Justin Brayton podiums while Nick Paluzzi stuns with a seventh overall.
Steel City Results
DAVID EVANS
Sep 5, 2010
Contact: David Evans
Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX Team Media Relations
(704) 293-3745
Steel City Results
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (Sept. 5, 2010) – Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pa., was the site of the penultimate round of the 2010 AMA Pro Motocross Championship Series. After Josh Grant was injured during practice at Southwick last week, the Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX Team recruited 18 year-old amateur rider Nick Paluzzi to make his professional debut riding in place of Grant. Directly after getting the call from team manager Jeremy Albrecht on Tuesday afternoon, Paluzzi drove to the airport and took a red-eye flight to Charlotte, N.C., to test and prepare. The team worked with the young prospect Wednesday and Thursday before departing for the race Friday.
When the gate fell for Paluzzi’s first professional moto he found himself with plenty of company mid-pack in 21st position, with his Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX teammate Justin Brayton at the front of the 40-rider field in third. Within the first few laps Brayton settled into fifth while Paluzzi went to work on the best riders in the world in the premier 450 class. The young rider from Riverside, Calif., began a determined charge, finding himself just outside of the top-10 at the halfway mark. Incredibly, when the checkered flag flew, Paluzzi had earned a top-10 finish (10th) in just his first professional race, with Brayton finishing fifth.
Brayton again gated well at the start of moto two, beginning the race in third, with Paluzzi in 10th position. Over the following 35 minutes Brayton fought at the front while Paluzzi, not satisfied to just reach the top-10 worked his way forward ending the race in eighth. Brayton finished the moto in fourth and his 5 – 4 results earned him his first motocross podium finish of the season in third place overall. Paluzzi’s 10 – eight scores gave the rookie seventh place debuting as a professional in the premier division (most debuts are made in the 250 class).
The original broadcast from Steel City was same day coverage (SDC) at 9:00 p.m. on SPEED. The final round of the series will be Sept. 11 at Pala Raceway in Pala, Calif. SPEED will broadcast the racing from Pala live with the 450 class at 7:00 p.m. (EST).
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