AFTER A 16TH PLACE FINISH ON FRIDAY, CONNOR SPEIR COMES BACK TO WIN CLS MAIN AT IMPERIAL (Torrance, CA, March 5, 2024) After a blown starter relay fuse knocked him out of the main event 24 hours earlier, Connor Speir came back to win the California Lightning Sprint Car Series/SoCal Lightning Sprint main event on Saturday night at the Imperial Valley Raceway. The victory was his second in lightning competition and his first since his rookie year in 2022. This Saturday night the CLS will make its first 2024 appearance at the Bakersfield Speedway. Twenty-one cars showed up for the second race in 24 hours and 20 of them received a bad omen in qualifying as Aiden Lange set the fastest time with a lap of 12.174. The night before, Lakewood-based Lange swept the show turning in the fastest qualifying time, winning his heat and the main event. Fresh off a third-place finish in the opener, Camarillo’s Cody Nigh turned in the second-fastest time of the evening at 12.278. San Diego’s Ryan Dumas was third in time trials with a lap of 12.309. Speir and Palmdale’s Eric Greco rounded out the top five at 12.335 and 12.337 respectively. Before the main on the windy, chilly night the drivers in the co-sanctioned show contested three heat races. El Cajon’s Brent Horn snatched the first one over Alpine’s Peter Benker and 2022 CLS Rookie of the Year Speir. The second heat went to San Diego’s Parker Dumas who came back after a flip in the main event the previous evening. Greco and San Diego’s Chase Wilson rounded out the top three. Capturing the final heat was three-time lightning sprint car champion Brent Sexton of Lakeside. Fast-rising teen Zate Legend of Riverside and “Rockstar” Jon Robertson of Torrance were in the place and show spots. Despite the persistent wind, the track crew kept after the racing surface all night long and it was in great shape for the main event. When the cars rolled out of the pits, Speir, in his Channel Islands Floorcoverings/Area Rug Factory/Maxwell Industries #57, was on the pole for the 20-lapper. Alongside on the front row was Horn. San Diego County-based drivers Sexton and Benker were in row two. The third row featured Parker Dumas and Nigh. Teenager Legend and veteran racer Robertson sat in row four. Speir grabbed the lead at the green and paced Horn, Benker, Sexton, and Nigh on the first go-around. A trio of yellow flags slowed the action on laps four and five. One of them came when Lakeside’s Cody Griggs slowed on the track. Almost simultaneously, Benker got into the back of Sexton on the back chute. Fortunately for Benker, the yellow had flown an eye blink earlier for Griggs. That allowed Benker to get his spot back and he was behind Speir and Sexton for the restart. Nigh and Parker Dumas were fourth and fifth. This time when the green lights came back on, they stayed on for a while. In fact, they stayed on for the final 15 laps of the race. Speir had a great restart and by lap seven, he had a six-car length lead. He advanced his cushion to eight lengths by the halfway point. Leader Speir hit the first of the lapped traffic on lap 11 and had no problem sailing past. Unlike the night before, the lappers were not a major factor. The only close call came when one of them impeded Sexton, Benker, and Nigh as they raced off turn two on lap 16. Benker got stuck behind the slower car allowing Nigh to shoot under him and steal the third-place spot. Nobody had anything for Speir the remainder of the way and the young driver raced past the checkered flag with a half a straightway advantage. Sexton placed second with Nigh, who was the only driver to make the podium each night, third. Benker placed fourth and Parker Dumas finished fifth. Ryan Dumas. who came from 14th to finish eighth, was the race “Hard Charger.” This Saturday night, the CLS returns to one of its old haunts, the Bakersfield Speedway. The race will be the first of six at the “Okie Bowl” in 2024. Last season the CLS visited the track five times. Bobby Michnowicz won two of the races including his fourth victory in the Western States Lightning Sprint Car Championship. Other winners at Bakersfield in 2023 were AJ Bender, Jeff Dyer, and Colorado’s Chris Crowder. Going into Bakersfield, Lange has a slender four-point lead over Nigh in the championship standings. Sexton sits third with Ryan Dumas and Speir rounding out the top five. Spectator gates at Bakersfield will open at 4:00 p.m. with racing at 6:00. Joining the CLS will