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CALIFORNIA LIGHTNING SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT
BATTLES TO BE SETTLED AT BAKERSFIELD - PLACERVILLE
TO FOLLOW
(Torrance, CA, November 10, 2022)
The California Lightning Sprint Car Series will
wrap up its 28th season of racing with four races
next week. The first race will be the “6th Annual
Western States Lightning Sprints Championship” at
Scott Schweitzer’s Bakersfield Speedway on
Tuesday, November 15th. That race will be the
final points race for the CLS in 2022. It will
also be the final of the annual “Civil War Series”
featuring the CLS versus Northern California’s Bay
Cities Racing Association. After that, the club
will journey north for the last three races of the
year at the annual “Hangtown 100” at the
Placerville Speedway on November 17th, 18th, and
19th.
David Gasper will try to make it two in a row in
the CLS title chase and the Civil War. D&P
Photography
Three key positions in the
standings will be decided in Bakersfield on “The
West’s Fastest 1/3 Mile High Banked Clay Oval.”
The overall championship will come down to a pair
of young drivers. Defending series champion David
Gasper of Santa Barbara is first in the
championship standings. He has a 77-point lead
over Palmdale’s Eric Greco going into the event.
Camarillo’s Cody Nigh has third place pretty much
locked up. However, Yucca Valley California
Highway Patrol officer Jeff Dyer and five-time
series champion Bobby Michnowicz of Oak Hills are
tied for fourth.
In the battle for the
championship, Greco’s main event average finish at
Bakersfield this year is 3.5. Sixteen-year-old
Gasper’s average finish is 4.25. Gasper broke
before the main event and did not compete in the
season opener on March 25th. At the club’s second
appearance at the track, he broke again and was
forced to drive someone else’s car to a 10th-place
finish in the A main. In addition to the
10th-place result, Gasper has a fifth and has won
the last two races at the track. Greco’s best
finish at Bakersfield was a second, and he placed
third two times.
Like Gasper, Michnowicz
had a disastrous first two stops at Bakersfield
this year when he broke before the mains. To top
that off, he did not make it to the third race of
the year at the track. In the last two races
there, the driver who will celebrate his 59th
birthday at the track on Tuesday has a pair of
second-place finishes. Dyer has had a good season
at the oval that is affectionately referred to as
the “Okie Bowl.” In five starts he has not placed
worse than fourth. He came home second one time
and finished in third and fourth two times each.
That gives him a fine 3.2 finishing average at the
track this year. That is the best among the CLS
regulars who have started at least three of the
races at the facility in 2022.
Another
top-10 battle that will be decided on Tuesday will
also determine who is the rookie of the year.
Going into the last race in the series at Ventura
two weeks ago, Fillmore’s Connor Speir was 6th in
the championship standings and fellow rookie Will
Browne of Glendora was seventh. Speir had a
72-point advantage over Browne heading into that
contest. However, Browne’s fourth-place finish
combined with Speir’s 11th narrowed the advantage
to 39-points. Each of the freshmen has started all
five races at Bakersfield this year. Brown’s best
finish was a fourth and Speir’s best was a seventh
(two times). Speir’s finishing average at the
track is 11.00, while Browne’s is 7.20.
Tuesday will also be the final of five races in
the “Civil War Series.” CLS drivers man the first
five positions and BCRA racers make up sixth
through 10th. Like the regular season CLS
championship point standings, Gasper is the point
leader in the CWS with Greco second. Gasper, who
won the triple crown last year winning the “Civil
War Series,” and CLS titles as well as being named
Rookie of the Year, is 63 points ahead of Greco.
Michnowicz is third and trails Greco by 18-points.
Browne ranks fourth and is only 13 points out of
third with Nigh in fifth.
Starting in
2017, the “Western States Lightning Sprints
Championship” has seen four different winners in
its first five years of existence. Indiana’s Andy
Bradley won the first one and was followed by
Kingsburg’s Doug Nunes in 2018. Michnowicz won two
in a row in 2019 and 2020. Last year San Diego’s
A.J. Bender, a rising star in the USAC/CRA Sprint
Car Series, took the Western States title driving
for Sexton Gatlin racing.
Bender, who won
two CLS races at Bakersfield earlier this year
driving for Mike Schweitzer, will be driving for
Sexton Gatlin Racing again on Tuesday. Joining him
will be new POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car
Series champion Brent Sexton and his 18-year-old
son Grant. The younger Sexton won the season
opener at Bakersfield in a photo finish on March
25th. Brent has CLS wins at Santa Maria on August
6th and Mohave Valley on October 8th.
After one night off, the CLS drivers will head
north for the three-night “Hangtown 100” at the
Placerville Speedway. The non-points event will be
co-sanctioned by the BCRA. Last year, USAC racing
star Logan Seavey of Sutter, California won the
opening night and the finale on the red clay ¼
mile oval. Sandwiched in between was a victory for
Colorado Springs, Colorado star Chris Crowder.
Bender, who finished second on all three nights of
the 2021 “Hangtown 100” last year, will be in
Schweitzer’s #41 Lightning Sprint at Placerville.
He will also be driving the #1 LKK midget he
steered to fourth in the championship standings
and to the “Rookie of the Year” honors in this
year’s USAC Western Midget Series.
