RJ Hampshire is the new champion of the AMA Supercross 250 West region! The final race of the year in Salt Lake City was the one that crowned the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider as the winner of his region, with him beating Levi Kitchen in the end, on a day where both could have clinched the title in the category.
The #24 ended up not being the fastest on track in the main event at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where the final decisions of the title in both regions were discussed but, with a second-place finish in the race, just 0.802s behind Haiden Deegan (East region), Hampshire collected the necessary points to finish the championship in the lead.
Kitchen needed more points but finished fifth in the race, collecting 17 points, while Hampshire, with 22 points accumulated, finished the championship precisely 5 points ahead of #47 and proved that the round in Nashville, where he only scored 8 points, would be decisive for the final standings and showed once again that consistency to win was key, with Hampshire finishing on top.
Even though there was a tie in direct confrontation, with both riders winning three main events each, consistency determined the winner in the end, with Hampshire leading with 208 total points, five more than Kitchen.
Jordon Smith, third overall with 185 points, also beat Jo Shimoda, who could have also secured a spot on the podium in the end but, on the “D-day,” ended up not surpassing #31.
Top 20 in the West region:
Results in Salt Lake City:
