Hangtown was a long time coming for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen. As it has been over a year and nine months since his last win in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Budds Creek in 2024. That summer Levi went on a streak, beating out champion Haiden Deegan and winning the final three rounds of the 11-round championship. Levi won the opening moto at Fox Raceway last week in convincing fashion, but then a bad start and a crash ruined his hopes for an overall podium.
The talent in the 250 field for 2026 is extremely deep. With riders so closely matched, it is hard to make up much time after a mistake. Which means consistency in this class is going to be very important for the championship contenders. And at Hangtown it was Kitchen who was consistently near the front both motos, finishing 2-2 for first overall. Levi spoke with the press after the race, about his day and the importance of avoiding those first turn crashes.
“The day was pretty good, I am happy with my speed at these first two for sure," Kitchen said. "Just need to clean up a couple of things, obviously just getting out of the gate a little bit better. Like you said, I actually got shut down early in that second moto and it actually saved me. I probably would have been in that pile up. Sometimes you’re the hammer, sometimes you’re the nail. Unfortunately, a lot of guys were the nail this time. But it was a good day, bike is working great. Team is happy and I’m happy so it's good.”
Levi’s teammate, and moto one winner, Seth Hammaker was a nail when he went down in that first turn pile up the second moto. Meanwhile Levi started in eighth both motos and had to work his way up. But both motos by the time he made it to second place, the leader was gone (Hammaker in the first moto and Cole Davies in moto two). Nevertheless, sometimes moto wins are not as important as consistency and that was the case for Levi in Hangtown.
“It’s been awesome, when the boss is happy, things are great. It's just progress from everybody, I think," he said. "Everybody’s just motivated and I think by Seth doing good, me doing good, Nick is crushing it. We all get along and we all push each other. So, I think it's important to have that dynamic. Honestly all of us here [motions to Hammaker and Julien Beaumer] kind of have a chip on their shoulder I feel like, especially the Pro Circuit team, too. It just motivates you and I’m really happy for everybody, we’re all working our asses off and trying to get better. I think we are getting a lot better though.”
As mentioned above, this was Levi’s first outdoor win since 2024. He had one win in 2025 at the Detroit Supercross before crashing the very next weekend at Daytona and breaking his back. He came back for Pro Motocross in 2025 after the injury, but it has been a long ride back to the top of the podium for Levi.
“I actually, people will say I am soft, but I got a little emotional before the finish line because it's been tough, you know," he said. "Injuries suck as we all know. You try to fight back and that’s kind of what you’ve got to do. I haven’t won a race since 2024 I don’t think, I’ve been close a couple of times, but it just doesn’t feel the same obviously. We’re never satisfied until we win, so it was a great feeling. I would definitely want more of it. You know a little box checked, it's nice to be back up there.”
Last weekend Levi checked two more boxes, with being the fastest qualifier and winning a moto. This week it was an overall win. Will he finally check the biggest box come August, with his first ever professional championship?
