Page 56 - GRIT-80

KYLE CUNNINGHAM
450 MX / 10TH
IMAGE / LANG WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Kyle Cunningham has pieced together a strong, consistent year thus far here in 2018. He rode for his H.E.P. Suzuki team in Supercross and nished top fteen at most of the races. The now seasoned veteran of the sport has had a wild start to the outdoor national series, a contrast to how his Supercross season went. Despite DNF-ing the rst moto at Hangtown, he bounced back for thirteenth in the second moto and salvaged a sixteenth overall. At round two at Glen Helen, Cunningham enjoyed a fantastic rst moto nishing all the way up in eighth place. He looked quick and comfortable all day and was ghting for another top ten in moto two before suffering a horri c crash. Many thought his injury was very severe because the red cross ags were out and how tenderly the paramedics treated him but he somehow dodged serious injury. It still banged him up pretty hard forcing him to miss round three at Thunder Valley. He used the extra time
off to heal up and make his return here at High Point. Cunningham showed no signs of injuries in the morning qualifying practice sessions. The Texas native managed to grind out the eleventh fastest lap time of the class. It looked like he was going to pick up right where he left off before that devastating crash at Glen Helen. He could not wait for the gate to drop in moto one. Cunningham got his day of racing going with a subpar start. He rounded lap one in fteenth position. He took advantage of some quick sprint speed and worked into eleventh by the end of lap three. However, on lap four, he would get bounced back to twelfth by Blake Baggett. By the halfway point, he had worked back to eleventh and he had begun to pressure Nick Gaines for tenth. It took him a few laps, but he nally made a pass work on lap twelve. Now in tenth, Cunningham rode smart and solid to the nish line. He notched another top ten moto nish and would look to replicate it in moto two. Cunningham suffered an even poorer start in the second moto. This time he started way deeper in the eld, back in twenty-fourth. He slowly but surely inched his way back forward yet again. By lap ve he had managed to get into fteenth. He kept looking ahead and by the hallway point, he had passed half the riders in front of him off the start and positioned himself in twelfth. Unfortunately, that is where his climb forward would halt as he would not be able to better his position the rest of the moto. Still, his 10- 12 scores earned him tenth overall, his best nish all year. He nally pieced together two solid motos and will look to do so again next weekend at Muddy Creek.
56 GRITMOTO • JUNE 17, 2018