Healthy Again, 7-Time California Lightning Sprint Car Series Champion Michnowicz Wins at Bakersfield Torrance, CA — September 17, 2025 — If there was one thing missing from the Motor City Buick/GMC California Lightning Sprint Car Series in 2025, it was the name Bobby Michnowicz in victory lane. That changed last Friday night when the seven-time series champion powered to a convincing win at Bakersfield Speedway, located at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway. The triumph, which was round #3 of the Civil War Series vs the BCRA, was seen worldwide on DirtVision as the CLS shared the stage with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars. Bobby Michnowicz being interviewed by DirtVisions Connor Wade after his Bakersfield win. CLS photo. What many people did not know is that Michnowicz has been quietly battling serious health issues in recent months. The Torrance veteran was sidelined by a rare combination of COVID pneumonia and viral pneumonia, forcing him to miss three of the previous four CLS races. Prior to the illness, the all-time series wins leader had been on form, finishing in the top five in four of the first five races of the season. Friday’s return to victory lane marked not only a comeback, but a statement that the champion is back to full strength. Prior to the legend’s victory in the main event, BCRA’s Matt Land set the pace in Diablo Fabrication qualifying by turning the fastest lap among the 22 cars with a 14.778. Palmdale’s Eric Greco, the Civil War Series point leader who flew in from Idaho, where he is attending college, was second quick at 14.564. Camarillo’s Cody Nigh followed close behind at 14.565. Livermore’s Greg Dennett and 2021 POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series champion Grant Sexton of Lakeside rounded out the top five with laps of 14.585 and 14.592. The blistering session saw the first 16 cars separated by less than half a second. CLS drivers swept the wins in all three heat races. 1999 and 2008 CLS champion Brent Sexton of Lakeside claimed victory in Racing Junk Heat #1, besting Michnowicz and Dennett. Point leader and 2025 CLS main event win leader Aiden Lange of Lakewood captured the second heat, sponsored by Competition Suspension, ahead of “Rockstar” Jon Robertson of Torrance and Greco. Fast rookie Braydin Collie of El Cajon took the checkered flag first in ARS Heat Race #3. California Highway Patrol officer Jeff Dyer of Yucca Valley could not chase him down and placed second. Series leading rookie and Dyer teammate, Drake Cardey of Riverside, finished third. Michnowicz, in his Outlaw Wings/Super Shox/Bondio Fabrication/Fabzzie Metal Works/ Fast Time Studios/Keizer/TJ Forged/Timeless T Shirts/Triple X Chassis/Kawasaki ZX10/21k, started on the pole for the main event with racing friend Dyer alongside. From the drop of the green flag, Michnowicz dominated. The veteran led the yellow-flag-plagued 20-lapper from start to finish, pulling away on each restart. He crossed the finish line 1.294 seconds ahead of Dyer and recorded the fastest lap of the race on lap 16 with a 14.68. Camarillo’s Cody Nigh finished third, with Lange and Cardey rounding out the top five. Nigh’s charge from 13th to third earned him the Eibach Spring Forward Award and the Speedmart Hard Charger award. He also received a free tire from Hoosier as the highest finisher running Hoosiers on all four corners. Cardey earned an additional $100 from P.J. Beneditti for being the top-finishing rookie. “That win felt super good,” Michnowicz said of the victory. “Especially as it was on Dirt Vision on the same program with the World of Outlaws. We had just lost like our big brother, Danny Banfield. When I was sick, I could not go see him and that is when he passed away. I dedicated that win to him. I had known him since I was 10-years old. He workd on my quarter midgets and helped us in the Ascot days in my sprint cars. To the day he passed, he was like part of our family.” “We were very fortunate,” Michnowicz said of the race on the recently reconfigured dirt track. “We qualified seventh fastest and sixth was the pill number for the pole. Cody Nigh did not make it through the heat race. That put me sixth and I started on the pole. Track position is huge. I figured out the track and was able to put together really good lap times.” “I had Covid pneumonia and viral pneumonia and I was down for six or eight weeks,” Michnowicz said about his time on the sidelines. “I am still about four weeks away from getting my second lung check and capacity checked to see how it is going. At the last race at Ventura, it was the first day I felt good in two months.” “We went to Visalia and I was probably 60% or 70%,” the Oak Hills, California resident said of the August 22nd race where he finished fourth. “I literally thought I was going to throw up in the heat race. I just had to get through the main. We finished fourth, but it was very difficult. We skipped