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BOBBY
MICHNOWICZ WINS BEST OF THE WEST MAIN EVENT AT
VENTURA (Torrance, CA, June 20, 2023)
Put lightning sprint car legend Bobby Michnowicz
on the pole and watch the rest of the field battle
for the minor placings. That is exactly what
happened when the California Lightning Sprint Car
Series squared off with the POWRi Southwest
Lightning Sprints in round five of the “Best of
the West” series last Saturday at Jim Naylor’s
Ventura Raceway. The lightning portion of the
program was part of the Wagsdash that also
featured the USAC West Coast Sprint Cars. Thirty
years ago, Michnowicz won the Wagsdash in his 410
sprint car. On Saturday, with his mom looking on
from the grandstands, he did it again on the
lightning sprint side of the show.
Winner Bobby Michnowicz is surrounded by 2nd place
Jeff Dyer left and third place finisher Eric Greco
on the right. CLS photo.
For the fifth
time this year, Michnowicz, 59, started the show
by besting the field in qualifying with a lap of
12.820. “Rockstar” Jon Robertson of Torrance
turned in his best qualifying effort of 2023 when
he was second fastest at 12.919. The third best in
time trials was Michnowicz’s nephew Cody Nigh of
Camarillo who stopped the clocks at 13.020.
Palmdale’s Eric Greco, who is second in both the
CLS and “Best of the West” standings, was fourth
at 13.063, and Yucca Valley’s Jeff Dyer was fifth
with a 13.071.
The only driver to defeat
five-time CLS champion Michnowicz on the night was
Dyer. The California Highway Patrol Officer led
Michnowicz, and Nigh in a pursuit to the checkered
flag in Racing Junk heat race #1. It was Dyer’s
series-leading third heat race win of 2023. In
Extreme Muffler heat race #2, it was Greco getting
to the checkered first at the end of eight laps.
Lakewood’s Aiden Lange and Lakeside’s Dalton
Sexton finished in the place and show positions.
Much to the chagrin of the competition,
Michnowicz was on the pole when the 12-car field
rolled onto the track for the 25-lap main. Nigh of
Camarillo, was alongside on the front row. Row two
featured red-hot Dyer and Greco. The third row had
Sexton, who was only making his fourth start of
the season, and Robertson.
On the initial
attempt to start the race, Michnowicz got a good
start coming off turn four and led the field
across the line. Unfortunately for him, officials
thought it was too good of a start and called it
back.
The second try to start the race got
farther – well a little farther – but a turn-one
tangle involving Robertson, Lange, Sexton and Seth
Dyer stopped the action as fast as it started.
Unfortunately, Robertson and Lange were done for
the duration.
Everyone was hoping the
third time to start the race would be the charm
and it was. In fact, it went straight through to
the checkered flag without another stop. Oak Hills
Michnowicz raced into the lead for the third time
when starter Kris Kornder waved the green to start
the race. He was chased into turn one by Nigh,
Jeff Dyer, Brent Sexton of Lakeside, and Greco.
There was no passing among the first five
over the first three circuits. That changed on lap
four when Greco took 2022 POWRi Southwest
Lightning Sprint Car Series Champion Brent Sexton
for third. One lap later, Jeff Dyer, who was one
of the few trying the top, shot around Nigh for
second. By the time those passes were going on,
Michnowicz had steered his powerful T Shirts By
Timeless/Super Shox/Pflum & Wagner/Outlaw
Wings/Fabozi Metal Works/Bondio Fab/Fast Time
Studios/TJ Forged/DLX/Kawasaki ZX10 #21K to a half
straightaway lead.
Michnowicz hit the
lapped traffic on lap eight, but it failed to slow
him down. Passing was at a premium in the main and
everything remained status quo until the 14th go
around when Greco, who has only finished out of
the top five twice this year, took third from
Nigh. Simultaneously on the night before Father’s
Day, Dalton Sexton showed no love for his dad
Brent in racing conditions when he passed him for
fifth.
