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GASPER WINS THIRD STRAIGHT CALIFORNIA LIGHTNING
SPRINT MAIN
(Torrance, CA, July 12, 2022)
The hottest lightning Sprint car driver in the
nation, David Gasper, took the lead with two laps
to go and raced to the win in the California
Lightning Sprint Car Series main last Saturday
night at the Ventura Raceway. The triumph was the
teenager’s third in a row and series-leading fifth
win of 2022. In addition, it allowed the 2021
series champion to take the lead in the point
standings for the first time this year.
Winner Gasper is in the middle. Second place
finisher Michnowicz is on the right and 3rd place
finisher Dyer is on the left. CLS photo.
Twelve CLS cars made the trek to the famous 1/5 of
a mile oval that is located next to the beach on
the Ventura County Fairgrounds. The first order of
business was time trials. Palmdale’s Eric Greco,
who came into the night leading Gasper by four
points in the standings, topped the chart in West
Evans Motorsports Qualifying with a lap of 12.211.
It was Greco’s series-leading fourth fast time of
the 2022 campaign. Gasper was second quickest when
he stopped the clocks at 12.241 and Yucca Valley’s
Jeff Dyer was third at 12.255.
A pair of
eight-lap heat races preceded the main event.
“Rockstar” Jon Robertson of Torrance won his first
heat of the year in the Extreme Muffler Heat Race
#1 when he beat Ventura local Robb Pelmear and
Greco to the Chris Kornder checkered flag. Gasper,
who calls Santa Barbara home, won the Yoshimura
R&D Heat Race #2 over rookie Connor Speir of
Fillmore, and five-time series champion Bobby
Michnowicz of Oak Hills. It was Gasper’s second
heat race triumph of the year.
When the
cars rolled through the pit gate for the 25-lap
main event, Michnowicz and Dyer lined up in row
one. The second row featured Robertson and Pelmear
with young gassers Greco and Gasper in row three.
Veteran Michnowicz, whose lone win this year
came at Ventura on April 30th, raced into the lead
on the start ahead of Dyer. Before the field
exited turn two on the opening circuit, Gasper, in
the Kittle Motorsports/Certified
Construction/Rattlesnake Ridge/Valley Precision
Products/Martin Roofing/B2 Design/Hyper Race
Cars/Saldana Race Products #18, drove by Pelmear
for third.
Things stayed tight with
Michnowicz about two car lengths ahead of Dyer at
the end of the second lap. By the end of the fifth
go around, the leader had expanded his advantage
to approximately 5 car lengths. However, the size
of that advantage seesawed back and forth several
times in the early going. And the same with third
place Gasper. The teenager would close on Dyer one
lap and on the next lap he would lose some ground.
Things remained status quo up front until lap
nine when Michnowicz was slowed by a lapped car.
That allowed Dyer to close to the leader’s rear
end. Once the two leaders negotiated their way by
the lapper, the same car momentarily slowed third
place Gasper.
The race returned to its
normal pace until lap 19 when things started to
get very interesting. Michnowicz was again slowed
by a lapped car, and Dyer and Gasper closed in. On
lap 21, the same lapped car and the lead trio came
up on a pack of other lapped cars in turn one. The
lapper was the first to get past the pack.
Michnowicz and Dyer hit the corner nose to tail on
the edge of the cushion, leaving the bottom wide
open. Seeing that, Gasper bolted to the inside and
raced by Dyer for second.
Once past Dyer,
Gasper glued himself to Michnowicz’ rear.
Michnowicz could not get away as he was still
being impeded by the same lapped car. As they
completed lap 23, Gasper went to the outside of
Michnowicz. They battled side by side through one
and two and came off the corner with the same
lapped car just in front of them. Michnowicz
stayed on the bottom and Gasper knifed his way in
between the leader in the lapped car thrilling the
crowd as they sped toward turn three, three
abreast. The two leaders finally shook off the
lapped car and continued to race side by side into
three and all the way through turn four. Gasper
planted his right rear on the edge of the cushion
coming off four and rocketed into the lead as they
took the white flag. When they got to turn one on
the final go around, Gasper turned to the inside
forcing Michnowicz to tap on the binders. That
sewed up the win for the defending series champ as
he pulled away coming off turn two. When they
crossed the line in the race that went green to
checkers uninterrupted, it was Gasper for the win
by three car lengths. Michnowicz was second with
Dyer right behind him in third. Pelmear placed
fourth with Greco fifth.
