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00:00Rebs are up, gate is down, Davies a better start this time, and the rain comes right back, Davies grabs
00:12the whole shot, progressive whole shot for Davies, another good one for Kinson, who's second.
00:17Yeah, Levi executed that start well, Cole got a better start, and with all this rain, as you can see,
00:23man, that was a key start for Levi to get going.
00:27They've got to be a little bit careful, Ricky, because now with this rain, it's not enough to make it
00:30muddy, but what it makes it is slippery on these hard, slippery spots, you'll see.
00:34You are certainly right. Clutch start for Levi, and good news for him. Why? Because Ryder DeFrancisco and Julian Beaumere
00:44are nowhere in sight.
00:47And that is an absolute gift.
00:50We have Beaumere and DeFrancisco 19th and 20th on the board right now.
00:55Yeah, I mean, they are way back right now.
00:59We'll have to see what happened there. As for Kitchen, who's attacking Davies momentarily for the lead, he had averaged
01:05a sixth-place start all year in all the races, Supercross, Motocross, playoffs combined.
01:11Today, a first- and second-place start. Way to respond when he needed it.
01:17And they are way back. Beaumere has gained a few spots, but this is the worst time for a bad
01:24one.
01:24Yeah, James, I am absolutely loving this scenario right here. I am looking and I am being aware if I
01:31am Levi Kitchen, seeing where those two riders were.
01:35Two riders, meaning Beaumere and Ryder DeFrancisco 19th.
01:41Yeah, I mean, he's got to stay focused. As you can see, how slippery his track is. But I feel
01:46like I have a, you know, when I was looking at the background, some riders got, went down right in
01:51his corner.
01:51So I'm wondering maybe those were two championships, JT.
01:54Yeah, just to Ricky's point there, I wanted to ask both of you, how much effort would you put into
01:59finding out what the situation is behind you?
02:01Like, are you going to look back? Are you going to try to look on other lanes? Like, how important
02:05in the situation here is to know exactly who your competitors are directly behind you?
02:10Yeah, that's a great question, JT. And I think some people's, you know, strategies are different.
02:15But for me, 100%, I would be looking nonstop until I could locate those riders and see where they are.
02:21That way I know how much effort I have to put into this race and trying to maybe stay on
02:28the wheel of Cole Davies.
02:30Or can I just ride it in to the sunset? That would be my strategy right now, finding where they're
02:35at.
02:35Yeah, I'm with you here. The good thing is, I'm going to just try to hang on to the 3070.
02:39He's been the fastest.
02:40But you see how slippery this racetrack is. And with this rain coming down, which you've got to believe, Levi
02:45knows the color, Julian's gear.
02:47Same thing with Ryder D. So he'll continue to look back and hopefully he don't see those colors.
02:52Make this race a little bit easier. He's got a long ways to go.
02:55Man, there's so much different soil out here as they go from the clay to the sand.
03:00So, James, yeah, just talk about that. And I'm imagining the rain is going to impact different areas of the
03:05track differently.
03:06Yeah, it is. And the hard part for him, these guys, as you said, all this is sand.
03:10So this is actually with the rain to actually help it out.
03:12But then you start getting to this part. You're starting to get over this little roller is where Cole Davies
03:17is.
03:17You can see that bike sliding around. So it changes a lot.
03:21And these shiny, slippery spots that we saw in the dust earlier, these are the spots you've got to watch
03:26out.
03:27Another section here.
03:30All right, we're going to try to show you what happened off the start.
03:33All right, here we go. There is Kitchett.
03:37Ride is there. Beaumare.
03:39I'm going to show you guys.
03:44All right, here. There's Beaumare.
03:47Well, personally, it's about last coming in and then it goes down.
03:49Yeah, he goes down and then there is Ryder DeFrancisco.
03:55And he, those guys, oh.
03:59You just wonder if, you know, their vision was impaired a little bit with this rain.
04:05The way it is right now, not being able to see well.
04:09It narrows up.
04:11We talked about it at the top of the show, that first corner, the beginning of the first moto.
04:15How tight it gets.
04:19Kitchen now, 15 minutes on a rapidly changing racetrack to finally bring home a title.
04:27He has had this red plate of the points leader time after time, year after year, including multiple weeks this
04:34year in pro motocross.
04:35He has not been able to bring it home five times he led a series in 2024, five times in
04:4225, multiple times he had led it.
04:46And each time it slipped away.
04:49Will.
04:52Jason, it's incredible to think.
