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FAMILIAR FACE RETURNS AND ONE DEBUTS IN CLS
BAKERSFIELD RACE
(Torrance, CA, June 7, 2022)
A couple of familiar faces will enter the fray
when the California Lightning Sprint Car Series
visits Scott Schweitzer’s Bakersfield Speedway
this Saturday night. Indio’s James Turnbull will
be returning to the series for the first time this
year and teenager Seth Dyer will make his series
debut.
In 2021, Indio, California resident
Turnbull led the CLS championship standings in the
early part of the season. He won a main event at
the Merced Speedway and ended up third overall in
points last year. Since the end of the 2021
season, he has been working on a 410 sprint car to
race in the USAC/CRA Series.
Saturday
Turnbull will be driving the #41 CLS car owned by
Bakersfield’s Mike Schweitzer. The seat came open
as Schweitzer’s regular driver, A.J. Bender will
be competing in the USAC/CRA race at Ventura. Thus
far in 2022, the CLS has visited Bakersfield three
times, and Bender has driven the #41 to two wins
there. He also drove it to a victory at
Placerville with the Bay Cities Racing
Association.
“Turnbull had a really
fantastic year in 2021 and if all the planets
would have aligned, he very easily could have won
the championship,” CLS president Jon Robertson
said. “I think that it’s really good having him
back and he is going to be in a top-class car.
Bender has won main events in that car and they
have a pretty similar driving style. I expect some
really good things out of him.”
For Dyer,
it will be his first-ever race in a Lightning
Sprint Car. The teen has been honing his skill in
the Speedway Sprints at Wheel2Wheel Raceway in
Victorville, where he had his best finish coming
home second on May 21st. The son of veteran racer
Jeff Dyer, the teen can always be seen helping his
father at the track and is popular with everyone
in the pits. For his debut, the Yucca Valley
rookie will be driving a car owned by longtime
racer Pat Kelley of Chino.
“It is pretty
exciting bringing new generations into the sport,”
Robertson continued when talking about Dyer. “Seth
has cut his teeth on the cars up there at
Wheel2Wheel . He has done really great at that
track. Having him come in and picking up the
pieces to follow in his dad’s footsteps can be a
fantastic thing. It is great when you can have the
father and son racing on the same track.”
Camarillo’s Cody Nigh comes into the race with a
68-point lead over second-place Jeff Dyer. In
seven races this year, Nigh has never finished
worse than sixth and has been in the top five,
five times. Dyer has been at six of the first
seven CLS events in 2022. He started the season
with fourth and third-place finishes and has
finished second in the last four races. Palmdale’s
Eric Greco, who won the last race at Ventura on
May 21st, is third and trails Dyer by 13-points.
Defending CLS champion David Gasper, who has two
wins, is fourth and is only 3-points behind back
of Greco. Series leading rookie, Will Browne of
Glendora, currently holds down the fifth-place
spot. The newcomer’s best outings have been a pair
of fourth-place finishes.
While Saturday’s
race will be the fourth of the year for the CLS on
“The Fastest 1/3 Mile High Banked Clay Oval In The
West,” it will be the club’s last time at the
track until the final Saturday in September.
After this Saturday’s race, the CLS will have
one week off before returning to action at the
Ventura Raceway on June 25th.
As well as
the CLS, the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods,
Hobby Stocks, American Stocks, and Tri-State Pro
Stocks will also be in action. Gates will open at
4:00 p.m. with racing at 6:00. Adult tickets are
$20.00. Seniors 65+ and military get in for
$18.00. Kids 6-12 get in for $5.00 and children 5
and under are free. Advance tickets are available
at the following link
https://www.myracepass.com/events/410736/tickets/.
Parking is free. The track is located at 5001 N.
Chester Ext., in Bakersfield (93308). The track
website is http://www.bakersfieldspeedway.com/ and
the office phone number is (661) 393-3373.
California Lightning Sprint Car Series Point
Standings 1. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, CA … 831
2. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 763 3. Eric
Greco, Palmdale, CA … 750 4. David Gasper,
Santa Barbara … 747 5. Will Browne ®, Glendora,
CA … 674 6. Bobby Michnowicz, Oak Hills, CA …
510 7. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA … 502 8. Connor
Speir, Fillmore, CA … 479 9. A.J. Bender, San
Diego, CA … 366 10. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA
… 327
California Lightning Sprint Car
Season Point Standings (with throwaway) 1. Jeff
Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 772 2. Eric Greco,
Palmdale, CA … 757 3. David Gasper, Santa
Barbara, CA … 734 4. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, CA …
733 5. Will Browne, Glendora, CA … 614 6.
Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA … 481 7. Bobby
Michnowicz, Oak Hills, CA … 480 8. Pat Kelley,
Chino, CA … 478 9. A.J. Bender, San Diego, CA …
366 10. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA … 331
CLS vs BCRA “Civil War Series” Points 1.
David Gasper – CLS - 142 2. Dakota Albright –
BCRA – 126 3. Eric Greco – CLS – 126 4. Will
Browne – CLA 116 5. Harlee Aguilera – BCRA –
109 6. Cody Nigh – CLS – 104 7. Greg Dennett
– BCRA – 100 8. Hunter Kinney – BCRA – 92 9.
Matt Land – BCRA – 89 10. Tim Kinser - 83
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.
Yoshimura R&D, Hoosier Tires West, T-Shirts By
Timeless, 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,
Smith Titanium, 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 25
Bakersfield Speedway Winged – Grant Sexton
April 2 Merced Speedway Non-Wing –– Civil War
#1 – David Gasper
April 16 Bakersfield
Speedway Winged – A.J. Bender
April 30
Ventura Raceway Winged (Make Up Main) David Gasper
April 30 Ventura Raceway Winged – Bobby
Michnowicz
May 14 Bakersfield Speedway
Winged – A.J. Bender
May 21 Ventura Raceway
Winged – Eric Greco
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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