Interview with Levi Kitchen

If you can consider consistent top 5th to 7th place finishes versus the world’s top motocross racers a slump, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen broke out of his in a big way this past weekend, going 1-1 at the AMA Pro Motocross Championship’s Spring Creek MX National in Minnesota for his first 250 class victory of the season.

Kitchen, who made the move from the Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha team to Mitch Payton’s Pro Circuit squad to start the ’24 Monster Energy Supercross season, opened the summer’s outdoor MX Nationals season with two podium finishes at the California rounds (Pala & Hangtown). But since then, and up until Spring Creek, a series of bad luck and less-than-epic performances had Kitchen hovering back in 5th place in the hotly contested support class.

But that all changed last Saturday. Kitchen shot from 5th to 2nd place in the standings and has a whole bunch of motivation with four rounds remaining on the series tour – beginning this weekend at his home track – Washougal MX Park – in Washougal, Wash.

Great story, as you’ll read, on Kitchen’s rippin’ ride to redemption at Spring Creek, including what it took to get his Pro Circuit-tuned KX250F back on top.

Monster Energy: Hey, Levi, first off, congrats on your Spring Creek MX National win last weekend. That had to be a big weight off your shoulders.

Levi Kitchen: Yeah, I’ve been trying to get more comfortable on the bike and everything and get some things figured out. So to go and win like that, it definitely takes a TON of pressure off of me. I always know I'm capable of that,  but you start second guessing things when it takes that long. So that win was huge and definitely gave me a lot of confidence moving forward.

ME: I guess the obvious question is ‘Where’d a 1-1 performance like that come from?’ You got out of the gate pretty well in California (2nd @ Pala & 3rd @ Hangtown), but were off the 250 podium until last weekend. What changed for Spring Creek?

LK: I actually did a lot of work with the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team on the bike and I finally found a good suspension setup that I like. And that made a really big difference. I think it's (bike setup) pretty overlooked in our sport. But if your bike isn't set up for how you like it, it can definitely be a struggle. So, yeah, it took a team effort, but I’ve got the bike in a lot better position now. And it’s paid off.

ME: Talk a bit about the adjustment period this season from the YZ to the KX. Has that been at all difficult? And what attributes of the KX, along with the Pro Circuit team, have been to your liking above the YZ? 

LK: I mean, I was on Yamaha for, you know, a decade. So right there it's just a different feel when you move from Yamaha to Kawasaki. And I feel that I was chasing it (bike settings) since the Cali rounds and we finally found them. So, yeah, there’s a lot of learning going on (when a racer switches brands). On top of that I’m a taller rider (6’-1”, with the average being 5’-10”), so we had to figure out how to make the chassis itself a little bit longer. 

And yeah, yeah man. It's also trying to figure out how to make the chassis itself, a little bit longer for me because I'm tall, okay? So it would be like the BMX Rider going from Know. I don't know, a little bit bigger frame to a smaller one and then they would have to figure out kind of how to adapt to it.

ME: For the MonsterEnergy.com reader who skateboards or rides a BMX bike, what are the main areas of adjustment when you move from one motorcycle brand (Yamaha) to another (Kawasaki)?

LK: Think of it like a BMX rider going from a longer frame down to a shorter one (when he switches brands) and how they’d have to figure out how best to adapt to it. So just as far as wheelbase and stuff like that goes, it can change a lot of the things on how the bike (motorcycle) handles. And I grew up riding BMX bikes as well, so I know that even on a bicycle it’s the same things, although on a smaller scale. But those guys that are at the top of the level in that sport, they definitely know when their bike is a little bit different. The (setup) process is the same for everybody. And yeah, I think we nailed it last week. And going from a Yamaha to a Kawasaki, they’re two completely different bikes. The Kawasaki was really good in Monster Energy Supercross, and we nailed it right away. But outdoors (MX Nationals), I was really used to the Yamaha from previous years.

