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CALIFORNIA
LIGHTNING SPRINTS OPEN 28TH SEASON SATURDAY AT
VENTURA
(Redondo Beach, CA, March 14, 2022) The
California Lightning Sprint Car Series will open
its 28th season this Saturday night, March 19th at
“The Best Little Dirt Track In America,” Jim
Naylor’s Ventura Raceway. The season opener will
be the first of 21 races for the CLS in 2022.
Spectator gates will open at 3:00 p.m. and the
first race will be at 5:30. In addition to the
CLS, the VRA Sprint Cars, Senior Sprints, Dwarf
Cars, IMCA Sport Compacts, Hobby Stocks, and
Motorcycles are also on the action-packed card.
Heading the list of
entries for Saturday’s race is David Gasper. Last
year at the age of 16-years-old he became the
youngest champion in the first 27-years of CLS
competition. Coming from off-road racing with
longtime backer Kittle Motorsports, the Santa
Barbara, California-based driver had 11 top-five
finishes in 17 races. Two of the top five were
wins. They came at the Santa Maria Raceway in
August and the Merced Speedway in September.
Defending California
Lightning Sprint Car Series champion Dave Gasper.
Lance Jennings photo.
Like a champion boxer,
Gasper closed the season strong. He finished in
the top three, six times in the last seven races
of the year to sew up the championship. In
addition to being crowned CLS champion in 2021,
Gasper was also the club’s Rookie of the Year and
captured the title in the four-race “Civil War
Series” that matches the CLS vs Northern
California’s BCRA.
Anybody who thinks
Gasper will have a walk in the park on his way to
a second straight CLS title had better think
again. Among those expected to oppose the
defending champ are youngsters Eric Greco of
Palmdale, who tied for the series lead in wins
last year with four, Gardena’s Dominic Del Monte
and Aiden Lange of Lakewood. If they are not
enough, he will also have to deal with five-time
series champion Bobby Michnowicz of Oak Hills,
Jeff Dyer of Yucca Valley, and “Rockstar” Jon
Robertson of Torrance.
“We have David Gasper
coming back to defend his title” said Robertson,
who is serving as CLS president for the first
time. “But I expect that to be hotly contested by
Eric Greco, Bobby Michnowicz, Jeff Dyer, Aiden
Lange, Dom Del Monte, and others. We have several
rookies coming on board to bring new life to the
club.”
The historic Ventura
site, which first saw motorcycles racing on a
half-mile track 112-years ago, is one of the most
popular stops on the CLS tour. Its proximity to
the breaking waves of the Pacific Ocean and
competitive racing has been looked forward to by
competitors and fans alike for years. However,
2020 saw all of the scheduled CLS trips to the
track wiped out due to Covid.
In 2021 the CLS
returned with four appearances at Ventura. Greco,
who tied with San Diego’s A.J. Bender for most
wins in the series with four, picked up two
victories at the track. Dyer captured one of the
other main events and is a driver to keep a close
eye on this Saturday. At the last two races at
Ventura in 2021, he led 48 of the 50 main event
laps. On October 2nd, he had a commanding lead
only to have his clutch give up with two laps to
go. Four weeks later he dominated the action again
and without mechanical woes, he waltzed to the win
by leading all 25 laps. It was his lone CLS
triumph of 2021.
Last June, Bender, who
is looking for a ride for this Saturday, won the
other race at Ventura in 2021.
With the seven races on
the schedule, the Ventura Raceway, which is
located 68 miles north of Los Angeles, will be the
CLS home track in 2022.
The stars and cars of
the CLS will have little time to rest on their
laurels after Saturday’s race. Six days later the
club will have one of its biggest races of the
2022 season when it joins the World of Outlaws at
the historic, 77-year-old Bakersfield Speedway.
Advance tickets for that show are on sale now at
https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars
For fans who would like
to attend Saturday’s show at Ventura, spectator
gates will open at 3:00 p.m. and the first race
will be at 5:30. The track is located on the
Ventura County Fairgrounds at 10 W. Harbor
Boulevard (93001). The website is
http://venturaraceway.com/ and the office phone
number is (805) 648-RACE.
The following companies
have become marketing partners with the CLS in
2022. They have offered up more than $13,000.00 in
contingencies that will be awarded on top of the
regular racing purses and they will be paid out
throughout the year. T-Shirts By Timeless, Hoosier
Tires West, Extreme Mufflers, Saldana Racing
Products, Rod End Supply, Speed Mart, Cold Fire
West, West Evens Motorsports, RC Fuel Injection,
Jake Swanson Shock Technology, Advanced Racing
Suspensions, CSI Shocks, Eibach Springs, Triple X
Race Components, King Racing Products, Hyper
Racing Products, Rebel Gears, Vahlco Wheels,
Wilwood Disk Brakes, Fuel Safe Systems, MPI,
Circle Track Performance, E-Z UP, Hepfner Racing,
and Hoosier Speed.
If you or your company
would like to become a partner of the longtime
racing organization, contact Jon Robertson via
email at mailto:jon.robertson@sbcglobal.net or by
calling (310) 367-9050.
2022 California
Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule
March 19 Ventura
Raceway Winged
March 25 Bakersfield
Speedway Winged - With World of Outlaws
April 2 Merced Speedway
Non-Wing – Albright Class – Civil War #1
April 16 Bakersfield
Speedway Winged
April 30 Ventura
Raceway Winged
May 14 Bakersfield
Speedway Winged – With USAC/CRA
May 21 Ventura Raceway
Winged
June 11 Bakersfield
Speedway Winged
June 25 Ventura Raceway
Winged
July 9 Ventura Raceway
Winged
July 23 Ventura Raceway
Winged
August 26 Silver Dollar
Speedway Winged – Civil War #2
August 27 Placerville
Speedway Winged – Civil War #3
September 10 Lemoore
Raceway Winged
September 24
Bakersfield Speedway Winged – Civil War #4
October 8 Mohave Valley
Raceway Winged – With SWLS
October 29 Ventura
Raceway Winged
November 15 Bakersfield
Speedway Winged – With USAC Midgets - Civil War #5
November 17 Placerville
Speedway Non-Wing – With USAC Midgets - No Points
November 18 Placerville
Speedway Non-Wing – With USAC Midgets - No Points
November 19 Placerville
Speedway Non-Wing – With USAC Midgets - No Points
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, 2021 David Gasper
This press release was
produced by Scott Daloisio Sports (909) 226-7768
mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com |
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