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DYER GETS
REDEMPTION IN DRAMA FILLED CALIFORNIA LIGHTNING
SPRINT CAR RACE AT VENTURA
(Upland, CA, November 10, 2021) On an
evening filled with enough drama to keep the most
ardent soap opera fans attention all night long,
Jeff Dyer gained redemption for his heart-breaking
loss four weeks earlier by leading all 25-laps of
the California Lightning Sprint Car Series main
event at Jim Naylor’s Ventura Raceway on October
30th. In addition, the championship standings were
affected in a way nobody could have conceived at
the track located yards from the breaking waves of
the Pacific Ocean on the Ventura County
Fairgrounds.
At the previous race at
Ventura four weeks earlier, the personable Dyer
started on the front row. He established a huge
lead, while slicing and dicing his way through the
traffic. He had lapped all the way through the
fifth-place car. Less than 20 seconds from victory
on the tiny beach side oval, his clutch gave out
snatching victory away and rewarding him with a
frustrating sixth-place finish.
While things were
eerily similar for Dyer at the start of the race
on the 30th, the outcome was totally different.
Once again, the Yucca Valley, California driver
started on the front row and like the prior race,
dominated the main event. The difference is he had
no problems this time and he led every single lap
in the Haircuts By Susie/The Carlos/Dependable
Machines/John Springstead/Hyper Racing/In Memory
of Glenn Sels Engineering/Diablo
Chassis/Crutchfield Suzuki GSXR #4. The victory
was his first of 2021. Over the last two races at
Ventura, the retired United States Army
demolitions expert has led 48 of the 50 main event
laps.
Series leading rookie
David Gasper of Santa Barbara, ended up second in
the race and now finds himself back in the hunt
for the series championship. Three-time 2021
winner A.J. Bender of San Diego placed third with
Ken Coulston of Bermuda Dunes and Gardena’s
Dominic Del Monte rounding out the top five.
Anaheim’s Dale Gamer, who the week before was
crowned 2021 Perris Auto Speedway Senior Sprint
Car Series champion, was the main event “Hard
Charger” after starting 12th and finishing eighth.
The point battle took
an interesting turn long before the main event
rolled past the green flag. Indio’s James
Turnbull, who has led the championship point
standings much of the season, came into the night
nine-points behind Palmdale’s Eric Greco.
Turnbull’s night took a bad turn early. Before the
heat races he had mechanical issues with his car
and thought he was done for the night and quite
possibly done as a championship contender. When
fellow competitor Pat Kelley of Chino saw Turnbull
walking through the pits in his civvies, he
quickly offered his car to the young driver for
the show.
Greco, in the car he
has driven to a series leading four main event
wins in 2021, was on the pole for the main event.
Turnbull, in a car he had only raced eight-laps in
a heat race, was starting four rows behind in
ninth. At that point things looked rosy for
18-year-old Greco not only in the main, but in the
championship standings as well. Incredibly, that
rosy outlook quickly turned to thorns when the
teen suffered mechanical ills within five-laps,
and he became a spectator watching his point lead
slip away. Turnbull, in the ride that was totally
strange to him, advanced three spots in the race
to finish sixth. That allowed him to reclaim the
top spot in the standings. He will carry an
eight-point lead over Greco going into next week’s
race at the Bakersfield Speedway. Gasper is third
in the standings and only trails Greco by
16-points. And the rookie sensation is only
28-points behind leader Turnbull.
Earlier in the evening,
Bender picked up his third fast qualifying award
of the season when he toured the clay oval in a
time of 11.747. Gasper was second quickest at
11.774 and Dyer was third when he stopped the
clocks at 11.862.
Coulston garnered his
initial heat race win of the year when he bested
Del Monte and quick qualifier Bender in the first
eight lapper. The second heat went to Gasper over
Rob Pelmear of Ventura and Greco. That win tied
Gasper with Northern California’s Dakota Albright
for the most CLS heat race wins in 2021 with four.
