and his mechanic along the horizontal grid of starting grates not long thereafter, the athlete out of Washougal appeared to be ready to engage in the most hard-fought battles one could imagine. Through the first few laps of the opening moto, he was located well outside of the top-twenty...and forced to regain as much of a positive standing as possible, with his rivals (i.e. Vialle, Deegan, and Hymas) much further ahead of him. Kitchen was far from quitting though, and made numerous passes en route to being established in nineteenth, on lap three. He was bouncing through the downhill roller section with fluidity, somehow sifting through the largest of braking bumps in millisecond(s) worth of time...landing in the optimal pocket and carving into the accompanying right-handed bend before popping over the makeshift double that proceeded it. In the switchback area that followed, it was easy for him to glance to his left and see a line of riders...including Daxton Bennick and Mark Fineis. They were constantly gauging one other but Kitchen seemed to have the upper-hand when entering into the final fifth of the moto. If he could just remain upright, and not lessen his pace "too" much, he appeared to have the residency of tenth-place secured. Ultimately garnering tenth, there was little time to waste before embarking on the second moto. Once there, pellets of roost would ricochet from his chest, visor, and front number-plate -with this hardened Pennsylvania soil providing quite the deterrent in terms of projectile-like objects thrown his way! But his tenacity was evident when nearing the start straightaway on each occasion, hearing the yell(s) from the crowd while he twisted the throttle of his Kawasaki 250F engine for all it had...putting forth the strongest effort, all the while being hounded by Ryder DiFrancesco and Julien Beaumer. Though surpassed by Haiden Deegan, he would do his best to follow the Yamaha rider through the rutted canvas. It was a battle of willpower among the last half of the moto, and even with Kitchen undergoing a substantial mistake in the rollers when nearing the checkered flag, he managed to lessen the damage of the incident with fearlessness when striving for the finish line...occupying ninth, in both the moto and final standings, as all concluded in the Northeast.

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