Image: Octopi Media.

Current 250SX East championship leader Max Anstie has suggested that points were his priority in the topical restart during the closing stages of Saturday night’s main event in Detroit, moving to explain his strategy after Levi Kitchen stole victory as a result of a stoppage late in the race.

Anstie got out to the early lead inside Ford Field, pulling away to a 6.51-second lead ahead of Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Kitchen before the race was red-flagged with just seven seconds remaining on the race clock due to teammate Cameron McAdoo crashing out.

That meant that Anstie’s advantage was quickly erased as a staggered start took place for a three-lap shootout, in which Kitchen was able to make the most of – passing Anstie and holding on for the victory. Amongst the chaos, Tampa winner Anstie indicated post-race that he was still content with second on the podium.

“I haven’t watched it back, but in my mind, I kind of had the most to lose in a way, [because] I’ve got the red plate,” Anstie reflected. “It came back to my whole goal of the championship – the way that I do things is trying to be consistent and solid and take what comes. In that situation, the level of risk was a little too high for me to start T-boning people.

“I could have gone down, could have damaged the bike… Like, we were passing, we were pushing hard, but it was a very tricky situation, because still, at the back of my mind I didn’t want to do anything silly.

“It wasn’t like that was for the championship and I’m going to just absolutely die or win – I’m happy with the podium. I didn’t want to go any further down the order, but I’m still happy with second on the night.”

Anstie – like many – wasn’t certain if the race would be restarted at that moment with only seconds remaining on the clock, however, according to the AMA regulations, continuing was the correct decision despite his lead being evaporated in the process.

“To be honest, I thought the rule was 90 percent then it was done,” he admitted. “Because I knew I had two laps to go in the main race, so I was cruising my last – not cruising – but I was doing all the safe lines.

“I, mentally for a couple of laps, decided that I was just going to not do anything crazy, hit my marks, just do all the doubles and not do anything crazy. And then the red flag and it’s like, ‘Oh no, you’ve got to send it again’.

“I saw Levi next to me over the finish and as soon as I saw that, I was like, ‘if I block this turn, he’s gonna get me in the next turn’. But then I’ve got RJ [Hampshire], so it was such a situation where I was trying to defend, but the turns were very open.

“I was in the worst situation there, but I mean, it is what it is. At the end of the day, I’ve been in the game long enough and know that, you know, what’s taken will be given – sometimes things work out your way, sometimes they don’t. I’m pleased in a way that I didn’t do anything silly in those last few laps and I still came out of it with a second.”

With the Eastern Division now taking a week off, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Anstie will carry a nine-point advantage over Kitchen – who finished ninth at Tampa’s opener – heading to Daytona for round eight of the 2025 Monster Energy Supercross Championship at the beginning of next month.