Image: Octopi Media.

After scoring the win at the Spring Creek National, expectations were high for hometown hero Levi Kitchen at Washougal. However, Kitchen struggled to a 12-4 day and lamented that his starts were not strong enough all weekend.

Kitchen himself has explained many times since turning pro that Washougal is not necessarily his best track on the schedule despite living walking distance from the facility. One thing Kitchen does have firsthand knowledge about with the track is the difficult passing opportunities available when you’re stuck in a group of riders.

After starting outside of the top 15 in the first moto, Kitchen was left in a heated battle with riders like Casey Cochran, Julien Beaumer, Jett Reynolds, and more as they all ran a similar pace. His second moto P4 result was more of what he expects out of himself, but even that was not helped by another mid-pack start for Kitchen.

“To say I’m bummed is a bit of an understatement because I wanted to do more for my hometown crowd, but the starts weren’t there when you really need them to be at this track,” said Kitchen. “I did my best to bounce back in the second moto, but just didn’t have what it took to be at the front today. Just like wins motivate [me], it’s also days like today that really make you want to get back to work and make it back to the podium. We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again.”

Having gone 1-1 the week prior at Spring Creek, Kitchen had vaulted up to second in the championship. With the result, he now drops to third behind Red Bull KTM’s Tom Vialle again as they continue to jockey for the best of the rest honor.