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CALIFORNIA LIGHTNING SPRINT CAR SERIES CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO MEMBERS – 20 RACES IN 2021
(Upland, CA, December 25, 2020) On Christmas morning, Alex Grigoreas, the President of the California Lightning Sprint Car Series played like Santa Claus and gave a special gift to the club’s racing teams and fans. It is the 2021 season schedule that will see the series compete 20-times on five different tracks in the sunshine state.

In addition to its own series, the CLS board worked diligently with the BCRA (Bay Cities Racing Association) board to avoid schedule conflicts in 2021. Thus, in addition to the 20 dates on its own schedule, there are 12 BCRA dates that do not conflict with the CLS. That will give teams from both clubs the opportunity to race 32 times in the upcoming season. There will also be some other non-conflicting dates with the POWRi Southwest Sprint Car Series giving racers more opportunities to hit the track.

“We are going to be very busy,” Grigoreas said on Christmas Eve. “The schedule is a great one for people who want to race. And we worked with BCRA to minimize schedule conflicts. I am excited that we were able to do that so we can give teams even more opportunities to get on the track. Big thank you to our board and the BCRA board for making that possible.”

The CLS 27th season will commence at “The West’s Fastest 1/3 Mile High Banked Clay Oval,” the Bakersfield Speedway, on March 13th. It will conclude a little over seven months later with three nights of co-sanctioned racing with BCRA at the Hangtown 100 at the Placerville Speedway in November.

Bakersfield Speedway will be the track that hosts the most CLS races in 2021 with six. Jim Naylor’s Ventura Raceway will see the exciting series compete on the beachside oval five times. Santa Maria Speedway will be the scene of four races. Northern California’s Placerville Speedway will present three CLS races and the Merced Speedway will host two.

In addition to the three nights of the Hangtown 100 in November, there will be several other special events during the year. The “Civil War Series” with BCRA will be back with four races beginning with the Wayne Albright Memorial at Merced on April 24th. Added intrigue for the Albright Memorial will be the fact that it is a wingless race. Other dates for the Civil War Series will be August 7th at Merced, September 18th, and November 16th at Bakersfield. The November 16th race will also be the annual Western States Lightning Sprint Car Championship. The CLS will also be parts of Santa Maria’s Winged Madness shows on July 24th and September 25th. In addition to the CLS, the Winged Madness shows will also feature the NARC 410 Sprint Cars, 360 sprints, and the Legends of the Kearney Bowl.

“I am glad we will be part of the Hangtown 100 at Placerville to close the 2021 season,” Grigoreas said. “We were looking forward to being included at Hangtown this year, but it had to be canceled due to Covid. Along with Hangtown we also have four Civil War races, the Wayne Albright Memorial, the Western States Lightning Sprint Car Championship and the two-Winged Madness shows at Santa Maria. I think our teams and fans will love all of those special shows. I am overly excited about this season and the larger schedule. I wish it was time to start now.”

Eight of the 20 races on the 2021 CLS schedule will be run in conjunction with USAC shows. All eight will be streamed live around the world on Flo Racing. Those races are June 5th at Ventura, July 3rd, and August 28th at Santa Maria, September 28th and November 16th at Bakersfield, and all three nights of the Hangtown 100, November 18th, 19th, and 20th, at Placerville.

If the 20 races already on the CLS schedule are not enough, negotiations are ongoing with another Southern California racetrack for one more date.

2021 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule

March 13 Bakersfield Speedway
March 20 Ventura Raceway
April 10 Bakersfield Speedway
April 24 Merced Speedway ( Wayne Albright Memorial - Round #1 of the Civil War Series with BCRA – Wingless)
May 1 Ventura Speedway
May 15 Bakersfield Speedway
June 5 Ventura Raceway
July 3 Santa Maria Speedway
July 24 Santa Maria Speedway (Wing Madness #1)
August 7 Merced Speedway (Civil War Series #2 with BCRA – Winged)
August 14 Bakersfield Speedway
August 28 Santa Maria Speedway
September 4 Ventura Raceway
September 18 Bakersfield Speedway (Civil War #3 with BCRA – Winged)
September 25 Santa Maria Speedway (Wing Madness #2)
October 2 Ventura Raceway
November 16 Bakersfield (Civil War #4 with BCRA – Winged and Western States Lightning Sprint Car Championship)
November 18 Placerville Speedway Hangtown 100 – (Co sanctioned with BCRA and in companion with the USAC National Midgets)
November 19 Placerville Speedway Hangtown 100 – (Co sanctioned with BCRA and in companion with the USAC National Midgets)
November 20 Placerville Speedway Hangtown 100 – (Co sanctioned with BCRA and in companion with the USAC National Midgets)

If you or your company would like to become part of the series for the 2021 season, please call Alex Grigoreas at (909) 437-3170.

To keep up with the CLS online, please visit the website at http://racecls.com/ or on Facebook at 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.

This press release was produced by Scott Daloisio Sports (909) 226-7768 mailto:sdaloisiosports@aol.com