Michnowicz had built up such a huge
lead that he seemed to back off the pace a bit
over the final 10-laps. By the time the checkers
ended the race, he was still far ahead of his
pursuers. Dyer ended up second and was followed by
Greco, Nigh and Dalton Sexton in the top five.
Pat Kelley of Chino moved up five spots to
finish seventh and was the race “Hard Charger.”
After going winless in the first four races of
the current campaign, Michnowicz has turned his
fortunes around and has now won three of the last
four. The veteran added 10 points to his lead over
the ever-persistent Greco in the CLS championship
standings. Dyer and Robertson are third and
fourth. Fillmore’s Connor Speir, who left
Saturday’s main at Ventura after only a handful of
laps, is fifth.
After five of seven rounds
of the “Best of the West” series, Michnowicz sits
on top of that heap as well with the devilish
total of 666 points. Greco is 64 points behind.
Dyer is third. Brent Sexton, who was coming off a
seventh-place finish in his first-ever USAC/CRA
race the week before at Perris, is fourth. Speir,
who debuted in a 360 car at Perris the week prior,
is fifth in the “Best of the West.”
The CLS
is now headed into a cushy portion of the schedule
with only three races through September 9th. Up
next will be a return trip to Ventura on July 8th.
The race following that will be round #2 of the
“Civil War Series” vs the Bay Cities Racing
Association at the Johnny Key Classic at
Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway on August 19th. The
CLS will get another couple of weeks off before
round three of the “Civil War Series” at
Bakersfield on September 9th. Things will get very
busy after that with seven races through
mid-November.
The following companies are
marketing partners with the CLS in 2023. Hoosier
Tires West, T-Shirts By Timeless, Extreme
Mufflers, RacingJunk.com, Advanced Racing
Suspension, King Racing Products, BR Motorsports,
EZ Up, RC Fuel Injection, and Triple X. If you or
your company would like to be a marketing partner
with the CLS, please contact Jon Robertson using
the contact information at the top of this
release.
To keep up with the CLS online,
please visit the website at http://racecls.com/ or
on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/californialightningsprints
CLS Ventura Raceway June 17 Results
Qualifying: 1. Bobby Michnowicz, 12.820, 2.
Jon Robertson, 12.919, 3. Cody Nigh, 13.020, 4.
Eric Greco, 13.063, 5. Jeff Dyer, 13.071, 6.
Dalton Sexton, 13.238, 7. Seth Dyer, 13.266, 8.
Aiden Lange, 13.358, 9. Brent Horn, 13.494, 10.
Brent Sexton, 13.574, 11. Connor Speir, 14.077,
12. Pat Kelley, 14.087, 13. Zate Legend, 15.464
Racing Junk Heat #1 (8 Laps): 1. Jeff Dyer, 2.
Michnowicz, 3. Nigh, 4. Seth Dyer, 5, Speir, 6.
Legend
Extreme Muffler Heat #2 (8 Laps):1.
