NO TEAR-OFFS, NO PROBLEM, AS SPEIR GOES FROM 7TH TO 1ST TO WIN CALIFORNIA LIGHTNING SPRINT MAIN (Torrance, CA, July 29, 2024) Despite losing his tear-offs early on, Connor Speir steered his bright red #57 from seventh to first to win the California Lightning Sprint Car Series main event at the Santa Maria Speedway last Saturday night. The victory, which was Speir's second of the season, came in round #1 of the annual CLS vs Bay Cities Racing Association “Civil War Series.” Connor's Speirs helmet after the main event win at Santa Marina. Keith Spier photo. Fifteen cars showed up for the race at the newly reopened 60-year-old speed plant. Ten of the cars were from the CLS, and five were from the BCRA. The Northern California club drew first blood of the night when Livermore’s Greg Dennett set the fastest time in qualifying with a lap of 14.255. Bobby Michnowicz, who was seeking his CLS series-leading sixth fast qualifying time of the year, was second fastest at 14.531. The third-best time went to Palmdale’s Eric Greco, who came into the race trailing Michnowicz by 114 points in the championship standings, when he timed in at 14.544. Seventeen-year-old Seth Dyer of Yucca Valley was fourth quickest at 14.560, and Tatum Manu of Apple Valley was fifth with a 14.709. Dwayne Cossey presents Connor Speir with the traditional winners Coca Cola. CLS Photo. Speir, who came into the night after his second appearance in a full-size sprint car the week before at Ventura, raced to the win in the first heat when he bested Riverside’s Zate Legend and Dennett. The Fillmore, California-based driver’s victory was his series-leading third of the season in the CLS. The second eight lapper went to BCRA’s Matt Land of Wilton, who finished ahead of “Rockstar” Jon Robertson of Torrance and Oak Hills resident Michnowicz. For the main, Greco and Michnowicz manned the front row. Robertson and Legend were in row two. The third row was made up of Dennett and Dyer. Speir and Land shared row four. When the green flag waved to start the 25-lapper, Greco sailed into the lead with Michnowicz, Legend, Robertson, and Dennett chasing. The race saw its first yellow flag when Legend spun in turn two on lap three. That meant he had to restart at the back, but he was not going to be there for long. When the festivities got going again, it was still Greco out front, with Michnowicz second, Robertson third, Dennett fourth, and Dyer running in fifth. Speir, in his beautiful Channel Islands Floorcoverings/Area Rug Factory/Maxwell Industries #57, burst into the top five when he passed BCRA star Dennett on lap three. Two laps later, he drove around Dyer for fourth. It was becoming apparent to everyone that he and his team had hit the right setup. Dennett’s night ended when he exited the racing surface on the sixth go-around. Meanwhile, Speir had stolen all of the crowd's attention. He flew by Robertson for third on lap seven and blasted by six-time CLS champion Michnowicz at the end of the eighth circuit. However, he was a half-straight behind race-long leader Greco. Speir’s forward progress continued. He chased down leader Greco; they touched at the line at the end of lap 11, and Speir pilfered first place in turn one. Greco was not going to let the point position be taken away from him without a fight. Going into turn three on lap 12, the two young drivers battling for the lead encountered a lapped car in turn three. Greco was on the bottom, and Speir was near the edge of the cushion. Speir caught a rut and momentarily biked the car. Greco quickly took advantage of the situation and reclaimed the top spot as they completed the lap. The fight for the lead, which kept the happy crowd on the edge of its seats, saw another swap happen on the 13th go-around. Speir took the lead back, and he did not relinquish it from that point on. Greco stayed close to the leader. Not far behind, Michnowicz maintained third until he slowed and pulled into the infield on lap 17. A fuel pickup problem was the culprit. Lap 23 saw Robertson, who was running fourth, spin, bringing out the second yellow flag of the race. That was a good thing for Speir, Greco, and third-place Cody Meyer as they caught a pair of lapped cars that were not moving out of the way. In fact, Speir and Meyer got into the rear end of one of the cars. What could have turned into a chaotic situation was averted when Robertson’s spin brought out the yellow. The lineup for the final restart, with only two laps ago, saw Spear at the point, followed by Greco, Meyer, and Legend. While most of the crowd was concentrating on Speir, it missed the performance by Placerville-based Meyer. Driving the always-fast Brian Fonseca Savage Racing #3F, he had come from the 10th starting spot to have a chance for the win. The last green flag saw Speir execute a great start to put the icing on the cake for