Monster Energy® Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders Levi Kitchen and Cameron McAdoo powered to another double podium finish at the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship in Glendale, Arizona. Kitchen earned a hard-fought second-place finish, while McAdoo rode a consistent race to cross the line just behind his teammate in third. Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Chase Sexton battled through a challenging race to secure seventh place, while Garrett Marchbanks continued his steady progression with a solid performance, finishing with his best result of the season in 13th place.
Sexton said: ““Not the results I was looking for today. We had some positive moments to take away from the day and some adjustments we made to the bike that are going in the right direction. I felt like I had the speed all day to run up front, but my starts were holding me back today from being up there. In the main event, I really had to work to get up to where I did. Seventh was unfortunately all I had in me today, and I’m not satisfied with it. We’ll continue to test and build this week and look towards Seattle.“
Marchbanks said of his night: “We made really good progress during the week leading into Glendale. We put in a lot of time on Tuesday and Wednesday to get the bike dialed in. We put in about 100-120 laps altogether in just those two days of riding. We made a lot of changes to the bike to help me feel more comfortable. I wanted to make adjustments that would make me feel more at home when we go racing, and I felt like we made the right decisions during this week to lead to that this weekend. In qualifying, I felt really good in both sessions and qualified my best in the second session. In the main event, I didn’t get the best start and had some riders flinch on the gate near me that didn’t help. There was a big first turn crash that I was able to avoid, and I made some good passes midway through the race. I got up to 11th and started to lose my flow in the last five minutes. I’m working on getting up to race pace shape with the longer format in the premier class, but I’m happy with 13th, my best result of the season so far. We’ll keep moving forward and look to next weekend.”
Kitchen said: “It was a pretty good night. There were a lot of positives, but my Achilles heel this season has been my starts, and that’s something I plan to work on all week in practice. I’m happy with my riding, so I don’t feel like I need to make any adjustments in that area. Overall, I’m satisfied with my result tonight, but I know I can do better. I would’ve liked to catch up to the front more, but with how spread out the field was, you can’t expect to make up that much time. This week, I’m going to stay in California with the team and head into Seattle looking for better results. I’ve just got to keep working and keep pushing.”
McAdoo commented: “I had to fight for that one tonight, but I felt the best I’ve felt throughout a main event in a while. I got passed back to fourth on the first lap due to a line choice. I focused on where I was going and picked apart the different lines and where I could make passes. I knew where I could be better once I focused on my race, and I passed Ryder [DiFrancesco] back. I made a mistake later on with around three laps to go, and my teammate, Levi [Kitchen], passed me. I looked up, and I saw Michael Mosiman in front of me, and I knew I could make up another position since he was close. I wasn’t done; I knew I was going to get a podium tonight. Having my sister here meant a lot, and that gave me some extra motivation. I can’t thank my team enough for sticking with me through the early rounds. This one was special, and it felt great to put two Pro Circuit bikes on the podium again.”
