Image: Octopi Media.

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen finished up P5 in Salt Lake City on Saturday which wasn’t enough to claim the 250SX West title. Entering the night tied in points with RJ Hampshire, Hampshire would finish P2 to win the championship by five points while Kitchen was left to settle for second place. Although he fell short of the title, Kitchen felt satisfied in that he gave everything he had.

“It’s easy to be disappointed after being so close to the championship, but I left everything I had out there on the track,” said Kitchen. “The start was tricky, and I wasn’t in a good spot headed into the first turn. It came down to the start. I’m so thankful to the team for doing whatever it took to make this a successful season. The year isn’t over, and I’m excited to line up in just two weeks to start up a brand-new opportunity to show off what we can do.”

Kitchen finished up just 4.3 seconds behind Hampshire in the end, which was a gap that stayed mostly the same the whole race. Hampshire started the race in fourth with Kitchen down in eighth and they both worked through the field at the same rate. Positions between the two were swapped in their heat race as Kitchen would take the win there with Hampshire finishing second. Both riders predicted the race could come down to whoever started in front of the other, and ultimately that’s how it played out.

As Kitchen mentioned, he’s ready to get right back into it when AMA Pro Motocross starts in two weeks as he’s still been one of the fastest 250 riders all year long.