Greco, 2. Lange, 3. Dalton Sexton, 4. Robertson,
5. Brent Sexton, 6. Kelley
Bakersfield Main
Event (25 Laps with starting positions and
distance behind the leader) 1. Bobby
Michnowicz, Oak Hills, CA (1st) 2. Jeff Dyer,
Yucca Valley, CA (3rd) … 3.955 3. Eric Greco,
Palmdale, CA (4th) … 5.882 4. Cody Nigh,
Camarillo, CA (2nd) … 11.003 5. Dalton Sexton,
Lakeside, CA (5th) … 11.515 6. Brent Sexton,
Lakeside, CA (10th) … 12.287 7. Pat Kelley,
Chino, CA, (12th) … 2 Laps 8. Seth Dyer, Yucca
Valley, CA (7th) … 3 Laos 9. Zate Legend,
Riverside, CA (11th) … 3 Laps 10. Connor Speir,
Fillmore, CA (9th) … 22 Laps 11. Jon Robertson,
Torrance, CA (6th) … 25 Laps 12. Aiden Lange,
Lakewood, CA (8th) … 25 Laps Lap Leaders:
Michnowicz 1-25
CLS June 3rd Contingency
Awards
Racing Junk Heat Race #1 – Jeff Dyer
Extreme Muffler Heat Race #2 $50.00
Certificate – Eric Greco
BR Motorsports
Main Event 2nd Place Finisher $25.00 Certificate –
Jeff Dyer
King Motorsports Main Event 5th
Place Finisher $25.00 Certificate – Dalton Sexton
Advanced Racing Suspension Hard Charger $50.00
Certificate – Pat Kelley
Additional 2023
Contingency Awards
Member: Extreme Muffler
- 10% off purchase
Member: EZ UP - 30-40%
Off Purchase
Member: RC Fuel Injection –
50% Off Products and Services to all race series
participants
Series Champion: Triple X
Racing Components - $500.00 off any chassis or
chassis kit
2023 California Lightning
Sprint Car Series Point Standings 1. Bobby
Michnowicz, Lomita, CA … 1013 2. Eric Greco,
Palmdale, CA … 950 3. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley,
CA … 861 4. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA … 749
5. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA … 662 6. Seth
Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 637 7. AJ Bender, San
Diego, CA … 611 8. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA …
591 9. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA … 537 10. Aiden
Lange, Lakeside, CA … 525
2023 CLS vs SWLS
Best of the West Standings 1. Bobby Michnowicz,
Lomita, CA, CLS … 666 2. Eric Greco, Palmdale,
CA, CLS … 602 3. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA,
CLS … 535 4. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA. SWLS …
490 5. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA, CLS … 447
5. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA, CLS … 447 7.
Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA, CLS … 438 8. Pat
Kelley, Chino, CA, CLS … 403 9. Cody Griggs,
Lakeside, CA, SWLS … 299 10. Robbie Brockman,
El Cajon, CA, SWLS … 280
CLS vs BCRA Civil
War Standings 1. Jeff Dyer, CLS … 135 2.
Eric Greco, CLS … 130 3. Greg Dennett, BCRA …
125 4. Dakota Albright, BCRA … 118 5. Connor
Speir, CLS … 105 6. Brent Sexton, CLS … 101
7. Josef Ferolito, BCRA … 96 8. Jon Robertson,
CLS … 93 9. Aiden Lange, CLS … 88 10. Seth
Dyer, CLS … 82
2023 California Lightning
Sprint Car Series Schedule
March 10
Imperial Raceway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round
#1 AJ Bender
March 11 Imperial Raceway
CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #2 Braden
Chiaramonte
March 18 Bakersfield Speedway
CLS With USAC Western Midgets Rained Out
April 1 Mohave Valley Raceway CLS/SWLS “Best of
the West” Round #3 Brent Sexton
April 8
Bakersfield Speedway CLS AJ Bender
May 13
Ventura Raceway CLS With USAC 360 Sprint Cars
Bobby Michnowicz
May 20 Bakersfield
Speedway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #4
Bobby Michnowicz
June 3 Bakersfield
Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series Round” #1 Jeff
Dyer
June 17 Ventura Raceway CLS/SWLS “Best
of the West” Round #5 Bobby Michnowicz
July 8 Ventura Raceway CLS
August 19 Ocean
Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series” Round #2,
Johnny Key Classic
September 9 Bakersfield
Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series” Round #3
September 23 Ventura Raceway CLS
October 7 Merced Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War
Series” Round #4, Wayne Albright Memorial Non Wing
October 14 Mohave Valley Speedway CLS/SWLS
“Best of the West” Round #6 With USAC/CRA Sprint
Cars
October 28 Ventura Raceway CLS
November 14 Bakersfield Speedway CLS With USAC
National Midgets
November 16 Placerville
Speedway “Hangtown 100” No Points Non Wing
November 17 Placerville Speedway “Hangtown 100” No
Points Non Wing
November 18 Placerville
Speedway “Hangtown 100” No Points Non Wing
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, 2022 David Gasper
This press
release was produced by Scott Daloisio Sports
(909) 226-7768 mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com
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