Cody Nigh Ends Seven-Year Drought with Emotional Ventura Triumph Torrance, CA — March 24, 2026 — Two days after the passing of his grandmother, Cody Nigh scored an emotional victory in the Motor City Buick/GMC California Lightning Sprint Car Series last Saturday night at the Ventura Raceway. It was the popular driver’s first win in seven years. Winner Cody Night with his mom, Cindy, Grandpa Carl, and dad, Mike. CLS photo. California Highway Patrol Officer Jeff Dyer, who won the season opener at Imperial two weeks earlier, set the fastest time of the night on the CLS home track with a lap of 12.266. Nigh began his impressive evening by qualifying second quickest at 12.425. Third fastest was “Rockstar” Jon Robertson of Torrance at 12.465. Alpine teenager Tyler Warner, the 2025 SoCal Lightning Sprint Car Series Rookie of the Year, was fourth fastest at 12.696. Two-time CLS champion Brent Sexton of Lakeside rounded out the top five at 12.840. Unfortunately, defending CLS champion and current point leader Aiden Lange had issues and did not record a qualifying lap. Dyer, who celebrated his 43rd birthday earlier in the week, captured the first eight-lap heat race over Nigh and Lange. Heat race #2 went to Sexton, who finished ahead of Dyer and Robertson. Sexton started on the pole for the 25 lap main event with Nigh alongside. Row two featured Lange and Dyer, with Robertson and rookie Liam Coffey of Riverside in row three. Warner and past Perris Auto Speedway Senior Sprint Car Champion Dale Gamer shared row four. Sexton leapt from the pole into the lead at the drop of the green. Nigh, Lange, and Dyer chased him into the first bend. By the time the field exited turn four on the opening lap, Lange powered the inside line to go from third to first. By the end of lap two, the 23-year-old from Lakeside had stretched his advantage to five car lengths. At the completion of the second lap, Nigh moved past Sexton into second, and Dyer slipped by the three-time lightning sprint champion on lap three. A yellow flag flew on lap four when L.A. driver Tatum Manu rolled to a stop on the back chute. That tightened up the field for the restart. When the green lights came back on, Lange maintained the lead, but his tenure at the front would soon come to an end. His car appeared to slow on lap seven, and Nigh quickly closed in. One lap later, Lange’s #13 lost power off turn two and rolled to a stop in turn three, bringing out the race’s second caution. His night ended in frustration due to an electrical problem. On the restart—and despite the lights going out in turns three and four late in the race—it was all Nigh in his Kruseman Driving School/TJ Forged/Pinky’s Tire Service/K1 Racegear/West Evans Motorsports/Kwik Change Products/Maxwell Industries/Channel Island Floor Covering/Wicked Chassis/Kawasaki ZX10 #45. He quickly built a comfortable lead and went unchallenged the rest of the way. Sexton finished second for his best result of the season, while Robertson also recorded a season-best finish in third. Fourth and fifth went to youngsters Warner and Coffey. Warner, who started seventh, earned “Hard Charger” honors. Dyer appeared headed for a second-place finish until his clutch failed with two laps remaining. He stayed on track to finish the race but dropped from second all the way back to sixth. “This means so much, I lost my Grandma on Wednesday,” an emotional Nigh told the appreciative crowd. “I lost my Grandpa in January. This goes out to my aunt and uncle, Bobby and Wendy Michnowicz. Bobby lost his mom today.” “It has been seven years, Chris,” with his voice breaking, Nigh told infield announcer Chris Kornder. “You wonder if you can do this anymore. Once I got in that first corner, I felt how good this racecar was. I