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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