The last time Levi Kitchen was seen at the races, he was riding off in pain and in shame after two crashes at Ironman cost him any shot at the 250 Class AMA Pro Motocross Championship. He didn’t ride the second moto. He returned to the track for the SMX Playoff opener in Columbus, but no one was quite sure where to put him on the contenders list. While Cole Davies was coming off a title and Julien Beaumer and Chance Hymas had momentum, no one even knew if Kitchen was ready, physically or mentally.

Turns out he was banged up, first from that brutal first-turn hit at Millville, which left him with a tweaked thumb and other ailments. The break before Unadilla helped him heal a bit, and it showed with massive speed there, but those Ironman crashes set him back. Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Manager Dan Fahey told us Levi tweaked the thumb again at Ironman, and with the SMX Playoffs and Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations upcoming, they advised Levi not to race the second Ironman moto, because they didn’t want him to ride again until he knew the extent of the injury.

Levi did get the thumb checked, and he will not need surgery, but he is still not 100 percent and said he didn’t really ride during the two weeks between Ironman and Columbus. It didn’t matter, though, because in muddy conditions he just rode smart and steady and emerged with a win. That one had to feel good.

Levi spoke on the relief of getting the win, but also how confusing the Olympic style scoring can be in the post-race press conference.

“When I got up to the podium, I just asked a few people, and they're like, ‘You won,’" he said, "And then some people were like, ‘I don't know if you won.’ So, it was kind of anticlimactic when I won. I just kinda did a thumbs up over the finish. I figured that maybe I won, but I didn't know with the scoring. It was good to hear that I won. I was pretty happy.”

Levi also commented on his time off after a disappointing ending to the Pro Motocross season.

“It was pretty tough after Ironman, just even the uncertainty, like I hadn't been able to ride and stuff," he said. "I just tried to keep my head up and just come here and have fun, you know. That's kinda what everybody around me was telling me, ‘Just go have some fun.’ So, did that, and it worked out.”

Levi’s 2-2 moto finishes for first overall, also secured him with the SMX points lead. After losing the red plate in the second to last Pro Motocross round, in the mud at Budds Creek no less, it's got to feel great to be back on top. However, Kitchen says he is not worried about points, at least not at this point in the playoffs.

“I think now, just with what I've kinda learned throughout some of the other years, is that I'm not even thinking about the points or anything, to be honest," he said. "I just wanna try to just do my best on the weekends. I’m happy that today went the way it did, and I'm in the lead, but this is a three-race series. I'm just gonna try to do what I did today, you know, even if it's a couple seconds, and then just see how many points I can stack up and just try to be as consistent as I can.”

Remember this weekend’s race in California pays double points and the finale is triple points, so Kitchen’s seven point lead over Ryder DiFrancesco is not as big of a buffer as it sounds. How will Kitchen’s thumb fare in Los Angeles? And will his strategy for consistency be enough to pull off the SMX World Championship?