RANCHO CORDOVA, California: Levi Kitchen scored the overall victory in the Hangtown Classic after finishing second in both motos. He had to overcome modest starts twice in order to claim the win as the math combine in the motos became challenging after the first race inverted by a massive Turn 1 crash.
The trigger to the crash came from Moto 1 winner, Seth Hammaker, was pinched when he tried to thread the needle. He crashed and took half the field with him to the ground. One of the riders he collected was Jo Shimoda. widely considered to be one of his challengers for the Motocross championship.
It took several seconds to remount his bike and Hammaker fell well outside the top 20. He cracked the top 20 and began earning points on Lap 3. He moved into 10th on Lap 12, which elevated him onto the podium.
Hammaker scored the same number of points, 38, as Julien Beaumer, but lost the overall position because of the tiebreaker (the best finish in the second moto).
Despite winning the second moto. Cole Davies was relegated to fourth overall after struggling in the first race and finishing 11th. It remains to be seen if the momentum will carry to Round 3 next week in Lakewood, Colorado.
Shimoda overcame his crash to finish fifth overall. Like Hammaker, he fell outside the top 20, but led the way through the field in the second race. Shimoda cracked the top 10 on Lap 8.
Nate Thrasher was also involved in the Lap 1 crash. He was taken to a local hospital for observation.
Monster Energy Kawasaki is now first and second in the championship standings, with Hammaker leading Kitchen by seven points.