04:53And I was just standing with Jimmy Button, agent for Levi Kitchen, and sort of acts as somewhat of a
04:59kind of off-track sort of mentor for him, just leaning on all his own racing experience.
05:04And I said, what's different about Levi today?
05:07And he said, he is so relaxed before this moto.
05:11He said, I think after just not being himself last week.
05:15He didn't know what he called it.
05:16He said he was a little bit of a mess last week.
05:18He said he's embracing the privilege of being here.
05:21He said he's different.
05:22And he said, I want this for him so badly because there's so much that's gone in.
05:27And there's been so much heartbreakings that I just want him to feel what it's like to get rewarded for
05:32everything that he has put in.
05:34This is going to resonate, this win, for Levi.
05:37If this happens here, it's going to resonate through his team and family very deeply.
05:43Well, Will, it was so bad last week.
05:45The agent there, Jimmy Button, saying he was a mess.
05:48Levi admitted he threw up before the first moto last week.
05:51And then he did not ride well.
05:52Finished seventh.
05:53And then somehow came back in the second moto to win.
05:57And then we switch the story to the team.
06:00This is the title drop for that very mighty Pro Circuit organization.
06:04Tons of titles in the 90s to 2000s and the 2010s.
06:07They have not won a title in this decade.
06:11And we've told that story far too many times.
06:13Not that they haven't been in contention.
06:15Not that they haven't won races.
06:16They just haven't been able to seal the deal.
06:20We asked yesterday, Levi, what would it mean to win the title for this team?
06:26Yeah, it would be super, super big.
06:28Just a little bit of confidence and a great way to end the year.
06:31You know, I've had a pretty good season this far.
06:33So, yeah, to try to, you know, go out there and win this thing tomorrow would be huge.
06:38Not a lot of number one plates on the door.
06:40But the latest was Adam C. Cirillo back in 2019, 2017 Supercross with Justin Hill.
06:46That's a long run for a very proud organization.
06:50Yeah, you talk about proud organization.
06:52I mean, he was with the most coveted race teams around in the 250 division.
06:56And there's a team you wanted to be on.
06:59It was the Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit race team.
07:03I mean, there was no doubt about that.
07:05But kudos to the number 47 and Levi Kitchen so many times.
07:09Again, we've talked about being in that position to win a championship.
07:12And for whatever reason, coming up short.
07:15And to have that resilience mentally to keep coming back and to keep fighting.
07:22Big time props to this race team and as well, Levi.
07:26Oh, yeah.
07:27Remember the last vision we had of him in Ironman?
07:29Just riding off when the vise were down, bike bent.
07:31Didn't even race Moto2.
07:32I was on the couch watching and it just, I mean, you could just see it like one thing after
07:37another.
07:38Yeah, no, I like what I see because he came out and executed two great starts, you know.
07:43And he made them happen.
07:44So I think for him, it kind of changes maybe the narrative moving forward that, hey, he can get this
07:50done.
07:51Now, we still have 12 and a half minutes left to get it done.
07:53But I'm impressed to watch him continue to grow.
07:56And the thing that was difficult for the motocross, it's not like he just crumbled.
08:00Yeah, he had the last race, he had a bunch of crashes.
08:03When things spiraled, they went.
08:04But he showed up and he was out there.
08:06Probably some of his best rides the last few races.
08:08But then a first corner crash and just incidents.
08:11He's out front.
08:12He goes down.
08:12When that luck changes, like maybe today, seeing that happen for other guys, I'm sure that gives Levi some belief
08:19and confidence.
08:19And maybe this is it to the start of many.
08:21But he also, you know, he made his own luck, like you talked about, in getting that start at the
08:27opportune time, which maybe didn't happen, you know, in his other scenarios.
08:33So he made it happen when he needed to at the most important time.
08:37And no one has an answer for this guy.
08:39The dominant force in 250 racing this year, a 250 Supercross title, a 250 Motocross title.
08:46Mike Rook is way up to third, actually, overall in these final SMX standings.
08:50Kind of think about what could have been.
08:53I mean, that was a massive plot twist last week.
08:58Cole looks good.
08:59And truthfully, watching him ride on this track, it was the same thing we saw during the mud race at
09:04Columbus, that, man, this kid can really ride the mud.
09:07And watching him here, it looks like he's on a completely different track than everyone else.
09:11Everybody else is getting timid.
09:12You can tell their body language.
09:14Cole's arms are open.
09:15He's whipping it.
09:16He looks more comfortable on this type of racetrack than any other one, JT.
09:20I 100% agree.
09:22Like, the level of precision that he has when traction is at a premium right now really stands out.
