CALIFORNIA LIGHTNING SPRINTS WRAP UP THE 2024 SEASON AT THE WESTERN STATES CHAMPIONSHIP AT BAKERSFIELD (Torrance, CA, November 21, 2024) The California Lightning Sprint Car Series will close out its 30th season on Tuesday, November 26th, at the 8th Annual Western States Lightning Sprint Car Championships at the Bakersfield Speedway. Six-time CLS champion Bobby Michnowicz is in the driver’s seat in the points chase entering the finale. However, there are things in life that are more important than racing. An example of that will happen when a longtime member of the CLS family returns to the Kern County track after a battle with cancer. On March 1st at the Imperial Valley Raceway, Lakewood, California’s Aiden Lange won the CLS season opener. Twenty-four hours later, the young driver placed sixth on the same track. The following Saturday at Bakersfield, the CLS home track, Lange placed third in the main event. The early season prowess saw Lange establish a stout 58-point lead heading into the fourth race of the year at the Merced Speedway on March 13th. However, an unexpected setback occurred when his father, Michael Lange, was diagnosed with cancer. Point lead or not, racing suddenly took a back seat. Since the Lange’s first hit the CLS tour in 2018, Michael was a fixture in the pits. His friendly demeanor endeared him to all. His mechanical know how around the cars was readily available to anyone seeking his expertise. Needless to say, when word spread throughout the CLS family, it affected everyone, including Michnowicz. “He is a super good guy, and we have got to race together a lot,” Michnowicz said from his Oak Hills, California home on Thursday night. “We have had racing trips together with him and his family. I would text him every other day to see how he was doing. For him to be back and be in remission is great news for everybody. This whole thing shows you that racing is secondary to life.” “I told him when he was going through it that I am not in your shoes by any means. I told him if you are physically up to it you can go to the track because I think it would be good therapy, and can help you. I told him he could come to my pit and hang out. He was just too nervous. It will be great for everyone to see him on Saturday.” Seeing the senior Lange back will be great for the moral of everybody. Then again, it is going to be a headache for all of the teams as it means his son will be back on the track and a contender for the win. “Aiden is really good,” Michnowicz said. “He almost beat me last year at this race. I was just thinking about that. He will be a little rusty, but by the end of the night, I bet he will be right there.” Coming into next week’s race, Michnowicz has a 103-point lead over Palmdale’s Eric Greco in the championship chase. It would take a catastrophe for Michnowicz to hand over the title, but he is not discounting his challenger. “It is hard because I have never been a points racer,” Michnowicz replied when asked what winning his seventh CLS title would mean. “When I was racing with my dad in sprint cars and winged sprint cars, we did not have the money to points race. It is expensive to chase points. I have always said whoever wins the most main events is the champion. I think we are tied with Eric Greco with four wins. If he wins, we will still probably win the points championship because we have a big enough lead. But in my mind, he would be champion because he had more wins.” “He is on fire, especially at Ventura,” Michnowicz continued in his praise of 22-year-old Glendale College student Greco. “That is kind of his niche. His next step would be to win at a place like Bakersfield because that is such a driver’s track. That is such a set up and strategy track. So I am anxious to see if he can take his talent to the next level because he is like a complete package. He works on his car and drives it. He is really good and I have a lot of respect for that kid.” In the first seven Western States Lightning Sprint Car Championships at Bakersfield, Michnowicz has won four times and finished second twice. The only time he has not finished in the top two was in 2021 when mechanical ills sent him to the infield of the “Okie Bowl” on lap 11. “Ever since I have raced sprint cars, I have always loved Bakersfield,” the longtime racer theorized about his success in the race. “We just have a lot of confidence there. We never roll into a race thinking we are going to win, but when I go to Bakersfield I am always so confident because I have always done so good there.” After Thursday’s race, which is sponsored by R&R Racing and T Shirts By Timeless, Michnowicz, whose crew chief is his wife Wendy, will probably be driving home with his seventh CLS championship and he may pull away with his fifth Western States title. However, wins and titles are not what he thinks about most. “I have raced since I was five,” said the driver, who turned 61 years old last week. “You don’t remember so much the ones you won; it is the ones you lose that bother and haunt you. That is kind of a personality trait, I think. I think more of the stuff I have lost than the stuff I have won.” Behind Michnowicz and Greco, California Highway Patrol Officer Jeff Dyer has pretty much handcuffed the third place spot in the championship standings. Veteran’s Cody Nigh of Camarillo and “Rockstar” Jon Robertson of Torrance are tied for fourth. Teenagers Zate Legend of Riverside and Dyer’s son, Seth, are sixth and seventh in the standings and are only separated by 10-points. Fillmore’s Connor Speir, Clay Byers of Castaic and Bakersfield local Leland Day are eighth, ninth and tenth.” There is a possibility of inclement weather next week. If rain does intervene, the race can be moved to Wednesday night. Fans are urged to keep up with the weather conditions via the track website (http://www.bakersfieldspeedway.com/ address below) or Facebook page. The CLS will partner with the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets at the track located in the city known as “Nashville West.” Spectator gates will open at 4:00 p.m. with racing at 6:00. The track is located at 5001 N. Chester Ext., in Bakersfield (93308). The track website is http://www.bakersfieldspeedway.com/ and the office phone number is (661) 393-3373. For fans who cannot make it to Bakersfield, the entire show will stream live on Flo Racing. 2024 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Points 1. Bobby Michnowicz, Oak Gills, CA … 1758 2. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA … 1655 3. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA …1420 4. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, CA … 1367 4. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA … 1367 6. Zate Legend, Riverside, CA … 1290 7. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 1282 8. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA … 1199 9. Clay Byers, Castaic, CA … 768 10. Leland Day, Bakersfield, CA … 640 CLS vs BCRA Civil War Points 1. Bobby Michnowicz, CLS … 345 2. Connor Speir, CLS … 334 3. Eric Greco, CLS … 329 4. Greg Dennett BCRA … 309 5. Zate Legend, CLS … 276 6. Seth Dyer, CLS … 274 7. Leland Day, CLS … 263 8. Jon Robertson, CLS … 256 9. Matt Land, BCRA … 219 9. Jeff Dyer, CLS … 219 2024 CLS Lap Leaders Michnowicz, Bobby … 118 Greco, Eric … 65 Dyer, Jeff … 39 Speir, Connor … 33 Kinney, Hunter … 25 Dyer, Seth … 17 Lange, Aiden … 16 Bender, AJ … 15 Dyer, Seth … 9 Albright, Dakota … 9 Graham, Broedy … 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 #1 Connor Speir September 13 Bakersfield Speedway CLS vs BCRA Civil War #2 Hunter Kinney September 14 Ventura Raceway CLS Eric Greco September 28 Ventura Raceway CLS Eric Greco October 5 Merced Speedway CLS vs BCRA Civil War #3 Dakota Albright October 26 Ventura Raceway CLS Eric Greco November 15 Placerville Speedway Hangtown 100 – No Points Rained Out November 16 Placerville Speedway Hangtown 100 – No Points Rained Out 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