California Lightning Sprint Car Series and Bay Cities Racing Association Wrap Up the Civil War Series this Weekend Torrance, CA — September 8, 2025 — The California Lightning Sprint Car Series and Bay City’s Racing Association will wrap up the annual Civil War series between the two groups this Friday and Saturday at the Bakersfield Speedway and the Merced Speedway. First, it will be Friday night at Bakersfield when they join with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars. Twenty-four hours later, they will race on the same program with the USAC Western Midgets at the Merced Speedway. The two races will be rounds three and four of the annual Civil War Series for the two longtime California sanctioning parties. Palmdale’s Eric Greco comes into the night as the leader in the Civil War Series. Now a college student at Boise State University, he also led most of the regular season in the Motor City Buick/GMC Championship point standings. He had to forego that championship effort due to school obligations. However, much to the chagrin of the competition, he is flying in for this weekend’s races in hopes of sewing up the Civil War Series title. While Greco has a 50-point advantage heading into Saturday’s race, BCRA drivers occupy three of the next four spots. Livermore’s Greg Dennett is second. Ten points behind him in third is Matt Land of Elk Grove. CLS rookie Braydin Collie of El Cajon is fourth with BCRA driver Hunter Kinney of Citrus Heights, who won a CLS race at the Lemoore Jet Bowl last month, rounding out the top five. Lakewood’s Aiden Lange sits on top of the Motor City Buick/GMC Championship standings with just five races to go. He leads Riverside teenager Zate Legend by 74 points. Another Riverside teen, Drake Cardey, who Lange narrowly edged for the Central California Challenge title in August, is third. Greco is currently fourth with Collie fifth. Friday’s race will be the third of four for the CLS at Bakersfield this year. Greco won the first one in April, while California Highway Patrol Officer Jeff Dyer of Yuca Valley won there in June. David Gasper won the CLS’s only appearance at Merced in May. That race was round #1 of the Civil War Series. Lange won round #2 at Santa Maria on July 26th. To add some extra spice to the competition, Brent Sexton, the 1999 and 2008 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Champion, and his son Grant, the 2021 POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series champion, will be joining the field for Friday’s race in Bakersfield. Their teammate, Collie, will race with them at Bakersfield before going on to be the team’s sole representative at Merced on Saturday. In addition to being a Civil War battle, Saturday’s main event at Merced will also be the 11th Annual Wayne Albright Memorial, and it will pay the winner $735.00, $500.00 for second, and $300.00 for third. It will pay $100.00 to start. Due to the generosity of several companies and people, several bonuses will be awarded for the top point scorers in the Civil War Series. T Shirts By Timeless and Greg’s Hardwood Floors are seeing to it that the champion will receive an extra $250.00. The runner-up will get $150, and third-place will take home $100.00. American Racer will award certificates of $100.00, $75.00, and $50.00, respectively, to the top three. PJ Benedetti is giving a $100.00 bonus to the 10th-place driver. Longtime CLS official Dick Hindman is giving $50.00 in a random draw between drivers finishing from fourth to ninth. For more information, including ticket prices, please visit the track website at https://www.bakersfieldspeedway.com/ or call the track office at 661-835-1264. Advance tickets are available at worldofoutlaws.com. For those who cannot make it to the track, the race will be streamed on Dirt Vision. For information on Saturday’s race at Merced, the track is located at 900 Martin Luther King Drive in Merced, California. The website is http://www.mercedspeedway.net/ and the office phone number is (209) 383-7799. For those unable to attend on Saturday, the race will be streamed on Flo Racing. For more updates and series information, follow the California Lightning Sprint Car Series on social media and visit the official website at racecls.com. The CLS would like to thank the following companies for being partners in the 2025 season. Motor City Buick/GMC, American Racer Tires, T Shirts By Timeless, Advanced Racing Suspension, BR Motorsports, Competition Suspension Incorporated, Diablo Fabrication and Design, Eibach Springs, Extreme Mufflers, EZ UP, Hoosier Tires, The Joie of Seating, King Racing Products, Outlaw Wings, RacingJunk.com, RC Fuel Injection, Rod End Supply, Saldana Racing Products, SpeedMart, and Triple X Race Components. If you would like to join the CLS and be a marketing partner in 2025, please contact Jon Robertson via email at jon.robertson@sbcglobal.net or by calling (310) 367-9050. Motor City Buick/GMC California Lightning Series Points 1. Aiden Lange … 1135 2. Zate Legend … 1061 3. Drake Cardey … 1036 4. Eric Greco … 990 5. Braydin Collie … 982 6. Jeff Dyer … 914 7. Leland Day … 838 8. Bobby Michnowicz … 827 9. Jon Robertson … 776 10. Cody Nigh … 616 CLS vs BCRA Civil War Point Standings 1. Eric Greco, CLS … 260 2. Greg Dennett, BCRA … 210 3. Matt Land, BCRA … 200 4. Braydin Collie, CLS … 199 5. Hunter Kinney, BCRA … 198 5. Aiden Lange, CLS … 198 7. Zate Land, CLS … 197 8. Leland Day, CLS … 180 9. Drake Cardey, CLS … 174 10. David Gasper, CLS … 133 Final Central California Shootout Points 1. Aiden Lange …242 2. Drake Cardey … 225 3. T.J. Smith … 224 4. Jeff Dyer … 221 5. Leland Day … 213 6. Braydin Collie … 207 7. Hunter Kinney ... 206 8. Zate Legend … 199 9. Jon Robertson … 187 10. Eric Greco … 139 2025 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule April 12 Bakersfield Speedway Eric Greco May 3 Ventura Raceway Aiden Lange May 17 Merced Speedway David Gasper (CLS vs BCRA Civil War) May 31 Ventura Raceway Postponed June 7 Bakersfield Speedway Jeff Dyer June 21 Ventura Raceway Aiden Lange July 5 Santa Maria Speedway Aiden Lange July 26 Santa Maria Speedway CLS vs BCRA Civil War Aiden Lange August 22 Plaza Park Raceway Eric Greco August 23 Lemoore Jet Bowl Raceway Hunter Kinney August 30 Ventura Raceway Jeff Dyer September 12 Bakersfield Speedway CLS vs BCRA Civil War With World of Outlaws on Dirt Vision September 13 Merced Speedway CLS vs BCRA Civil War Albright Memorial October 4 Ventura Raceway October 25 Ventura Raceway November 25 Bakersfield Speedway Western Lightning Sprint Car Championship with USAC National Midgets on Flo 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, 2024 Bobby Michnowicz Special Thanks to Wendy Michnowicz This press release was produced by Scott Daloisio Sports (909) 226-7768 mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com