Situated on the Washington side of the Columbia River and at the entrance of the Columbia River Gorge, Washougal, Washington is a small community of 17,039 inhabitants. One of them just so happens to be 21-year-old motocross racer Levi Kitchen. A kid who grew up, literally, in the shadows of the fir trees of Washougal MX Park, as of the summer of 2022, Levi Kitchen can now be considered one of the very best young motocross racers in the world. His AMA Pro Racing career now a mere eleven races old as of last Saturday’s RedBud National in Buchanan, Michigan, Kitchen has impressed many with not only his run of top six moto finishes (six scores out of 10 motos), but he also his highly impressive opening moto win at Thunder Valley in mid-June. Now posted-up fifth in points in the brawl for the Lucas Oil 250 Class Pro Motocross Championship, Kitchen finds himself up against the silica of Southwick, Massachusetts. This is yet another track the #59 Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing ace has not yet raced around in anger. On Friday afternoon, Racer X caught up with Kitchen as he got his head wrapped around the Massachusetts sand pit.
Racer X: Levi, just how are you doing this Friday afternoon?
Levi Kitchen: Not too bad. Just out here at Southwick checking out the track.
Have you been to the Southwick circuit before?
Nope. This is my first time.
The amazes me. You’re a young, world class racer and some of these tracks you haven’t even been to before.
Yeah. It’s pretty wild, huh?
I know you’re just walking around the place, but what do you think of Southwick as far as first impressions go?
So far it looks awesome. I mean, I’ve watched plenty of video on it and I’m looking forward to it, for sure.
![Kitchen at the Thunder Valley National.]()
Kitchen at the Thunder Valley National. Align Media ![Kitchen at the Thunder Valley National.]()
Kitchen at the Thunder Valley National. Align Media ![The Washington native taking his maiden Pro Motocross moto victory.]()
The Washington native taking his maiden Pro Motocross moto victory. Align Media ![Kitchen at the High Point National.]()
Kitchen at the High Point National. Mitch Kendra
Have you raced in deep sand like Southwick in recent history?
Uhm… Not really. Nothing like this.
How are you in the sand? Are you a good sand rider or are you just going to see how things go come the drop of the gate?
I mean we’ll see how it all goes. I think I’m fairly good at it. We practice on it a little bit. I like it.
So you’re from Washougal, Washington?
Yes sir. That’s pretty much where I started riding, too.
Who got you into the sport? Your dad?
Yep, yeah my dad used to race and he bought me a bike. Yeah, I mean just like everybody else, it kind of all just went from there.
Hey, I must say that I thought it was awesome that you’d never been to Thunder Valley before and showed up there and won the opening moto. Man, that’s just amazing to me.
Yeah, that was kind of crazy. At Thunder Valley, I felt pretty comfortable right from the get-go. At High Point, though, I went fifteen-twelve in the two motos. I’d never been there and I don’t think I got comfortable by even the end of the last moto to be honest. It really just depends on the place.
How about the RedBud circuit? You competed there last Saturday and raced to nine-four moto scores for fifth overall. That’s a strong score.
Yep, RedBud was my first professional national last year. Last year I was twelfth overall and this year I was fifth.
And RedBud last Saturday wasn’t an easy afternoon of competition for you. You came from fourteenth to ninth in the opening moto and in the second moto you came out of the top 10 to place fourth. What did you make of your day there?
Yeah, I was fairly happy with it. I mean, honestly, in both motos I just struggled to really get going. I mean my fastest laps were towards the end of both motos. If I’m going to get starts like that, which I hope I don’t anymore, it’s not going to help me. But it happens. I hope to just get through the pack faster. That’s what I really need to work on and I just need to have that mindset that I belong up front. Sometimes it takes me the first moto to realize, “Oh, I came from twenty-fifth to whatever.” I need to reassure myself that I belong up front. It’s kind of tough. It’s just that learning. It’s the unknown. Some days you feel the best ever and some days you just don’t know what you’re doing out there. It’s all an adjustment for me right now.
You’ve been pretty hard on yourself in the moto media about your starts. Have you been able to work on them?
Yeah, this week actually I went out and did over four hours of starts. Hopefully we figured some stuff out and I think it’ll all come easier with confidence, too. I don’t know. It’s like one in every ten starts has been good. At Colorado, it just so happened that one of my starts was a good one. [Laughter] I’ll get them figured out and once I do I know I can be up front every moto.
What do you make of your competition? Jo Shimoda won last weekend and the Lawrence brothers and of course Justin Cooper and many others have been going really fast.
Yeah, I grew up racing Jo. He is more my age and in my class and stuff. Obviously, the Lawrence brothers came over here to race and I’d never seen them before. Justin Cooper, I ride with him every day. It’s fun racing all of those guys and I think at times and on any day, it’s funny how people start counting each other out. Everybody has a bad day sometimes. And just like Jo showed this weekend, some of us younger guys are there to battle, for sure. There are a lot of hungry kids out there and I think you’re going to see a lot more of that soon.
Yes, the 250MX classification is so fierce. It’s hard to pass guys. It’s hard to move through the field, huh?
Yeah, it really is. You know I watch the 450 class and everybody kind of knows where they belong and once they get there, they kind of stay there. The 250cc class, man, it’s ruthless. You’ve got guys and some of these rookies and they can go fast and they’ll go as fast as they can util they get tired. Some of the guys are hard to get around, I will be honest. I might be one of those guys! I don’t know. [Laughter]. Everybody is aggressive. Nobody is out there just to make a paycheck. They’re there to prove themselves and to get that 450 opportunity.
Okay, we’ve got Southwick this Saturday and then Millville and then your home race at Washougal over the next couple of weeks. How are you looking at these races and tracks?
Yeah, these next two races will be the last two tracks that I have not seen. Here at Southwick so far today, I like the looks of it. Millville, it looks fun. I don’t know what to expect. All the rest of these races I really look forward to. I like the East Coast stuff. I’m really looking forward to the rest of these races and I’m especially looking forward next year, especially knowing that next year I will know all of these tracks. I’m really looking forward to that where I can just show up and I’m not having to learn the track as the day goes on. Yeah, it should be good.
What are you going to try and achieve in the two motos at Southwick?
Two great starts and putting myself in position to win, really. Obviously, I was really happy with the podium overall at Thunder Valley, but we always want more. To be honest, I’d be happy walking away with a top five overall again. Where I’m at in points I’m pretty happy with for what is technically my rookie year. I want to get some wins. I would love to get a win before this season is over.
