Levi Kitchen was expected to be a championship contender in the 250 Class of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship this summer. But from the first round, he was in a hole. His tenth in the first moto of the season was looking to be backed up with another tenth-place finish in moto two until late in the race his chain broke. The season started with 10-38 finishes for 16th overall and just 12 points on the day.

After that, Kitchen has been in the top ten in all six motos. His 3-3-8-3-2-6 moto finishes since have landed him three straight third-place overall finishes. But his second moto at High Point Raceway Saturday could have even landed him second overall had he not clipped the rear wheel of a competitor on the opening lap.

“Still wasn't really what I want,” Kitchen said on his day. “Second moto was actually better and then I got kind of like cross jumped and sort of fell and went backwards. So, I think I was actually in like fourth before that.”

“But, yeah, I just got to keep trying to work on that,” he continued, referring to his intensity. “I don't really know what I'm gonna do to work on it. Maybe just ride with some guys back at sandbox and do more sprint stuff rather than the motos.”

Kitchen charged forward and received some help from Chance Hymas, who dabbed his leg on the final lap—appearing to suffer an injury—and dropped from second behind Haiden Deegan to third also behind Tom Vialle. The adjustment bumped Hymas from third overall to fourth overall, giving Kitchen his third consecutive overall podium.

The Washington native said he was unaware of the podium situation after his early race mistake and was wanting to just make up ground.

“No, I didn't know where I was at,” he said, referring to positioning. “I actually thought I was gonna be off the podium for sure cause I rode pretty bad the second moto. So, I mean, grateful to get another podium, but definitely wasn't the second moto that I wanted. I guess the positives were, I don't… I think I've gotten 10th here as my best finish here, so I've always struggled with this place. So, today was better. But I've always liked Southwick. It's gonna be nice to get a little weekend off and then go to that race.”

While it was a strong day, Kitchen still has a lot of ground to make up in the championship. He sits seventh, his 124 points are 70 points behind championship leader Haiden Deegan a little bit less than halfway through the season. Kitchen has been solid at The Wick 338 in the past, finishing fourth overall, eighth overall, and seventh overall in his three professional racing visits to the Massachusetts circuit. In his fourth place in 2022, he trailed eventual champion Jett Lawrence basically the entire moto to finish second. It would not be surprising to see him land his fourth straight podium when racing resumes next weekend.