Lemoore the next night. We ran the next race at Ventura two weeks ago. That night I finished the main in second and I wasn’t tired and I could breathe. I could finally say I was not sick anymore.” Heading into the next night at Merced, Lange maintained a commanding 99-point lead in the Motor City Buick/GMC championship standings. However, the driver now in second place is Cardey, while Zate Legend slipped to third. Dyer and Collie round out the top five. Greco, who came into the night as the Civil War Series point leader, suffered a setback when a broken steering box forced him out of the main event, resulting in a 16th-place finish. That drop pushed him from first to 10th in the standings heading into the finale just 24 hours later at Merced. The new leader is BCRA’s Greg Dennett, but he holds only a slim two-point advantage over Lange. Rookie Cardey is third, just 26 points behind the leader. Michnowicz and Dyer round out fourth and fifth. 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. 2025 CLS Contingency Awards 9/12/25 - Bakersfield Racing Junk Heat Race #1 winner - Competition Suspension Inc. $50 product certificate Brent Sexton Extreme MufflerHeat Race #2 winner - Extreme Muffler $50 product certificate Aiden Lange ARS Heat Race #3 winner - Advanced Racing Suspensions $50 product certificate Brayden Collie 2nd place - BR Motorsports - $25 product certificate Jeff dyer 3rd place - Joie of Seating - $250 product certificate Cody Nigh 4th place Saldana Racing Products - $50 product certificate Aiden Lange 5th place - King Racing Products $25 product certificate Drake Cardey Highest finisher with Hoosier tires on all 4 corners. - Hoosier – free tire Cody Nigh Quick time - Diablo Fabrication $50 product certificate Matt Land Spring Forward (Hard Charger) - Eibach - $100 product certificate SpeedMart - $50 product certificate - Cody Nigh Highest finishing rookie ($100) - PJ Benedetti Italian Stallion Highest finishing rookie award Drake Cardey CLS Member - Extreme Mufflers 10% off purchase CLS Member - EZ Up 30-40% off purchase CLS Member - RC Fuel Injection 50% off products and services to all race series participants CLS Member Rod End Supply $30 off each $100 for CLS participants Series Champion - Triple X Race Components $500 off any chassis or chassis kit Qualifying: 1. Matt Land, 14.478; 2. Eric Greco, 14.564; 3. Cody Nigh, 14.565; 4. Greg Dennett, 14.585; 5. Grant Sexton, 14.592; 6. Jeff Dyer, 14.602; 7. Bobby Michnowicz, 14.607; 8. Aiden Lange, 14.669; 9. Drake Cardey, 14.724; 10. Leland Day, 14.762; 11. Scott Kinney, 14.885; 12. AJ Bender, 14.895; 13. Brent Sexton, 14.910; 14. Jon Robertson, 14.925; 15.Braydin Collie, 14.951; 16. Jason Schostag, 14.967; 17. Zate Legend, 15.106; 18. Bradley Schmidt, 15.226; 19. Kennedy Ramirez, 15.15.967; 20. Kindal Barstow, 16.143; 21. Cody Dayton, 16.858; NT Roland Smith Heat #1: 1. Brent Sexton, 2. Michnowicz, 3. Dennett, 4. Land, 5. Schostag, 6. Day, 7. Ramirez Heat #2: 1. Lange, 2. Robertson, 3. Greco, 4. Grant Sexton, 5. Kinney, 6. Legend, 7. Barstow Heat #3: 1. Collie, 2. Dyer, 3. Cardey, 4. Schmidt, 5. Nigh, 6. Bender, 7. Dayton Main Event (With Starting Positions and Distance Behind) 1. Bobby Michnowicz, Oak Hills, CA 2. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … +1.294 3. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, CA … +1.823 4. Aiden Lange, Lakewood, CA … +2.864 5. Drake Cardey, Riverside, CA … +3.098 6. Grant Sexton, Lakeside, CA … +3.167 7. Leland Day, Bakersfield, CA … +4.724 8. Braydin Collie, El Cajon, CA … +5.080 9. Jason Schostag, Hangtown, CA … +5.139 10. Greg Dennett, Livermore, CA … +5.488 11. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA … +6.067 12. Zate Legend, Riverside, CA … +6.334 13. Matt Land, Elk Grove, CA … +6.710 14. Kindal Barstow, Denair, CA … + 1 Lap 15. Cody Dayton, Placerville, CA … +8 Laps 16. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA … +8 Laps 17. Bradley Schmidt, Roseville, CA … +8 Laps 18. Scott Kinney, Citrus Heights, CA … +13 Laps 19. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA … +15 Laps 20. Kennedy Ramirez, Diamond Springs, CA … +16 Laps DNS AJ Bender – San Diego DNS Roland Smith Motor City Buick/GMC California Lightning Series Points 1. Aiden Lange … 1362 2. Drake Cardey … 1263 3. Zate Legend … 1237 4. Jeff Dyer … 1173 5. Braydin Collie … 1160 6. Bobby Michnowicz … 1100 7. Eric Greco … 1073 8. Leland Day … 1010 9. Jon Robertson … 919 10. Cody Nigh … 786 CLS vs BCRA Civil War Point Standings 1. Greg Dennett, BCRA … 427 2. Aiden Lange, CLS … 425 3. Drake Cardey, CLS … 401 4. Bobby Michnowicz, CLS … 391 5. Jeff Dyer, CLS … 381 6. Braydin Collie, CLS … 377 7. Zate Land, CLS … 373 8. Matt Land, BCRA … 367 9. Leland Day, CLS … 352 10. Eric Greco, CLS … 328 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 Bobby Michnowicz September 13 Merced Speedway CLS vs BCRA Civil War Bobby Michnowicz 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