Levi Kitchen Scores Another 250 Triple Crown Podium in Glendale
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Levi Kitchen finished third in Glendale to advance his position in the 250SX West Championship / Apr 9, 2023 /
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Levi Kitchen returned to the podium last night at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, finishing third with a 3-2-2 score at the final Triple Crown event of the season. His second podium of 2023 advanced him to third in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250 West Championship as the regional division takes a weekend break before returning for the East-West Shootout in New Jersey. Unfortunately, Stilez Robertson’s night ended early with a crash in the first 250SX Main Event. Amatuer rider Daxton Bennick also returned to the podium, taking a third-place finish in the Supercross Futures 250SX class.
Kitchen had a solid start to the day, qualifying fifth, but he really found his stride for the night show. The Washington rider got a great start in the first main event and then an even better one after the restart of the red-flagged race, grabbing the holeshot. He led the first two laps but ultimately crossed the line third. Kitchen repeated his flying start in the second main event with another holeshot but was shuffled to the runner-up spot early on. He rode his own race to maintain the position and held off a late charge from the series-points leader to cross the line in second. In the final race, he grabbed his third holeshot of the evening and threw down some fast times to lead the first two laps. Kitchen went on to take a runner-up finish and secure third overall with a 3-2-2 score. His second Triple Crown podium of the season advanced him to third in the championship standings with 101 points.
His teammate Robertson also had a solid start to the day, qualifying seventh on the hard-packed track. Unfortunately, he went down in a rhythm section and was hit by multiple riders. The red flag was drawn, and he was evaluated on-site by the Alpinestars Mobile Medical Unit for a broken leg and then sought further evaluation at a local hospital. Robertson will have surgery to repair his injury, and an update will follow at a later date.
The young Bennick had a strong start to the day, qualifying second in the Supercross Futures 250SX class. The North Carolinian didn’t get the start he was hoping for and found himself third after the first lap. He battled for the final podium position and then set after the leaders, but they had already built a comfortable gap up front. Bennick rode a smart race to finish third and keep his podium streak rolling after winning the first two rounds.
Next weekend the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 250 East team returns to action for Round 7 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX East Championship and the 13th round of the SuperMotocross World Championship at Atlanta Motor Speedway on April 15.
Jensen Hendler – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 250 Team Manager
“Glendale was an up-and-down day for us. Levi ended up on the podium in the last Triple Crown race of the year. He rode great and led laps in the races and will continue to work on fighting for wins.”
“Stilez was feeling really good coming into the night show, and then had a slight bobble in a rhythm section and ended up having a couple of riders land on him. He hurt his leg and will have to have surgery to repair it. We will monitor his healing in order to get him back to 100%.”
“Daxton had a good day and also found himself on the podium in the Futures class. He found himself battling with another rider early, which caused the leader to build a pretty good gap. He fought hard to close the gap but wasn’t able to in such a short race. We’re proud of him, and he will take his energy to the next Futures race in New Jersey.”
Levi Kitchen – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“Those two guys (Jett Lawrence and RJ Hampshire) were riding really solid tonight. After how the day started, I think it was a good step in the right direction. I wasn’t riding very well in practice, so to come out and pull three holeshots and put in some solid laps was great. I had a good time riding with those guys. I’m happy with third today, and look to keep building on this momentum in New Jersey.”
Stilez Robertson – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“The day started out pretty well. Even though I qualified seventh, I felt really good on the bike and was excited about the night show. Unfortunately, the night didn’t go as expected. I ended up crashing. I was fine and then got hit by like four bikes. As soon as that happened, I felt my leg get really hot, so I went to get up and get off the track, and my ankle just straight gave out. I have to give a huge shoutout to everyone who reached out to me, all the medics at the track, and also my girlfriend Hayley for taking care of me. I’m heading to Colorado in the morning to get the surgery scheduled and hopefully knock that out and get on the road to recovery. It’s been really hard on me, but I know at the end of the day, it will all be worth it. We’ll be back!”
Daxton Bennick – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“It was a good day overall. I started off by qualifying pretty well in second. I was pretty confident all day that I could go win, and that’s what I tried to do. I gave it my best. I just fell a little short. I kind of messed up in the first couple of laps and started making a lot of mistakes. By the time I got to third, it was a little too late, and the race was about over. I’m looking forward to New Jersey.”
2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX Futures Glendale Results
https://results.amasupercross.com/xml/SX/events/S2360/2FF1RES.pdf
2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX Glendale Results
https://results.amasupercross.com/xml/SX/events/S2360/S2F1PRESS.pdf
2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX West Championship Standings
https://results.amasupercross.com/xml/SX/events/S2360/2WF1POINTSPOSITION.pdf