ME: Interesting. Along those lines, we’d imagine the tracks differ as well. Talk a bit about the MX National tracks and racing out west versus coming back east.

LK: Yeah, for sure. We started out in California and the tracks there are more compacted dirt, hard pack, and tend to be more high speed, overall. Moving back to the eastern U.S. tracks you get into a richer soil, or ‘loam’ as it’s called. These tracks are more tacky than the west coast tracks, rut up quicker and can become extremely rough depending on the weather (rain, high humidity) – which tends to slow the laps times down a bit as the race progresses and the track deteriorates. So bike setup in these cases is very key to your success as the series travels from region to region.

ME: We’re always in awe of the No. 1 plates on the doors to Mitch Payton’s Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki hauler. Do they provide you with motivation when you come in from a tough moto?

LK: Yeah, I believe Mitch (Payton, Pro Circuit owner) has the most titles I think of any other 250 team (recently recording its 301st win with Kitchen to go with more than 30 AMA championships). But with that obviously comes the pressure because you want to get one of those (AMA No. 1 plates) up on the door as well. But at the same time it takes pressure off you because you know that that team knows what they're doing and they're very good at what they do. So that's huge just having the trust in them and everything. The switch has been I nothing short of amazing for sure.

ME: Due to some unique circumstances with a couple other Monster Energy 250 class racers (Honda teammates Jo Shimoda and Chance Hymas), you came ripping back to 2nd place in the standings. Did that help motivate you for the rest of the season, making a run at overall leader Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha)?

LK: It definitely was a crazy weekend for a lot of people. And that's why I just kind of live by, like you, you got to be in it no matter what. Obviously, I went from fifth and points to second. But as far as my motivation goes, it hasn't changed. I mean, I always want to go out there and perform as the goal. The championship isn't really on my mind, it's more just like ‘Always keep going out there.’ Try to get some more wins and then just see how the thing plays out. This work can be brutal. And I've been on both sides of it, where things are going great, and then something happens. So I know how it goes. There's still a lot of racing left. So I'm just gonna try to stay in my lane and do what I can do and see how it unfolds.

ME: This weekend the series heads back to Washougal, Washington, your hometown track. How pumped are you to keep the momentum rolling at ‘Shougal?

LK: Oh, I'm super pumped to be heading back home. I don't get to go home much anymore. It also comes with a lot of chaos with the people, but overall it’s great and I look forward to. Most of all I just want to go out there and get a good result and then just enjoy some time with my family and stuff like that.

ME: What are some of the features on the Washougal MX track that’ll give you and the Pro Circuit-tuned Kawasaki KX250F an advantage?

LK: I would say Horsepower Hill, the big uphill just after the start. Having a fast bike, like I do, is an advantage there. And I would say that having a bike that’s set up for there is important for coming down the hills as well. So I'm really looking forward to it. Overall, I think I’ve done more racing on that track than anyone else I’m racing.

ME: You have time to do anything else outside of racing at Washougal?

LK: I’ll do some fishing afterwards.

ME: On the Washougal River there right by the track?

LK: I grew up fishing on that river and this time of year, it’s not good. There’s really no salmon or steelhead running in July. So I’ll probably just go to Oregon and do some fly fishing after the race.

ME: Right on. Lastly, riding this recent momentum, what have you set your sites on for the rest of the season in terms of results – including the SuperMotocross World Championship Finals (Sept. 21 in Vegas) – and possibly a Motocross Des Nations Team USA selection?

LK: I really want to go out and win that thing if everything plays out right. And obviously, you know, there's a pretty big purse payout, which would be nice for the bank account. But overall, I enjoyed the races last year and I’m hopefully going into that (SMX) with big points because that can help you quite a bit. As for the Motocross Des Nations (Oct. 4-6, Matterly Basin, UK)… I would love to race for Team USA. It would be an honor if that could work out.

Up next: Round 8 of the 2024 Pro Motocross Championship heads west for the annual running of the July 20th Motosport.com Washougal MX National in Washougal, Wash