Levi Kitchen won the first round of the SMX World Championship Playoffs on a muddy track in Columbus, Ohio, and put himself in the drivers’ seat after Cole Davies had a mechanical issue and finished well down the order in 10th. Kitchen was scored the overall winner with moto results of 2-2, finishing behind Daxton Bennick in Moto 1 and Davies in Moto 2.
Kitchen stumbled in the first moto the following week, getting a poor start and finishing only seventh. He won the second race and beat Jo Shimoda for third via the tiebreaking procedure. Kitchen won Moto 2; the defending SuperMotocross 250 champion, Shimoda, finished second. That would be Kitchen’s only moto victory.
“Nothing really hit me until right before the finish line,” Kitchen said during the post-race press conference. “I saw my teammate, he was screaming for me and, yeah, it kind of hit me then and I was like, ‘Man, finally.’ ”
As in the SMX opener, he finished 2-2 in the finale. It was fittingly his fifth result of second or better in six motos.
“I would say [the SMX Championship is] almost a little bit easier because you know you got to stay consistent for three rounds,” Kitchen continued. “If you blow at one of them, you’re kind of screwed. I knew that the way it all shook down, Cole had a couple mishaps and think I ended up going one, three, two or whatever overalls on the weekends. And it taught me a lot though. That’s what it’s going to take going into Supercross, just stay on that podium. And I think that’s how you win a championship.”
Levi Kitchen handed the lead to Cole Davies without much of a fight in Moto 1, knowing consistency would carry the day. Feld Entertainment / Align Media
Levi Kitchen handed the lead to Cole Davies without much of a fight in Moto 1, knowing consistency would carry the day. Feld Entertainment / Align Media
Kitchen’s consistency paid a dividend of $500,000 in bonus money.
He entered the season finale with a slim three-point advantage over Ryder DiFrancesco in what was essentially a winner-take-all scenario. In the first moto, it was DiFrancesco’s turn to get a bad start, but he rode through the field and settled into third, one position behind Kitchen.
“I was out there for that paycheck,” Kitchen said after being asked if he was content to ride second behind Davies. “All day I kind of knew where we were with everything and I knew Cole was going to be fast, but I knew I could use him as a pick all night. So, it was like Moto 1 was able to get out front and then he got me, but we were able to at least pull away so I was comfortable. And then Moto 2, just tried to hang with him, was like, ‘All right, if I can just keep this pace up, I know the guys behind me.’ I saw Nate back there. I seem to get along for the most part with a lot of the people. I don’t know. I guess I’ve made a lot of friends along the way. I knew I was in a good spot. I wasn’t nervous of anything stupid happening. It was pretty mellow from there.”
Levi Kitchen’s first SuperMotocross Championship will likely change the trajectory of his career. Feld Entertainment / Align Media
Levi Kitchen’s first SuperMotocross Championship will likely change the trajectory of his career. Feld Entertainment / Align Media
Keep Calm and Carry On
Whether he wins, loses, or crashes, Kitchen is one of the calmest riders in the paddock—at least when he faces the public. Frustrations, obsessions, and internalized anger, if he feels any such emotions, exist only behind the closed doors of his hauler or RV.
Typically a modest-to-poor starter, Kitchen nailed both of his starts on Saturday. He lined up to the far inside in Moto 1, which could have put him at a disadvantage, but the relationships he has built during his 250 career paid off as competitors rode calmy around him.
Kitchen earned the holeshot in Moto 1 and slotted into second in Moto 2. DiFrancesco was not quite as fortunate in the second race. He completed Lap 1 in 18th, climbed as high as ninth, and finished 10th.
“I think the biggest thing is just truly blocking out everything around you, and the thing for me tonight was just being present,” Kitchen said. “Don’t even think about this thing. Don’t think about winning. It’s hard to do obviously, but it’s just another race. I feel like I did a good job of that. I didn’t do anything special tonight and I didn’t do anything stupid. I didn’t override and just the whole day was just perfect. I didn’t take any massive risk and I just knew that that first hundred feet or whatever was basically make or break, so I executed that and from there it was pretty easy.”
And while Kitchen stated he was “out there for that paycheck,” it was never really about the money. After finishing second to Haiden Deegan in the Monster Energy Supercross West division and third in Pro Motocross series in 2026, Kitchen was hungry for a title.
That hunger was undoubtedly intensified by a 41st-place finish in the Motocross finale at Ironman Raceway that dropped him from second to third in the standings. He crashed in the first moto and with no chance of catching Davies for the title, he sat out the second moto. Second, after all, is only the first loser; one may as well be the second loser.
“The money’s obviously awesome, but I’m going to invest my money,” Kitchen concluded. “I’m going to try not to buy anything stupid. The big thing is just the feeling. It’s the pride. The trophy, any of that stuff, it’s not really that. It’s just knowing deep down I got it done and this is going to really help me, I think, in my future.”
