Why Was Kitchen Penalized Positions, Jett Lawrence License Points at Budds Creek? Explained
There were penalties handed out over the weekend at the Budds Creek National, but similar situations ended up with different penalties. Levi Kitchen (first 250 moto) and Jett Lawrence (first 450 moto) both went up the very inside of the starting straight once the gate dropped, going outside of the track markers and onto the grass. Kitchen, who came away with the holeshot, was given a four-position penalty, bumping his race finish from 10th to 14th, whereas Jett Lawrence only received one point towards his rider license. Similarly, Michael Mosiman did the same thing as Kitchen in the first 250 Class moto, Mosiman was just on the very outside gate and went wide, outside of the very far track markers. Mosiman started inside the top ten because of the move and received a three-position penalty, so his 26th place finish officially became 29th.
Again, the rider license points are new for the 2026 Monster Energy SuperMotocross World Championship. Riders can receive points on their license but might not actually receive a loss of position or a loss of championship points, although they can receive all three at the same time if an incident is severe enough. Last weekend at the Unadilla National, Jesson Turner became the first rider to hit the ten-point mark on his license (for cutting the track in the first 250 moto) so he received the last gate pick for the second moto.
Mike Pellitier, AMA Director of Racing, explained the differences for Kitchen's penalty and Lawrence's on the broadcast.
Pellitier explained: “I think it's important to explain the difference from the first moto in the 250 that we saw Levi [Kitchen] and [Michael] Mosiman do compared to what Jett did. So, anytime a rider’s off the racetrack, race direction looks if they've gained a competitive advantage. That's the first thing that we determined. So, in Levi's case and Michael Mosiman's, they gained time and positions on the side of the racetrack, so that is a set penalty of positions gained, then plus one for the infraction itself. In Jett's case, we determined that there was no competitive advantage, and he lost time and spots. However, we do want the riders to stay on the racetrack, so we issued a one license point penalty.”
Analyst James Stewart clarified: “So, essentially there's some kind of penalty if you end up outside of those markers?”
Pellitier confirmed: “That is correct. We really want the riders to stay on the racetrack. We've made a big effort for this year, especially using these license points now. So, what we're really looking for is if they're gaining time or positions off that racetrack. If not, we still do want them to stay on, that's why we have license points now.”
Watch Kitchen's start of the first moto.
Watch Jett Lawrence's start in the first moto below.
Check out the AMA's full post-race report below.
Race Direction (RD) Review – Round 27 – Mechanicsville, MD – August 21-22, 2026
Reviews Resulting in Penalties
- 250 A Qualifying 1- Race direction reviewed rider #199 (Denno) for jumping on red cross/light in section 19. Resulting in loss of fast lap.
- 250 A Qualifying 1- Race direction reviewed rider #373 (Betts) for jumping on red cross/light in section 19. Resulting in loss of fast lap.
- 250 A Qualifying 1- Race direction reviewed rider #723 (Gibson) for jumping on red cross/light in section 19. Resulting in loss of fast lap.
- 250 A Qualifying 1- Race direction reviewed rider #809 (Ehlerman) for jumping on red cross/light in section 19. Resulting in loss of fast lap.
- 450 A Qualifying 1- Race direction reviewed rider #96 (Lawrence) for jumping on red cross/light in section 27. Resulting in loss of fast lap.
- 450 A Qualifying 1- Race direction reviewed rider #7 (Plessinger) for jumping on red cross/light in section 27. Resulting in loss of fast lap.
- 450 A Qualifying 1- Race direction reviewed rider #88 (Fineis) for jumping on red cross/light in section 27. Resulting in loss of fast lap.
- 250 Moto 1- Race direction reviewed rider #47 (Kitchen) for gaining an advantage while off track on the start. Resulting in loss of 4 positions.
- 250 Moto 1- Race direction reviewed rider #23 (Mosiman) for gaining an advantage while off track on the start. Resulting in loss of 3 positions.
- 450 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #1 (Lawrence) for off track on start with no advantage gained. Resulting in one rider license point.
- 450 Moto 2- Race direction reviewed rider #88 (Fineis) for gaining an advantage while off track on the start. Resulting in loss of 1 position.
Reviews Resulting in No Penalty
- 450 A Qualifying 1- Race direction reviewed rider #96 (Lawrence) jumping on a red cross/light in section 19. No penalty assessed.
- 250 Moto 1- Race direction reviewed rider #47 (Kitchen) for off track in section 19. No penalty was assessed.
- 450 Moto 1- Race direction reviewed rider #96 (Lawrence) jumping on a red cross/light in section 19. No penalty assessed.