09:28And these guys are all fantastic.
09:30But when we go through the field, we watch other guys, and you watch him, he looks like he's doing
09:34something completely different.
09:36Like, he looks like he is in a different race on a different racetrack than those other guys.
09:39Speaks pretty highly about what he's going to be able to do not only in 2027, but at the next
09:43level as well.
09:45Thanks, JT.
09:46He's going to be halfway through this final 250 moto.
09:48A reminder to stock up on Monster Energy drinks at price cutter as Davies hammers down.
09:54Looking for his first playoff win this year.
09:56You notice, James, the base of this track is really hard and slick.
10:01If you watch these riders come out of the corners, certain corners like this one coming up, Cole's about to
10:06hit right here.
10:07This inside, it's like riding on ice.
10:10He's going to go to the outside because there is more grit.
10:13But on the inside, it is super slick.
10:15Keep your eyes on those certain sections because it would be on your lid before you knew what happened.
10:22Yeah, and the way Cole's riding this, as we're watching this battle for third or second, kind of closed up.
10:27It's kind of been about the same.
10:29But, yeah, what Cole's doing really well is, like, he's taking his time.
10:33He's, all those slippery spots, he's just on the far inside of that or on the outside getting that traction.
10:38Nonetheless, he's still got a little over halfway as we're watching Landon Gordon run great all day today.
10:44Looking good.
10:45Yeah, it's not rare now to see Gordon around these podium spots.
10:49Running third, got that podium at Bud's Creek.
10:51Fourth at Ironman and the pro motocross campaign.
10:54And then was running third for a lot of the second moto last week.
10:57Finally came undone for him at the end.
10:59Lost a few spots.
11:00Now he has to deal with one of the veterans of the class, Cameron McAdoo, in what I believe will
11:05be the last run for him with the Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki team.
11:10Had a great couple of years, won a lot of races and a ton of podiums, but he's moving on.
11:15But McAdoo will always give you everything he has, and he's fighting right now from fourth.
11:21Grasher comes through next.
11:23Lux Turner sixth.
11:24Benekin Brown.
11:26Dee Francesco is digging.
11:27He's made it up to ninth.
11:29Now would have to hope for a miracle, a mistake from Kitchen.
11:33But it will help him preserve seconded points.
11:37Still pays a pretty good chunk.
11:39Yeah, it does.
11:41I mean, I think Ryder Dee, when we saw these last couple races, has been the elevation of him as
11:46a rider.
11:46So if he comes up short, he's got a lot to look forward to in the offseason because I think
11:50he showed himself some things.
11:52Having to execute like he did last weekend after having a bad start.
11:56And even today, he's riding great.
11:57And he'll make no doubt about it.
11:59If he has a successful offseason in training, he will be a premier contender in this 250 class.
12:06No doubt will.
12:08Yeah, and I was talking, Vicky, to Nate Ramsey, team manager over there at Rockstar Husqvarna,
12:13talking about the path that you just spoke about, that Ryder Dee Francisco is on.
12:17And Nate's just so proud of his progress this year.
12:21And you can tell how he understands what that potential is for the 2027 season that you're talking about.
12:29He said he's so calculated.
12:31He's so smart.
12:31And his words to him before he went out for even the first moto today was, this championship, if you
12:38were to get it today,
12:39is only the cherry on top of a cake that you already have.
12:42Because of what he's achieved and how far he's seen him come.
12:46So, yes, Wood Ryder would love to have gotten a win here and got the title with or without that
12:51elusive race win, of course.
12:53But what he has achieved and how far he's come to then just kind of, they look at next season
12:58and go,
12:59he's going to be a different guy and that's going to feel different to him because the expectation that you
13:05guys talk about is now there.
13:08Yeah, thanks, Will.
13:10And certainly some confidence he could take.
13:12There he is.
13:12Oh, that's actually his teammate, Benek.
13:14A couple positions ahead.
13:15This is Turner.
13:16And then the next should be Dee Francisco.
13:20Now, he's going a little quicker than Turner.
13:22He's closing the gap.
13:23Got Joe Shimoda behind him.
13:24And there you see Beaumere.
13:26And at this point, this Beaumere-DeFrancisco battle, they're there to pick up the pieces if Kitschip were to falter.
13:37Ryder B is doing a great job.
13:38I mean, at this point, he's starting to get to these guys.
13:40They're all basically running the same lap time.
13:42So, to be able to pick up that much speed to gain is going to be difficult on this racetrack.
13:47That's getting even harder to ride.