be modifieds, sport mods, hobby stocks, American stocks, and stock cars. Adult tickets are $18.00. Seniors 65 and over and military with proper id get in for $16.00. Kids 6-12 are $10.00 and children 5 and under are free. Parking is also free. The track is located at 5001 North Chester Ext. Ave., Bakersfield (93308). The track website is http://www.bakersfieldspeedway.com/ and the office phone number is (661) 393-3373. California Lightning Series Imperial Valley Raceway March 2 Results Qualifying: 1. Aiden Lange, 12.174; 2. Cody Nigh, 12.278; 3. Ryan Dumas, 12.309; 4. Connor Speir, 12.335; 5. Eric Greco, 12.337; 6. Brent Sexton, 12.520; 7. Peter Benker, 12.549; 8. Parker Dumas, 12.660; 9. Jon Robertson, 12.820; 10. Seth Dyer, 12.872; 11. Cody Griggs, 12.918; 12. Zate Legend, 12.997; 13. Deejay Dumas, 13.002; 14. Chase Wilson, 13.088; 15. Landon Dalton, 13.223; 16. Brent Horn, 13.298; 17. Cody Benker, 13.610; 18. George Wolf, 13.672; 19. C.J. Marin, 13.739; 20. Jeff Dyer, 14.036; 21. Pat Kelley, 1:09:077 Heat 1 - 8 Laps: 1. Horn, 2. Peter Benker, 3. Speir, 4. Deejay Dumas, 5. Lange, 6. Seth Dyer, 7. Kelley Heat 2 - 8 Laps: 1. Parker Dumas, 2. Greco, 3. Wilson, 4. Nigh, 5. Marin, 6. Griggs, 7. Cody Benker Heat 3 - 8 Laps: 1. Sexton, 2. Legend, 3. Roberson, 4. Jeff Dyer, 5. Dalton, 6. Ryan Dumas, 6. Wolf Main Event 20 (With Starting Positions and Distance Behind) 1. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA, CA … (1st) 2. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA … (4th) … 1.468 3. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, CA … (6th) … 2.417 4. Peter Benker, Alpine, CA … (3rd) … 2.797 5. Parker Dumas, San Diego, CA … (5th) … 3.704 6. Aiden Lange, Lakewood, CA … (10th) … 3.887 7. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … (9th) … 4.280 8. Ryan Dumas, San Diego, CA … (14th) … 5.346 9. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA … (8th) … 8.609 10. Zate Legend, Riverside, CA … (7th) … 9.028 11. Deejay Dumas, San Diego, CA … (13th) … 12.752 12. Chase Wilson, CA … (11th) … 1 Lap … 13.392 13. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley … CA … (17th) … 14.155 14. Landon Dalton, San Diego, CA … (12th) … 1 Lap 15. C.J. Marin, Imperial Beach, CA … (15th) … 1 Lap 16. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA … (19th) … 2 Laps 17. Brent Horn, El Cajon, CA … (2nd) 16 Laps 18. Cody Griggs, Lakeside, CA … (16th) … 16 Laps 19. George Wolf, El Cajon, CA … (20th) … 17 Laps 20. Cody Benker, Alpine, CA … (18th) …18 Laps Lap Leaders: Connor Speir 1-20 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Points 1. Aiden Lange, Lakewood, CA … 254 2. Mike Nigh, Camarillo, CA … 250 3. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA … 248 4. Ryan Dumas, San Diego, CA … 198 5. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA … 196 6. Parker Dumas, San Diego, CA … 177 7. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 174 8. Zate Legend, Riverside, CA … 170 9. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA … 165 10. Chase Wilson, San Diego, CA … 161 The CLS would like to thank the following companies for being partners in the 2024 season. Extreme Mufflers, RacingJunk.com and Hoosier Tire. 2024 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule March 1 Imperial Valley Raceway Mid-Winter Fair Aiden Lange March 2 Imperial Valley Raceway Mid-Winter Fair Connor Speir March 9 Bakersfield Speedway CLS April 13 Merced Speedway CSL vs BCRA Civil War #1 April 20 Bakersfield Speedway CLS May 4 Ventura Raceway CLS May 18 Bakersfield Speedway CLS June 8 Ventura Raceway CLS June 15 Bakersfield Speedway CLS July 5 Santa Maria Raceway CLS July 6 Santa Maria Raceway CLS July 27 Santa Maria Raceway CLS vs BCRA Civil War #2 September 13 Bakersfield Speedway CLS vs BCRA Civil War #3 September 14 Ventura Raceway CLS September 28 Ventura Raceway CLS October 5 Merced Speedway CLS vs BCRA Civil War #4 Albright Memorial October 26 Ventura Raceway CLS November 15 Placerville Speedway Hangtown 100 – No Points November 16 Placerville Speedway Hangtown 100 – No Points November 26 Bakersfield Speedway CLS To keep up with the CLS online, please visit the website at http://racecls.com/  and follow on the club’s Facebook page 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, 2022 David Gasper, 2023 Bobby Michnowicz This press release was produced by Scott Daloisio Sports (909) 226-7768 mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com