As we all know by now, a big talking point from the Detroit Supercross round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross was the red flag and restart in the 250SX main event. Cameron McAdoo needed medical attention after a hard crash, and the race was red flagged so medical personnel could aid him.
If you are confused as to why the race was not over and why they did three laps to end the race, read our breaking news post that explains the protocol directly from the 2025 AMA Supercross rulebook the AMA officials implemented.
As for the end of the race, Anstie was first in the staggered restart, but his comfortable lead of over six seconds was gone as Levi Kitchen was lined up directly on his rear wheel, with RJ Hampshire directly on Kitchen's rear wheel, and so on through the 22-rider field. Kitchen used the restart to his advantage and eventually took the race win. Anstie handled the situation with class. After two rounds, Anstie leads the championship with 2-1 main event finishes. View the 250SX East Division Championship standings.
![The restart.]()
The restart. Mitch Kendra ![Kitchen all over Anstie.]()
Kitchen all over Anstie. Mitch Kendra ![Into the whoops.]()
Into the whoops. Mitch Kendra ![Through the whoops.]()
Through the whoops. Mitch Kendra ![Anstie went outside and Kitchen went inside.]()
Anstie went outside and Kitchen went inside. Mitch Kendra ![Side by side!]()
Side by side! Mitch Kendra ![Anstie defended as much as he could, but Kitchen eventually made a pass stick.]()
Anstie defended as much as he could, but Kitchen eventually made a pass stick. Mitch Kendra ![Kitchen taking the checkered flag.]()
Kitchen taking the checkered flag. Mitch Kendra
Instead of riding with a clear track and picking his own lines, Anstie explained in the post-race press conference he had to play defense.
"It was a tough situation," Anstie said. "I don't know how I could have blocked and kept still the speed, that was the thing. Like it was...there was a few areas on the track where I had to block, but then I was jeopardizing the next section."
“I don't know, it was tough because, I haven't watched it back, but in my mind really, I kind of had the most to lose in in a way,” Anstie added. “I've got the red plate, and I had a little bit of luck. And also it sounds bad but I saw Cameron down and I was like, right, he was second in the championship. So, I was, ‘Oh, get good points, whatever.’ And I was trying not to do anything silly, not to throw it away, not to…in that situation I could have sent it and cartwheeled myself and ended up going from first to last or not scoring points. So, it came back to my whole goal of the championship or the whole goal of the way that I do things is trying to be consistent and solid, take what comes in that situation. …It was like, okay, I'm happy with the podium. I don't wanna go any further down the order, but I'm happy with second.”
As for Kitchen, his 9-1 main event finishes move him to second in the standings.
“Yeah, that was kind of a crazy one,” Kitchen said. “Obviously I didn't have that drawn up exactly, so, I just knew that me, Max, and RJ, we're gonna probably be bumping bars. So, I tried to just pick out a spot and I knew that that three in the back was really hard and you had to go really wide. So, I ended up getting close enough to try to make a pass there. And made it stick and tried to get away and was able to just get away enough to where I didn't… I don't know it was chaos, but it was also tough because we just raced for 14 minutes or whatever and then your heart rate comes down and you're kind of a little winded. Overall, though, I'll take it. I mean, it's not really how I would like to win, but also last weekend I was kind of on the other side of it too. It wasn't a great one, so, yeah, I'll take it.”
He will take the race win stat, the championship points, bonus, purse money, and all else that comes with the win, but Kitchen also stated: “I really don't feel like I won tonight,” in the press conference.
The Kawasaki rider said until the restart he was content with a second-place finish on the night.
“Yeah, I was totally settled into second,” Kitchen said. “I mean he gapped me a lot in the first seven to eight minutes and after that I felt fairly good, but I knew… I've been in his shoes like he was just clicking them off. And I think even I think all three of us were kind of just expecting to just finish where we were at. But, yeah, that was a wild turn of events I guess.”
Main image by Mitch Kendra