Tuesday’s show at Bakersfield will also include
the “November Classic” for the USAC National
Midgets. Gates will open at 5:00 p.m. with racing
at 7:00. Fans can save $5.00 per ticket by
ordering in advance at
https://www.myracepass.com/tracks/1113. The
historic track is located at 5001 N. Chester Ext.
in Bakersfield. The track website is
https://www.bakersfieldspeedway.com/ and the
office phone is (661) 393-3373.
Advance
tickets for Placerville are available at
https://www.eventsprout.com/event/hangtown-2022.
Gates will open at 3:00 p.m. each day with racing
at 6:00. Fans can find the track at 100
Placerville Drive in Placerville. The website is
https://www.placervillespeedway.com/ and the track
phone is (530) 344-7592.
California
Lightning Sprint Car Series Point Standings 1.
David Gasper – 2045 2. Eric Greco – 1968 3.
Cody Nigh – 1812 4. Jeff Dyer – 1716 4.
Bobby Michnowicz – 1716 6. Connor Speir – 1456
7. Will Browne – 1417 8. Jon Robertson – 1193
9. Pat Kelley – 1111 10. Dominic Del Monte –
784
Civil War Series Point Standings 1.
David Gasper – CLS – 514 2. Eric Greco – CLS –
451 3. Bobby Michnowicz – CLS – 433 4. Will
Browne – CLS - 420 5. Cody Nigh – CLS – 385
6. Greg Dennett - BCRA - 383 7. Dakota Albright
– BCRA – 358 8. Harlee Aguilera – BCRA – 331
9. Matt Land – BCRA – 329 10. Brandon Leedy –
BCRA - 302
The following companies have
become marketing partners with the CLS in 2022.
They have offered up more than $13,000.00 in
contingencies that will be awarded on top of the
regular racing purses and they will be paid out
throughout the year. Yoshimura R&D, Hoosier Tires
West, T-Shirts By Timeless, Extreme Mufflers,
Saldana Racing Products, Rod End Supply, Speed
Mart, Cold Fire West, West Evens Motorsports, RC
Fuel Injection, Jake Swanson Shock Technology,
Advanced Racing Suspensions, CSI Shocks, Eibach
Springs, Triple X Race Components, King Racing
Products, Hyper Racing Products, Rebel Gears,
Vahlco Wheels, Wilwood Disk Brakes, Fuel Safe
Systems, MPI, Circle Track Performance, E-Z UP,
Hepfner Racing, Smith Titanium, and Hoosier Speed.
If you or your company would like to
become a partner of the longtime racing
organization, contact Jon Robertson via email at
mailto:jon.robertson@sbcglobal.net or by calling
(310) 367-9050.
2022 California Lightning
Sprint Car Series Schedule
March 25
Bakersfield Speedway Winged – Grant Sexton
April 2 Merced Speedway Non-Wing –– Civil War
#1 – David Gasper
April 16 Bakersfield
Speedway Winged – A.J. Bender
April 30
Ventura Raceway Winged (Make Up Main) David Gasper
April 30 Ventura Raceway Winged – Bobby
Michnowicz
May 14 Bakersfield Speedway
Winged – A.J. Bender
May 21 Ventura Raceway
Winged – Eric Greco
June 11 Bakersfield
Speedway Winged – David Gasper
June 25
Ventura Raceway Winged – David Gasper
July
9 Ventura Raceway Winged – David Gasper
July 23 Ventura Raceway Winged – Dave Gasper
August 6 *Santa Maria Raceway Winged – Brent
Sexton
August 26 Silver Dollar Speedway
Winged – Civil War #2 – Connor Spier
August
27 Placerville Speedway Winged – Civil War #3 –
Bobby Michnowicz
Sept. 10 Lemoore Raceway
Winged – Bobby Michnowicz
Sept. 24
Bakersfield Speedway Winged – Civil War #4 – David
Gasper
October 8 Mohave Valley Raceway
Winged – With SWLS - Brent Sexton
October
29 Ventura Raceway Winged – Bobby Michnowicz
Nov. 15 Bakersfield Speedway Winged – With
USAC Midgets - Civil War #5
Nov. 17
Placerville Speedway Non-Wing – With USAC Midgets
- No Points
Nov. 18 Placerville Speedway
Non-Wing – With USAC Midgets - No Points
Nov. 19 Placerville Speedway Non-Wing – With USAC
Midgets - No Points
To keep up with the CLS
online, please visit the website at
http://racecls.com/ or on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/californialightningsprints
PAST CALIFORNIA
LIGHTNING SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONS
1994 Tony Everhart,
1995 Gary Sexton, 1996 Rob Sczymczak, 1997 Jon
Rahe, 1998 Chris Rahe, 1999 Brent Sexton, 2000
Greg Bragg, 2001 Greg Bragg, 2002 Greg Bragg, 2003
David Cardey, 2004 Keith Janca, 2005 Johnny Bates,
2006 Donny Gansen, 2007 Shane Rossen, 2008 Brent
Sexton, 2009 Stuart Hielschier Sr., 2010 Jarrett
Kramer, 2011 Tim Brown, 2012 Bobby Michnowicz,
2013 Stephen Limon, 2014 Bobby Michnowicz, 2015
Bobby Michnowicz, 2016 Bobby Michnowicz, 2017
Bobby Michnowicz, 2018 Jarrett Kramer, 2019
Jarrett Kramer, 2021 David Gasper
This press release was
produced by Scott Daloisio Sports (909) 226-7768
mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com |
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