From Peterson Media
When he made the decision to spend a month racing in California, Michael Cunningham hoped that he would get some experience on slick tracks, and again over the weekend he got what he wished for, as he scored a 12th place finish on a very slick Ocean Speedway, on the heels of an eighth place finish at the Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday night.
“I came over here hoping to learn on the slick stuff, and two of the first three races have been very slick, and I honestly think we are figuring it out,” Cunningham said.
Kicking his weekend off on Friday night in Chico, CA, Cunningham timed his PRP Engineering/ART No.74 machine in ninth fastest putting him in the first heat, where he started on the front row.
Scoring a third place finish, Cunningham would make the inversion, as he found himself on the pole for the feature event, alongside Silver Dollar Speedway points leader, Sean Becker.
On a very racy track, Cunningham got the jump as they took the green flag, but a massive wheel-stand exiting turn two allowed Becker to get around him, and take the race lead, as he settled into the second spot.
In the second spot, Cunningham had quite the battle with Keith Bloom for the second spot, until he lost the handle, and spun in turn two.
Restarting at the tail end of the field, Cunningham was race his way back up to an eighth place finish, giving him his first top-10 finish of his California trip.
Heading to the Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, CA on Saturday, Cunningham was greeted with a very slick race track as early as hot-laps.
Timing in 10th quickest against the 30-cars assembled, Cunningham started on the front row of his heat race, as he had an entertaining battle for the third spot, with Carson Macedo.
Late in the race, Cunningham lost the handle and spun, and he was ultimately forced to run the night’s Last Chance Qualifier.
Starting the LCQ from the pole, Cunningham ran a flawless race, as he seemed to get more comfortable on the slick surface, as he picked up the win, putting him 10th in the feature event.
With the track taking rubber early in the feature event, Cunningham, got in line as focused on hitting 30-consistent laps.
Cunningham did just that as he scored a 12th place finish.
“Overall it was a pretty good weekend for us,” he said. “We were pretty good at Chico on Friday night, I just made a mistake, and spun out. Saturday night was a very slick track again, but I think I got a little more comfortable on it, and we grabbed a 12th place finish.”
Michael and his Cunningham Racing team would like to thank PRP Engineering, and A.R.T. Speed Equipment for their support.
2013 USA SEASON BY THE NUMBERS- Races-3, Wins-0, Top-5’s-0, Top-10’s-1.
STAY CONNECTED- Stay connected with Cunningham, by visiting his website at www.michaelcunninghamracing.
ON TAP: Cunningham will be back in action this weekend for two night’s as he will be at the Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday night, before taking on the KWS at the Antioch Speedway on Saturday night.