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BACK-TO-BACK PODIUMS FOR MONSTER ENERGY® PRO CIRCUIT KAWASAKI RIDER LEVI KITCHEN AT THUNDER VALLEY
Foothill Ranch, Calif. (June 8, 2025) - Monster Energy® Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Levi Kitchen showed immense grit to claim another third-place overall finish (8-3) in the Pro Motocross Championship at Round 3 in Lakewood, Colorado. Teammate Garret Marchbanks showed his strength and endurance as well by charging through the pack in both motos to take fourth overall (3-8). Ty Masterpool continued to battle through his illness and put in a solid performance in the first moto to take fourth and secure 10th overall (4-16). Drew Adams continued to progress in his performance with a fifth in Moto 1 and claimed 13th overall (5-34) after a bike issue in Moto 2 forced him to retire early. Monster Energy® Kawasaki rider Jorge Prado battled against the competitive field and the challenging track conditions to take 13th overall (8-39). Teammate Jason Anderson fought through the elevation to secure 19th overall (12-40).
Thunder Valley was hit with heavy rain throughout the week leading up to the race. Friday brought intermittent downpours and hail, leaving the track muddy and slick for Saturday morning. In the 250 Class, the Monster Energy® Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders continued to showcase their consistent speed in qualifying, with all four finishing nearly right behind one another, despite the difficult track conditions. Masterpool, Marchbanks, Kitchen, and Adams secured third, fourth, fifth, and seventh, respectively. In the 450 Class, Anderson laid down steady laps to qualify 10th overall, while Prado used the first session to learn the soft, technical track. After grasping the layout and refining his lines, he delivered a stronger second session to qualify 11th overall.
In 250 Moto 1, when the gate dropped Masterpool powered up the uphill start straight into the first corner, putting himself into the Top 5. Adams, Kitchen and Marchbanks had less than ideal starts off the gate, putting themselves mid-pack. The Monster Energy Pro Circuit riders locked in and charged through the pack aboard their KX™250 race machines. Masterpool moved his way from fifth into third early on, until his teammate Marchbanks charged from 16th to pass Masterpool for third place with three minutes left until time expired. Masterpool would claim fourth place while Marchbanks would take third to claim his first career moto podium in the 250 Class. Close behind, Adams would push himself from 28th to claim an impressive fifth-place finish, while Kitchen would also make a come-from-behind run from 21st to eighth place.
In 450 Moto 1, Prado launched out of his outside gate pick and attacked the start straight, putting himself in a favorable Top 10 position to start the moto. Anderson’s inside gate pick proved difficult without a strong start, he was squeezed back to mid-pack through the first corner. Prado quickly settled into eighth place, while pushing the pace of his competitors in front of him. Anderson moved towards the Top 10 and put in his fastest lap time on Lap 2. The No. 21 of Anderson pushed to 11th place, but would settle into 12th place where he would ultimately finish. Prado found himself in an intense battle, swapping positions with seventh place for much of the moto, but would ultimately take eighth place for Moto 1.
In 250 Moto 2, Adams, Marchbanks and Masterpool’s strong results in Moto 1 gave them favorable gate picks for Moto 2, choosing to line up on the outside gates next to each other, while Kitchen was lined up a couple of gates over. When the gate dropped, Masterpool pulled another impressive start, turning the first corner in third place. Kitchen and Adams were caught up mid-pack across the line, while Marchbanks got tangled in the first turn pile-up, causing his transponder to break. The Pro Circuit riders found themselves in a similar situation to Moto 1, having to move their way up through the field. Masterpool found himself feeling the symptoms of his ongoing illness in the second moto as he tried to fight off his competitors, but would slip to 16th to finish the moto. Marchbanks would remount his bike after the pile-up and put his head down again to pass his competitors. He climbed from 39th to an incredible eighth-place finish. Adams would move himself inside the Top 10 until a tip-over mid-race would drop him back to 20th. Adams would look to work his way back up in the rankings until a bike issue forced him to exit the track early. Kitchen put on another impressive showing as he powered through his competition from 17th to third place, taking the podium position on the second-to-last lap and securing his second consecutive overall podium finish.
