Levi Kitchen WINS In Detroit After Late Race Drama

The 250SX east main event was uneventful for most of the 15-minutes plus one lap, with last week’s winner Max Anstie comfortably leading with a sizable gap to second place. However, Monster Energy Pro Circuit’s Cameron McAdoo crashed hard in the whoops, resulting in a red flag being waved with 7 seconds left on the clock, and a staggered restart was ordered. Really unfortunate circumstances for the Brit, he rode a perfect main event and the gap he had built throughout the race was wiped with the staggered restart.

Levi Kitchen benefited from the staggered restart, passing Anstie swiftly on route to his first win of the season. The win on paper is massive for Kitchen but the unusual circumstances have clouded the victory, with Kitchen expressing mixed feelings on how it unfolded, “It was a weird situation and I’m not happy with winning that way but all we can do is move forward from here.” After finishing ninth at the opening round in Tampa, the victory puts Kitchen second in points, nine behind Anstie.

Anstie’s frustrations were evident post-race, he referred on the podium to a phone call he received from Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s owner Bobby Regan earlier in the day. Anstie said “Bobby Regan the team boss called earlier and said that somehow I said I didn’t expect to win, I don’t know where he got that from. If he’s not going to show up to the races don’t bother calling me anymore! I expect to do what I’m doing.”

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire bounced back from a horrible opening round and finished in third place. The staggered restart allowed RJ to pressure both Anstie and Kitchen for the remaining three laps, but the 2024 250SX West champion was ultimately third best on the night. On a night where he could not afford nothing less then a podium, RJ rode well under the pressure and whilst dealing with a nagging wrist injury.

Nate Thrasher entered the weekend nursing a broken finger he sustained from an incident at the practice track during the week. Thrasher won his heat race and finished in an impressive fifth considering the circumstances. The gutsy performance has come with its consequences however, further damaging the broken finger and now requiring surgery to get it fixed.

Triumph Factory Racing’s Austin Forkner made a hard night’s work to qualify for the main event, having to qualify via the LCQ. Forkner turned it around in the main, coming from an average start to finish in seventh place.

Carson Mumford continues to impress in his supercross return, running inside the top five for a large portion of the main event, finishing in eighth place. As Mumford continues to get back to race fitness, keep an eye out for him to throw his name in the top five mix. His speed to start the 2025 has been extremely impressive coming back from his nasty leg break in Texas last year.

Another rider building off the back of a significant injury is Max Vohland. The ClubMX Yamaha rider scored his first top ten of the season after a bike problem ended his night early in Tampa. Vohland would run into bike problems during the heat race in Detroit, meaning he also had to qualify via the LCQ. Luckily for Vohland and the team, the issues were resolved and he was able to put a solid main together.

Henry Miller will go under the radar but his tenth place in Ford Field is another solid showing for the Storm Lake Honda/ Buddy Brooks Racing rider.

Shout out to Lorenzo Locurcio (16th), Mark Fineis (18th), Ayden Shive (20th) and Izaih Clark (21st) for qualifying for their first main events of the season.

The 250SX east region will have a weekend off before returning to Daytona on the 1st March, for round three of the 250SX east series.

Image courtesy of @courseheading

- Edward Heather (@edward_heather on Instagram)