The CLS 2021 season
will conclude with a huge bang with four races in
five days next week. The first of the four will be
the “5th Annual Western States Lightning Sprint
Car Championship” at the Bakersfield Speedway on
Tuesday, November 16th. That race will also be the
final round of the CLS vs BCRA “Civil War Series.”
Two days later it will be on to the Placerville
Speedway for three nights of racing at the
“Hangtown 100.” Thus far a whopping 41 cars have
entered the Placerville event. All four races of
next week’s shows will also see the USAC National
Midgets in action and all will be available to
view live on https://www.floracing.com/.
The CLS would like to
thank 2021 series sponsors Hoosier Tires, T Shirts
By Timeless, TJ Forged Racing Wheels, and Walker
Performance Filtration. If you or your company
would like to become part of the series, 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/
October 30th Main Event
Finishing Order (with starting positions)
1. Jeff Dyer – Yucca
Valley, CA – 2nd
2. David Gasper – Santa
Barbara, CA – 5th
3. A.J. Bender – San
Diego, CA – 4th
4. Ken Coulston –
Bermuda Dunes, CA – 7th
5. Dominic Del Monte –
Gardena, CA – 6th
6. James Turnbull –
Chino, CA – 9th
7. Rob Pelmear –
Ventura, CA – 8th
8. Dale Gamer –
Anaheim, CA – 12th
9. Cody Nigh –
Camarillo, CA – 11th
10. Jon Robertson –
Torrance, CA – 3rd
11. Connor Speir – 13th
12. Eric Greco –
Palmdale, CA – 1st
13. Kevin Bates – El
Cajon, CA – 10th
California Lightning
Sprint Car Series Points
1. James Turnbull -
Indio, CA – 1458
2. Eric Greco -
Palmdale, CA – 1446
3. David Gasper ® –
Santa Barbara, CA – 1430
4. Jeff Dyer – Yucca
Valley, CA – 1267
5. Jon Robertson –
Torrance, CA – 1023
6. Dominic Del Monte –
Gardena, CA – 1016
7. A.J. Bender – San
Diego, CA - 952
8. Pat Kelley – Chino,
CA – 834
9. Aiden Lange -
Lakewood, CA – 795
10. Bobby Michnowicz –
Oak Hills, CA - 759
CLS/BCRA Civil War
Series Point Standings
1. Eric Greco – CLS -
336
2. Dave Gasper – CLS –
335
3. James Turnbull – CLS
– 325
4. Brandon Leedy - BCRA
– 297
5. Dominic Del Monte –
CLS - 247
6. Terry Bergstrom –
BCRA – 240
7. Dakota Albright -
BCRA – 227
8. Bobby Michnowicz –
CLS – 1226
8. Jeff Dyer - CLS –
226
10. Aiden Lange – CLS -
215
2021 California
Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule
March 13 Bakersfield
Speedway – Eric Greco
April 10 Bakersfield
Speedway – Bobby Michnowicz
April 24 Merced
Speedway (Wayne Albright Memorial - Round #1 of
the Civil War Series with BCRA – Wingless) – James
Turnbull
May 15 Bakersfield
Speedway – A.J. Bender
June 5 Ventura Raceway
– A.J. Bender
June 19 Keller Auto
Speedway (Hanford) – Postponed due to heat.
July 3 Santa Maria
Speedway – Eric Greco
July 24 Santa Maria
Speedway (Wing Madness #1) Santa Maria – A.J.
Bender
August 7 Merced
Speedway (Civil War Series #2 with BCRA – Winged)
– Dave Gasper
August 28 Ventura
Raceway – Eric Greco
September 18
Bakersfield Speedway (Civil War #3 with BCRA –
Winged) – Kevin Michnowicz
September 19 The Dirt
Track At Kern County Raceway Park – David Gasper
October 2 Ventura
Raceway – Eric Greco
October 30 Ventura
Raceway – Jeff Dyer
November 16 Bakersfield
Speedway (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)
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 |
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