13:49So, doing a great job.
13:51I think, too, James, if you look at it, I mean, obviously he wants to win this championship.
13:56But at the same time, you've got to look at big picture and what's in the horizon.
14:01This was a massive step forward, like what Will was talking about.
14:05And you have a lot to hang your hat on after this season.
14:08I mean, he continued to build and build and build.
14:10And like Will was saying, man, I know you want to win.
14:16But sometimes you've just got to look at the positives in a situation like this.
14:20And he's done an incredible job.
14:23In a rough playoff campaign for last year's world champ, Joe Shimoda,
14:27was coming back from a broken collarbone and then just a disaster mud race
14:30to open the playoffs in Ohio.
14:32Similar story.
14:34Bommere had a rough one in the mud.
14:35Bounced back with that win last week.
14:37Not able to replicate it this time.
14:40He's kind of turned it up here the last couple laps.
14:43who's Joe is the fastest guy or third fastest guy on the track for the last lap.
14:47But Bommere was extremely close to that same lap time.
14:57Bommere is drifted back to fourth in points.
15:00He needs a few more positions to try to get third in the points
15:03and some big money away from Davies.
15:05Right now it would be Kitchen, DeFrancisco, Davies, top three in the series.
15:09We mentioned in Moto1, Bommere, today the decision was made
15:13that he is racing for Team USA at the Motocross of Nations.
15:16Hey, look at Joe.
15:18Shimoda's back to challenge DeFrancisco.
15:22Yeah, Joe, he's not back to challenge.
15:24He's back to pass as he makes that.
15:26But this is what Joe does.
15:27It just gets better and better.
15:29He'll give you everything he's got.
15:32He's had a rough year.
15:33That gnarly neck injury coming into the season.
15:37And I thought that he did well, all things considered.
15:40He had the injury in pro motocross championships.
15:43So I'm not saying that this was to be expected.
15:47But at the same time, I think he's doing a great job coming back.
15:50And this is the Joe that we know and know his capabilities of, Will.
15:56Yeah, Richie, I was talking to Ben Griffiths, Joe Shimoda's mechanic over there at Honda HRC earlier on,
16:01about that year that you talked about.
16:03It's just been rough.
16:04And those compounding kind of injuries, he said, that's probably why we're seeing Joe maybe take a little bit longer
16:11coming back to form.
16:12We saw him with very little crack time, five, six days on the bike, coming to supercross and do really
16:18well.
16:18We saw him with seven, eight days before pro motocross coming and do really well.
16:23He was very strong early in those championships despite that.
16:26He said, when that keeps happening and you never get back to return to your full form,
16:31he's like, that makes that a tougher reset.
16:33And that's what he's identifying with Joe now.
16:35He's just going to take a bit longer.
16:37He's just proud of him, honestly, that he's kind of come through this.
16:40And a lot of riders wouldn't be able to.
16:41And Joe is fighting through it.
16:43Yeah, I agree with that.
16:45And coming back from that neck injury, like we said, we were really surprised how good he looked.
16:49But it's not about speed with Joe.
16:51And he'll eventually get there.
16:52But now after those injuries, as Will just said, that mental battle, that's the biggest hurdle that he has to
16:57fight.
16:58So good to see Joe getting back.
16:59So we're watching this battle right here.
17:01Julian's going to go up the inside.
17:03And makes the move on DeFrancisco.
17:06So it has come unglued a bit for Ryder D, who's lost two spots on the last two laps.
17:11And look at the points as they run.
17:14DeFrancisco is in danger of losing second in the series to Davies.
17:21And Beaumair is stepping up.
17:24He's going after Shimoda.
17:26Got to wonder if Vision maybe is becoming a problem riding in the rain.
17:30It's been a constant rain this entire moto.
17:34Yeah, that or for Ryder D, you know, maybe a realization of the dream and what the goal was.
17:41It definitely looks like the attitude of his riding style has changed a little bit, I thought, from what I
17:47could see there.
17:49Lux Turner on the 43.
17:50It's under fire here.
17:51RC Shimoda and Beaumair are on a roll.
17:54And they got to go.
17:56Yeah, you got to start wondering, does Ryder D understand that maybe he can lose those positions and it really
18:01wouldn't matter.
18:02As long as he doesn't go anymore, maybe there's something else.
18:05And he might get notified when he passes his mechanic coming up over here where he just lost the position
18:11from Julian Beaumair in the first lap.
18:13The other lap.
18:14Lacking four, sorry.
18:15And Shimoda makes the move on Turner.
