We came into the Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Showdown with two 250SX West Region red plates, but as we all know only one rider could leave with one #1W red plate. And that rider is RJ Hampshire. Coming into the finale with a winner-takes-all battle with Levi Kitchen, Hampshire executed the only thing he had to: beat his one championship rival. And he did just that, and nearly won the race.
Hampshire set the tone early on, taking not only the top 250SX West qualifying spot but his 53.169 also topped the 250SX East times as well. But once the gate dropped on the 250SX West Region heat race, Kitchen had a great jump and exited the first turn in the lead. Hampshire quickly jumped into second place in the first rhythm section, although he came up short and could not jump to the inside and ahead of Kitchen before the turn. Kitchen would take the pressure from Hampshire the entire heat race (basically a shorter “main event” with the top riders from the entire field compared to a normal heat) and would click off lap after lap, without Hampshire getting close enough for a pass attempt. While Hampshire had the #47 covered in qualifying, Kitchen really picked it up in the heat race.
Did the Washington native make big changes after qualifying?
“Honestly, no,” Kitchen told NBC pit reporter Jason Thomas. “Just qualifying…it’s weird, it’s a certain speed you’re going for one lap. So, that second qualifying, I don’t know if anybody noticed, but I went out there and just did laps and I was just getting ready for our race. Got the holeshot [in the heat] and I just did the same thing. Yeah, qualifying times, you ever get to them in the heat race or even the main event, so yeah, felt better in that [heat race]. Looking forward to the main event. Winner take all. …It’s going to be a fun main event, for sure.”
| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Levi Kitchen | 9 Laps | 53.060 | Washougal, WA  | Kawasaki KX250 | |
| 2 |  R.J. Hampshire | +0.470 | 52.878 | Hudson, FL | Husqvarna FC 250 | |
| 3 |  Nate Thrasher | +3.154 | 53.337 | Livingston, TN | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 4 |  Jordon Smith | +3.525 | 53.207 | Belmont, NC | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 5 |  Jo Shimoda | +10.403 | 53.458 | Suzuka, Japan  | Honda CRF250R |
Then came the Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Showdown main event. The gates dropped and almost instantly, momentum shifted back to Hampshire’s favor. The veteran rider rose to the occasion. Going down the starting straight, Kitchen got pinched off by Haiden Deegan one gate to his inside, which impacted his start. Simultaneously, Hampshire nailed his start just a few gates outside of Kitchen and first turn maneuver had him about fourth, four positions ahead of Kitchen. Unfortunately for the #47, that was the closest he would ever be to Hampshire the remainder of the race.
Hampshire rode a great, almost perfect, main event, barely making any mistakes. He got into third with a pass on Jo Shimoda, another key position gained both in terms of points and in terms of putting another rider between him and Kitchen. Hampshire then benefitted from contact between teammates Haiden Deegan and Jordon Smith for the race lead that put Smith on the ground, again another position and more points for the #24 machine. Smith remounted still in a podium spot—in third ahead of Shimoda. Kitchen finally got by Nate Thrasher for fifth but never got around Shimoda, let along close enough to Hampshire for any kind of pass attempt. Hampshire even closed up on Deegan late in the race, although he was trying to avoid any and all contact. Still, the Husqvarna rider managed to come through just 0.802 seconds behind the #38 at the checkered flag. With Kitchen coming through the line fifth, that gave Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Hampshire the title by just five points.
“Levi's rode awesome all year, and you know, when he gets a start, he’s solid as can be if he starts in front of me,” Hampshire said to the media at the end of the night. “And yeah, I mean, we have so much respect for each other. I could have done something stupid in that he race but really just kind of put everything into that start for that main event and I knew I needed to get in front of him.”
![RJ Hampshire]()
RJ Hampshire Align Media ![Levi Kitchen]()
Levi Kitchen Align Media
| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Haiden Deegan | 18 Laps | 53.454 | Temecula, CA | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 2 | R.J. Hampshire | +0.802 | 53.353 | Hudson, FL | Husqvarna FC 250 | |
| 3 | Jordon Smith | +2.330 | 53.138 | Belmont, NC | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 4 | Jo Shimoda | +3.424 | 53.553 | Suzuka, Japan | Honda CRF250R | |
| 5 | Levi Kitchen | +5.125 | 53.388 | Washougal, WA | Kawasaki KX250 |
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R.J. Hampshire | Hudson, FL | 208 |
| 2 | Levi Kitchen | Washougal, WA | 203 |
| 3 | Jordon Smith | Belmont, NC | 185 |
| 4 | Jo Shimoda | Suzuka, Japan | 181 |
| 5 | Nate Thrasher | Livingston, TN | 123 |
The two stopped with each other after the race, shaking hands and sharing words in a positive manner. They both left it all out on the track in a truly fantastic, but clean, championship battle all season long. And you have to respect them for that.
“Yeah, it’s so special, and I could sit up here for hours and hours,” Hampshire said on his title. “Everybody has their own story, and I was determined to write my own. And just to have a championship, to be a part of that, man, truly special. I’ve had so many ups, so many downs, and still, just people that believed in me.”
“I was the fastest guy all day today,” Hampshire said confidently. “I can go as fast as I needed to go. And that's just how it was. I had a decent start, did what I needed to do there, and I was just trying to stay out of the way.”
“Yeah, it's hard to say,” he said on why he clicked with the track today. “I mean, I just felt really good on my bike. I have an awesome setting and we don't go far away from that. And honestly, I made a change…I said in an interview, I made a change after St. Louis, like, dude, I got smoked, got my ass kicked two weekends in a row and needed to do something different. So, made a change after that and I stuck with it, and I'll probably never go off of it. Just, yeah, something small and, yeah, I do think that it helps my riding style and the way I ride a lot.”
Tonight, he his team are going to go celebrate. Next week, the work starts again for the AMA Pro Motocross Championship.
“I'd love to fight for a title here on outdoors and I believe I can be the guy of the outdoors also,” he added, looking ahead to Pro Motocross season opener May 25 in California.
Watch the highlights from the main event below.
