Page 44 - ISSUE42

KYLE CUNNINGHAM
250 SX / 5TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / KUHLHOFF DESIGN / WILSON
>> Lone Star state native, Kyle Cunningham showed resilience in Detroit. Attempt- ing to build upon a solid tenth place finish in Indianapolis last weekend, Cun- ningham was off to terrific start in his heat race. The Autotrader JGR rider quickly made a pass on Dakota Alix and put the Suzuki machine in the third place spot. Unfortunately, many victims were claimed by the troublesome Motor City track and Kyle Cunningham was one of them. Moving from third to eighteenth, Cunningham was headed to the Last Chance Qualifier. After getting a great start, Cunningham knew that he had to ride smart and steady if he wanted a spot in the Main. Sitting in third, Kyle found some amazing momentum going into the whoops and was able to dive into the inside on Featherstone to make the pass for second. Things were looking up for Kyle Cunningham as he headed forward into the Main Event. With worsening track conditions, riders needed to be bound and determined to keep their machines upright. This held especially true for Cunningham, who did not want any repeat of events from his heat race.
The familiar sounds of racing echoed throughout Ford Field as heat radi- ated from the countless flamethrowers lining the starting line. All eyes were on the thirty-second board and the gates dropped. Kyle Cunningham was off to a good start and was sitting in the seventh place position early on in the moto. With ten minutes to go, Cunningham had gained two more spots, putting him in a solid sixth place. That was not enough for Kyle Cunningham though. With a top five finish within his reach, he was able to make a move into fifth place at the end of the race. After some early misfortune, Kyle Cunningham was able to dig deep and have a very commendable top five finish in Detroit. Hopefully Kyle Cunningham can carry this confidence into St. Louis next weekend and put on another fantastic ride.
44 GRITMOTO • MARCH 26, 2017