The running of the 69th Daytona 200 Friday night proved once again that it is one of the most daunting and excitement-filled races on the AMA Road Racing schedule. MPH Racing’s Melissa Paris rose to the challenge for the second year in a row and, after working through setup issues during practice early in the weekend, qualified 28th out of 44 riders. As the green flag dropped, Paris’s RM Racing Yamaha R6 immediately found itself dodging a bullet as a crash collected several riders directly in front of her coming through Turn 2. After the restart, Paris had moved up to 22nd and would go on to pass Andrea Padovani for 21st on lap nine. The team’s pit stops were flawless thanks to the help of an all-star crew and she had put her machine all the way up to 11th place, where she would remain for the next 22 laps. However, with 10 laps remaining, Melissa tucked the front tire heading into Daytona’s chicane, ending her race and injuring the pinky on her right hand. “I really had high expectations for myself this year in the 200,” Paris admitted. “I had such an awesome team behind me that I knew I really had all of the pieces in place to put together a great race. It was really cool watching my position on my pit board as the race went on. To crash out of what could have been a top ten finish is absolutely gutting. There are so many people that were behind me and all of my sponsors supported me so well, that I really would have liked to have pulled off that finish for them. In the end I guess that’s racing and I plan to take what I learned in Daytona to the rest of the season. I’m getting my finger looked at today and I don’t plan on letting it hold me back for too long. I really want to say thank you to everyone who helped get me to Daytona in the first place, without all my sponsors none of this would be possible.” “Melissa is awesome, I love working for her,” crew chief Rick Matheny added. “I was the luckiest guy in the paddock to have hotshots like Michael Godin, Vic Fasola, Steve Breckenridge, Brian Drebber, Joe Capelli, and Ward Wilson on the crew. She made us all look good with an inspiring ride. The crash was a disappointing end, but she impressed me with her determination and I know we’re going to have a great season in 2010.” Melissa heads to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA in just a few short weeks, confident that she has a lot more in store for the 2010 AMA Daytona SportBike series. Melissa is still actively seeking sponsors for 2010, please contact her through melissaparis.com. She would like to thank her current sponsors, who make her racing efforts possible: Yamaha, GYTR, Royal Purple, RM Racing, Leo Vince, Motion Pro, Spiegler, Barbara Conner Jewelry, Factory BW, Millenium Technologies, Ballistic Batteries, Zero Gravity, GB Racing, Concept 5, Vesrah Brakes, XT Racing and Dynojet.