18:17That's the brother of the WMX winner, Lala Turner.
18:20Just out there a few moments ago.
18:22Everywhere Joe goes, Beaumair goes as well.
18:27Beaumair challenged to Turner.
18:29Take a quick look over.
18:30Julian's going to be on the outside.
18:32Different rhythm right here.
18:33You see that front end wash right there.
18:34Good job at saving that.
18:36That's what I was saying earlier about how the base of this track is really slick.
18:41You just saw Julian's front end wash it out.
18:45Look at how slick it is there.
18:46Wow.
18:47Yeah, you notice how Julian got back on that bike.
18:49He came out.
18:49He saw that slippery stuff.
18:51Had to lean back.
18:54I want to mention Gordon in third of the moto is actually set up for third overall and fifth in
19:01the points of SMX.
19:03Incredible job by the rookie.
19:04Yeah, great to see that.
19:08Really rallied late in the year, did Gordon.
19:11And a podium.
19:12That's going to pay a lot of money.
19:14Fifth in points will pay a lot of money.
19:15But the big one, we're down to the final minutes.
19:18Levi Kitchen looking at a $500,000 title bonus.
19:22Going to make around $700,000 total in these three playoff rounds.
19:29But maybe more than that.
19:30What it says about him delivering under pressure.
19:36There is no doubt today.
19:37Two starts when he needed the most.
19:40I need to find this guy, see where they're going afterwards.
19:45Well, first stop will be just at the truck.
19:47You know, they like to have a good time over there in the first place.
19:50I'm happy if he's able to hold this together for two more laps.
19:54I mean, I'm happy not only for Levi, but Mitch Payton as well.
19:58I mean, I saw the stats earlier when we throwed it up on the screen.
20:03JT.
20:03It's been a drought, again, for what was coveted as the best in the premier team in this division.
20:10And that's the thing, right?
20:12They've been so close.
20:13And this is a team that was built around winning.
20:16Ricky, you were a part of so many championships over there.
20:19And it was expected for them to win championships.
20:22And they go into this drought.
20:23They haven't won a title since 2019.
20:25And they've been so close so many times.
20:29And Levi Kitchen was the rider that was so close in a lot of those situations.
20:33To get over the hump here would mean so much for so many over there.
20:36Yeah, I mean, you're exactly right, JT.
20:39It was win or die over there, just straight up.
20:42If you didn't win, you were underperforming.
20:45And if you didn't win, it was never going to be because your equipment wasn't good enough to win on.
20:53And Mitch Payton would do, and the whole crew over there, Jim Bones-Bacon, the suspension guy, for so long.
21:01They would do anything to get you comfortable.
21:04It's great to see them come back and be in this position.
21:08There's no doubt they got the bikes back in order, James.
21:10We talked a lot in bringing a pro motocross.
21:12It wasn't just Kitchen.
21:13It was Romano, Seth Hamaker.
21:14They got the bikes in order, but that last title piece has been tough to get.
21:18Yeah, and that's the great part.
21:20I mean, going through this downfall, like, hey, they all had to elevate Mitch Payton, and they did it.
21:26And you can see these bikes get better because not only do you see Levi, he's always going to be
21:29good.
21:30You see the other riders kind of step up.
21:31And so now they've got the machines, everything's set up.
21:35So it puts more pressure on a guy like Levi because you know you have everything.
21:38Let's see if he can hang on for another lap to execute this thing.
21:41And I think about the resurgence of the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team and Mitch Payton when Joe Shimoto
21:47was riding for him a couple years ago.
21:50All of a sudden, he started getting good starts in the pro motocross championship.
21:54And listen, this is a horsepower class.
21:56And the more horsepower you do, the more horsepower you have, the better you are going to do.
22:02And when these bikes are up front on the start, that just means they got something special under the hood.
22:09But the new dominant team in this class has been this squad, the Yamaha team.
22:13Davies is going to get his first career playoff overall win.
22:16He will jump back into third in the seating at the end, third in points.
22:22But it slips away, bike problems in the mud while dominating in the first race.
22:27That cost him.
22:28And then a pair of crashes.
22:29That's on him.
22:30He didn't get this one done title-wise.
22:32But he reminded everybody how fast he is.
22:35Cole Davies.
22:36One wins it at the SMX World Championship closer.
22:41But it's a long time coming.
22:42And now, finally, it can be said, Levi Kitchen is a champion.
22:49He has won the SMX World Championship and breaks Pro Circuit's long title drought.
23:06And it was clutch.
23:086.0, the start average all season long.
23:12A whole shot and a second.