Kitchen: “It’s hard for me not to want to go in there and win"

Kitchen comes straight off a lengthy and comprehensive testing and training program he and the Kawasaki organization pieced together to get him back to racing in time for this summer’s Pro Motocross Championship.

“I’ve been riding for probably six weeks,” explained Kitchen. “However, I’ve been riding more seriously for about a month. I feel really good. I’d say the last three weeks or so have been awesome. Finally, there is no soreness or pain or anything like that, so I feel good. I put all of my weight back on. I’ve been healthy as far as sickness and stuff like that goes. I’ve been really good with that. Fingers crossed that I don’t catch anything on the damn airplane. Other than that, it has been good.” 

Last week and in a social media post which proclaimed, “The Chef’s still cooking…” Kawasaki announced that Levi Kitchen had signed a two-year contract extension. Did Kitchen look at this as a vote of confidence from Mitch Payton and the team?

Related: Levi Kitchen, Pro Circuit Kawasaki Agree to Two-Year Extension

“Yeah, for sure,” answered Kitchen. “We were a little unsure of what we were going to do. We had been talking about what I was going to do in the future, and unfortunately I went down at Daytona and that changed some stuff a little bit. Like I had hopes of maybe going to a 450 in the next couple of years. Now that I honestly sit back and look at it, I’m happy with the way things are going and a couple more years on a 250 is perfectly fine with me. I feel like I’m at the level where I can win in this class, which is good. I mean that’s a good feeling. It’s a dream of mine to be in the premier class, but it takes a lot of work to get there, and I definitely don’t want to go to that class unless I’m going to be pushing for good results. I’m fine with the way it is. I’ve always been kind of a late bloomer in my career. I’m 24 years old now. Even if I have to wait a couple of years to go up to a big bike, then it is what it is and that’s fine. I mean the 250 class is super competitive. It’s fun. I think there is so much variety of the way people ride in the class. You know you’ve got the younger kids that are really good and hungry. I guess I’m getting towards being a veteran of the 250 class now. It’s fun.”

Kitchen is confident heading into the Pala opener. Having won three of the last five Pro Motocross rounds in 2025 – Millville, Unadilla, and Budds Creek – he knows he is in possession of everything needed to make a run at the 2025 250cc title.

“Yeah, for sure I want to try and win it,” declared Kitchen. “If I kind of look back, there were a coupe of things that, unfortunately, I didn’t really know coming into 2025. I didn’t know what bike setup and things like that were. Obviously, Haiden Deegan rode really good early on in the season and I let a lot of points slip away. The goal for me is to always just do better than the day before. In that case, I just want to do better than I did last year. You know my goal this year is just to do my best to get good starts and try my best not to finish off the podium. If I can do that, I feel like I have a good chance at winning a championship. If I get a podium every round and I still lose the championship, well whoever beat me did a damn good job, do you know what I mean? So that’s my goal.”

In recent months, there has been chatter within the U.S. motocross industry, media and fanbase regarding the excellent form and potential Kitchen has displayed in his racing and racecraft.

“Yeah, I feel like that,” he explained. “And I do feel like my fanbase is growing. I think I have a good and loyal fanbase. I feel like people are starting to back me and they feel like I can do it. I think I showed that before, unfortunately, I got hurt at Daytona. I feel like when I’m at my best, then I have a good chance at winning. The team has been great, so everybody is kind of behind me and letting me make some decisions on my own. They’ve let me do that bike-wise and living-wise. You know they’re starting to trust in me, and I think that’s huge.”

What’s Kitchen’s take on the Fox Raceway at Pala circuit he’ll take on the world’s best motocross pilots at come this Saturday?

“I like Pala,” answered Kitchen, who placed runner-up there in 2024. “It’s not bad. I don’t mind it. I think it can be tough to pass on. For me, my goal all-in-all is just to execute a couple starts and to get on the box. That would be a great goal. I mean I did get second there last year going 2-2. It’s hard for me not to want to go in there and win. That’s what I want to do. It all just depends on how it plays out. If I get two holeshots, then yeah, I’m going there to win, do you know what I mean? If I come around the first turn and I’m a few spots back, then I want to try and get on the podium and be healthy and get some good points. That’s really kind of the mindset. I want to take what’s given to me and just not do anything stupid. I feel like I also know my competition well now. I know the different guys and kind of know how everybody races, and they know my, but I’m not quite sure who all is lining up. I mean I have an idea, but there is always things going on with certain people. Who knows. It’ll be fun.”

His strong podium finish last year at Pala looked to signal a 2024 run for a championship, but the series certainly has its twists and turns following the opener, with stops slated for Hangtown, Thunder Valley, High Point, and Southwick.

“That’s a very mixed bag,” agreed Kitchen. “That’s kind of where I struggled last year. We went the complete wrong way with my bike. It was tough. Those first three races are tough. I think people can kind of lose their minds because they are so different. As soon as you kind of hit RedBud, and from there on, you can kind of stick with a similar bike. Hangtown has been okay to me in the past. It can be brutally hot. I like Colorado a lot. I’ve had good luck there in the past. Mount Morris. That’s one of those races where I’m ready to turn it around because I’ve had some not so great finishes at that place in the past. I think it’s just due to some bad starts, so we’ll see.”

Incredibly, it’s been since 2019 that Mitch Payton and the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki organization won an AMA Pro Motocross Championship when Adam Cianciarulo got the job done. Can Kitchen make it happen during the summer of 2025?

“Yeah, I believe I can do it,” nodded Kitchen. “I thought I could do it in supercross. Seth [Hammaker] had a good shot at it. I was proud of the team and proud of him for being in that position. That was cool. Yeah man, it is definitely something I want to do for Mitch. Not only for myself at this point, but I want to do it for him. It was motivation. I’m stoked to do another two-year deal with them. There is always interest from other people and that was one thing that was motivating for me. I really want to win for Mitch and get that title for him. So that’s the goal.”