did not want to be denied. I saw the lights go out, and I thought this would suck if they checkered it, but I don’t care. I did not want to be denied. I am so grateful.” Dyer, who entered the night trailing Lange by 17 points in the Motor City Buick/GMC Championship standings, leaves Ventura with a seven-point lead over Lange. Nigh’s victory vaulted him from eighth to third in the standings, with Sexton and Warner rounding out the top five. The CLS takes this weekend off before returning to action on April 4th for the first of two 2026 appearances at Santa Maria Speedway. For updates and complete series information, follow the California Lightning Sprint Car Series on Facebook or visit the official website at racecls.com. The CLS would like to thank the following companies for being partners in the 2026 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, 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, please contact Jon Robertson via email at jon.robertson@sbcglobal.net or by calling (310) 367-9050. Motor City Buick/GMC California Lightning Sprints Ventura Raceway Results Qualifying: 1. Jeff Dyer, 12.266; 2. Cody Nigh, 12.425; 3. Jon Robertson, 12.465; 4. Tyler Warner, 12.696; 5. Brent Saxton, 12.840; 6. Liam Coffey, 13.153; 7. Tatum Manu, 13.479; 8. Dale Gamer, 13.789; Aiden Lange, No Time Heat #1 (8 Laps): 1. Dyer, 2. Nigh, 3. Lange, 4. Robertson, 5. Sexton, 6. Warner, 7. Coffey, 8. Gamer, 9. Manu Heat #2 (8 Laps): 1. Sexton, 2.Dyer, 3. Robertson, 4. Nigh, 5. Lange, 6.Coffey, 7. Gamer, 8. Warner 20 Lap Main Event (With Starting Positions and Distance Behind) 1. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, CA (2nd) 2. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA (1st) … +6.504 3. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA (5th) … +8.312 4. Tyler Warner, Alpine, CA (7th) … +9.100 5. Liam Coffey, Riverside, CA (6th) … +10.396 6. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA (4th) … +14.284 7. Dale Gamer, Anaheim, CA (8th) … + 1 Lap 8. Aiden Lange Lakewood, CA (3rd) … +13 Laps 9. Tatum Manu, Los Angeles, CA (9th) … + 17 Laps Motor City Buick/GMC California Lightning Sprint Car Point Standings 1. Jeff Dyer … 352 2. Aiden Lange … 345 3. Cody Nigh … 327 4. Brent Sexton … 316 5. Tyler Warner … 287 6. Jon Roberston … 284 7. Liam Coffey … 262 8. David Taft … 224 9. Peter Benker … 221 10. AJ Bender … 216 CLS vs SCLS California Clash Points 1. Aiden Lange … 252 2. Jeff Dyer … 235 3. David Taft … 224 4. Peter Benker … 223 5. Shane Sexton … 216 6. Braydin Collie … 206 7. Cody Benker … 195 8. Brent Sexton … 189 8. Cody Nigh … 189 9. AJ Bender … 189 2026 Motor City Buick/GMC California Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule March 6 CLS/SCLS Clash #1 Imperial Valley Raceway - Jeff Dyer March 7 CLS/SCLS Clash #2 Imperial Valley Raceway – David Taft March 21 CLS Ventura Raceway – Cody Nigh April 4 CLS & 305 Sprint Cars Santa Maria Speedway April 18 CLS Bakersfield Speedway/Kern May 30 CLS Ventura Raceway June 13 CLS Ventura Raceway June 27 CLS vs BCRA Civil War Race Merced Speedway July 4 CLS & USAC/CRA Sprint Cars Santa Maria Speedway August 29 CLS/SCLS Clash Race #3 Perris Auto Speedway September 19 CLS vs BCRA Civil War Race Merced Speedway September 25 CLS with World of Outlaws CLS/SCLS Clash #4 Bakersfield Speedway September 26 CLS with World of Outlaws CLS/SCLS Clash #5 Ventura Raceway October 17 CLS Ventura Raceway October 24 CLS Ventura Raceway November 21 CLS/SCLS Clash Race #6 Barona Speedway 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, 2025 Aiden Lange Special Thanks to Wendy Michnowicz and Ed Haney Video. This press release was produced by Scott Daloisio Sports (909) 226-7768 mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com