In 450 Moto 2, Prado pulled another strong start out of the gate, turning the first corner in fifth place with Anderson close behind in ninth place. Early in the moto Anderson tweaked his knee from a tip-over on the top of the track. This caused him to be unable to put any weight on that knee, which led to another crash where he was trapped under his bike. Due to the pain in his knee, Anderson retired from the race early. Prado was clicking off consistent laps in the beginning of the moto, until he hit a kicker off a deep rut in the treacherous track conditions that led to him retiring early as well.
“I was in a dog fight the entire day. In the first moto I got a bad start and fell early on. I need to get off the line better, but I’m really happy with my fitness. At the end of the race I felt unbelievable. This second moto was a tough one but I just dug deep and tried to keep moving my way to the front. It feels so good to be back racing and I’m looking forward to next weekend at High Point.”
Levi Kitchen
“Qualifying was pretty good, I got third overall and in the first moto I got a pretty good start. I worked my way up to third and then unfortunately I hit false neutral in a corner. I was battling with Garrett [Marchbanks] for the last couple laps and finished in fourth. I’m still fighting my cold from last week and I was throwing up in between motos. I was in survival mode once that happened, plus with the altitude mixed in, it was pretty tough. This result is not how I wanted the first three rounds to go, but I’m just focused on getting healthy right now and looking forward to the next round.”
Ty Masterpool
“It was a solid day today, one of my best finishes out here at Thunder Valley. I’m super pumped to get my first ever moto podium in the 250 class, which is super cool. Qualifying went great, I was fourth overall in qualifying. I’ve been super consistent in qualifying so far in the first three rounds, averaging around fourth or fifth. The motos have been great, I just need to get a better start. The first moto was alright I was able to make my way through the pack coming from 16th to third, which I feel is great. I think with the elevation it was super hard and how deep it was today on the start definitely made it a little difficult. Second moto I was feeling good, thought I had a great jump but came into the first turn and everyone was fighting for the same line that caused a lot of guys to go down. I got stuck in that pileup and was 39th once I got up. I charged my way back to eighth, but my transponder broke, so I wasn’t sure where I was running. It was a solid day though I got fourth overall, I’m happy with three races around the Top 5. I’m just happy with the consistency at the first three rounds, I haven’t been this consistent outdoors in the past, so we’re just going to keep building on that.”
Garrett Marchbanks
“I ended the day a little short in Lakewood today. I qualified seventh overall. The first moto was good, I didn’t have a great start but ended up coming back to fifth, so I was happy with that. In the second moto I was running in ninth then I had a small tip-over and went back to 20th. I made a couple passes then I had a couple bike issues. We have some positives to take from today, but it’s a bummer when something happens that's out of your control. I’m ready for next weekend.”
Drew Adams
“Obviously, today was not how I wanted the day to pan out. My main concern for Thunder Valley is always the elevation because I struggle with altitude sickness, so I was focused on managing that. I ended up getting 19th overall. The first moto I got a bit squeezed out on the start and was just trying to hammer in laps. The second moto I went down at the top of the track and tweaked my knee, then I ended up going down again and got trapped under my bike for a bit. I didn’t feel comfortable finishing the race after that. I’m going to get my knee checked out next week and we’ll see how it all goes from there.”
Jason Anderson
“Not the results I was looking for today. The track conditions were pretty difficult out there. The rain made it very slippery and the ruts were super deep. It was a hard track to feel comfortable on having never been here before. In Moto 1 the track felt super soft so we made some changes to the bike for Moto 2, but I ended up hitting a hole in a deep rut that threw me off and ended my moto. We continue to make improvements during the week and we will learn from this race and look for more progress next weekend.”
Jorge Prado