his victory. Meyer passed Greco on the back straight for third on lap 29. However, that was not going to allow him enough time to chase down Speir. The only other change came when Legend took the third spot on the final lap. At the checkers it was Speir by 10 car lengths over Meyer. Legend placed third, with Greco and Dyer rounding out the top five. Meyer was the race Hard Charger. “I just ran through the middle,” the happy winner told the appreciative crowd after the race. “I ran out of tear-offs halfway through the race so I was running with my visor open. It was hard, but I got through it. I am sorry for the guy I ran over (lapped car on the 23rd circuit). That was completely my fault, but I could not see. I will apologize to him later. Jody just dialed this thing in perfect. My grandpa, Steve Day, and my brother are here helping out, too. I appreciate all of them.” Greco’s fourth-place finish, combined with Michnowicz early exit, allowed the Glendale Community College student to lop 36 points off the leaders' advantage in the standings. He now trails by 78 points going into the next race. Young, rising star Legend is third, with Speir and Dyer rounding out the top five. After one of three rounds, Speir leads Zate Legend by 10 points in the Civil War Series standings. Meyer is third and is followed by Greco and Dyer. The CLS will now go on a seven-week sabbatical before returning to action with a show alongside the World of Outlaw Sprint Cars at the Bakersfield Speedway on September 13th. Twenty-four hours later, the CLS drivers will be in action 120 miles west on the beach at the Ventura Raceway. The CLS would like to thank the following companies for being partners in the 2024 season. Extreme Mufflers, RacingJunk.com and Hoosier Tire. July 27 Santa Maria Results Qualifying: 1. Greg Dennett, 14.255; 2. Bobby Michnowicz, 14.531; 3. Eric Greco, 14.544; 4. Seth Dyer, 14.560; 5. Tatum Manu, 14.709; 6. Zate Legend, 14.758; 7. Jon Robertson 14.823; 8. Connor Speir, 14.843; 9. Matt Land, 14.849; 10. Clay Byers, 15.160; 11. Leland Day, 15.516; 12. Jason Schostag, 15.780; 13. Pat Kelley, 17.392; 14. Cody Meyer, 32.829, 15. Daniel Caughlin, NT Heat #1 (8 Laps): 1. Speir, 2. Legend, 3.Dennett, 4. Greco, 5. Meyer, 6. Byers, 7. Caughlin, 8. Schostag Heat #2 (8 Laps): 1. Land, 2. Robertson, 3. Michnowicz, 4. Dyer, 5. Day, 6. Manu, 7. Kelley Main Event With Starting Positions and Distance Behind (25 Laps) 1. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA (7th) 2. Cody Meyer, Placerville, CA (10th) … 0.712 3. Zate Legend, Riverside, CA (4th) … 2.163 4. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA (1st) … 2.569 5. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA (6th) … 3.127 6. Leland Day, Bakersfield, CA (9th) … 3.807 7. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA (13th) … 6.077 8. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA (3rd) … 7.323 9. Clay Byers, Bakersfield, CA (11th) … 1 Lap 10. Jason Schostag, Placerville, CA (12th) … 1 Lap 11. Matt Land, Wilton, CA (8th) … 1 Lap 12. Bobby Michnowicz, Oak Hills, CA (2nd) … 8 Laps 13. Greg Dennett, Freemont, CA (5th) … 20 Laps Lap Leaders 1-12 Eric Greco, 13-25 Connor Speir California Lightning Sprint Car Series Points 1. Bobby Michnowicz, Oak Hills, CA … 1102 2. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA … 1024 3. Zate Legend, Riverside, CA … 943 4. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA … 904 5. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 894 6. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, CA … 893 7. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA … 873 8. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 813 9. Clay Byers, Bakersfield, CA … 510 10. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA … 493 CLS vs BCRA Civil War Points 1. Connor Speir, CLS … 134 2. Zate Legend, CLS … 124 3. Cody Meyer, BCRA … 121 4. Eric Greco, CLS … 120 5. Seth Dyer, CLS … 114 6. Leland Day, CLS … 101 7. Jon Robertson, CLS … 98 8. Pat Kelley, CLS ... 94 9. Clay Byers, CLS … 86 10. Matt Land, BCRA … 84 10. Bobby Michnowicz, CLS … 84 2024 CLS Lap Leaders Michnowicz, Bobby … 92 Speir, Connor … 33 Greco, Eric … 28 Dyer, Jeff … 25 Dyer, Seth … 17 Lange, Aiden … 16 Bender, AJ … 15 Dyer, Seth … 9 Nigh, Cody … 4 Dennett, Greg … 1 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 Bobby Michnowicz April 13 Merced Speedway CSL vs BCRA Civil War #1 Rained Out April 20 Bakersfield Speedway CLS Bobby Michnowicz May 4 Ventura Raceway CLS AJ Bender May 18 Bakersfield Speedway CLS Bobby Michnowicz June 8 Ventura Raceway CLS Bobby Michnowicz June 15 Bakersfield Speedway CLS Eric Greco July 6 Santa Maria Speedway CLS Jeff Dyer July 27 Santa Maria Speedway CLS vs BCRA Civil War #2 Connor Speir 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. Photos courtesy of the CLS and Keith Speir.