Star Racing Supercross Round 3 Race Report

January 24, 2011 4:30pm

Los Angeles, Ca.- Round three of the 2010 AMA Supercross series made its way back to California for the inaugural visit to Dodgers Stadium. After multiple years of three Anaheim rounds, history was made by having a Supercross event at this venue in front of 41, 107 fans. DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing/Yamaha’s west coast squad comprised of #35, Kyle Cunningham and our newcomer to professional Supercross #72, Nick Paluzzi took to the track in timed qualifying confidently, setting the 5^th and 11^th fastest times.

Heat #2 had both Cunningham and Paluzzi lined up, getting out of the gate in good fashion would be Paluzzi who held down 2^nd. Cunningham was closed out coming into the first turn, and in the early laps he made some smart moves to insure the netting of a transfer position. The excitable, aggressive riding of Paluzzi saw him take his Yamaha to the lead on lap one and turn the heads of everyone in attendance. Riding solidly as the leader Nick fought off several attempts to overtake him until lap five, when a small bobble slated back to a 4^th place finish at the end of six laps. Cunningham kept his cool and pushed the limits against the competition, as he worked his way up through the field. Holding down the 7^th spot with a couple of laps left, the Texas native was still hard at work. In doing so, Cunningham took a hold of 6^th before the qualifier closed out and secured himself in the main event.

Main Event time was exciting right away; Cunningham put together a good start and was in the mix of the top five. Unfortunately, on the third lap a block pass went bad as he was drug down by the other rider’s bike and hit the ground. He was able to remount, however it was in a distant 16^th. Starting around tenth, Paluzzi’s first laps were spent making moves, and inside of three laps he held down the 8^th spot. At halfway both teammates were making strides to move forward, Paluzzi was hanging tough inside the top ten, setting some of his best lap times and continued with a calculated performance. Cunningham was putting on a great comeback by this point, sitting 13^th he could see that a top ten was feasible. On lap thirteen, Kyle had reeled in and passed for 11^th, and set his sights ahead. Moving forward to the final moments in the race, Cunningham would continue to soldier on right until the checkers, and mustered up a finish of 10^th. Slipping back into 9^th, Paluzzi regained his form and went on to finish 9^th in only his third Supercross race.

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