In addition to
winning the main and taking the point lead, Gasper
also received the SpeedMart, Advanced Racing
Suspension, Hepfner Racing Hard Charger Awards
which equal to $100.00 in product certificates.
After Saturday’s race, Gasper, who was
crowned the 2021 series Rookie of the Year as well
as winning the championship, has a 17-point lead
over Greco. Dyer stayed third in the standings.
Camarillo’s Cody Nigh, who missed the race,
remains fourth with Michnowicz breaking into the
top five for the first time this year.
Gasper will attempt to make it four wins in a row
in the “Kittle Blue” #18 when the series returns
to action at Ventura on July 23rd.
CLS
officials are still collecting lap money for the
August 6th race at the Santa Maria Raceway. If you
would like to donate, laps are $50.00 each. You
can use the contact information in this release
for Jon Robertson to confirm payment or ask any
questions.
Extreme Muffler Heat Race #1:
1. Jon Robertson, 2. Robb Pelmear, 3. Eric Greco,
4. Jeff Dyer, 5. Dale Gamer
Yoshimura R&D
Heat Race #2: 1. David Gasper, 2. Connor Speir, 3.
Bobby Michnowicz, 4. Dominic Del Monte, 5. Pat
Kelley, 6. Pat Dyer
Ventura 25-Lap Main
Event (with starting positions)
1. David
Gasper, Santa Barbara, CA, 6th
2. Bobby
Michnowicz, Oak Hills, CA, 1st
3. Jeff Dyer,
Yucca Valley, CA, 2nd
4. Robb Pelmear, Ventura,
CA, 4th
5. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA, 5th
6.
Dominic Del Monte, Gardena, CA, 7th
7. Jon
Robertson, Torrance, CA, 3rd
8. Connor Speir,
Fillmore, CA. 8th
9. Dale gamer, Anaheim, CA,
9th
10. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA, 11th
11. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA, 10th
DNS – Jacob
Magallanes, Pasadena, CA
Lap Leaders: Bobby
Michnowicz 1-23, Gasper 24-25.
CLS
Contingency Awards
Heat Race #1 – Extreme
Muffler $50.00 Product Certificate – Jon Robertson
Heat Race #2 – Yoshimura R& D - $50.00 CSI
Product Certificate – David Gasper
Saldana
Racing Products Wildcard Award - $50.00 Product
Certificate – Dale Gamer
1st Place Main
Event - Eibach Springs $100.00 Product Certificate
– David Gasper
2nd Place Main Event -
Vahlco Wheels $50.00 Product Certificate – Bobby
Michnowicz
3rd Place Main Event - Jake
Swanson Shock Technology $50 Product Certificate –
Jeff Dyer
4th Place Main Event – Hyper
Chassis - $50 Product Certificate – Robb Pelmear
5th Place Main Event – Smith Titanium Product
Certificate – Eric Greco
10th Place Main
Event – King Racing Products $25.00 Product
Certificate – Seth Dyer
Fast Qualifier -
West Evans Motorsports $25.00 Product Certificate
– Eric Greco
Hard Charger - Speed Mart
$25.00 Product Certificate – David Gasper
Hard Charger - Advanced Racing Suspension $50.00
Product Certificate – David Gasper
Hard
Charger – Hepfner Racing Products $25.00 Product
Certificate – David Gasper Hard Luck Award – Speed
Mart $25.00 Product Certificate – Jacob Magallanes
1st Car Not On The Lead Lap – Rebel Gears 30%
Off Coupon - Jon Robertson
California
Lightning Sprint Car Series Point Standings
1.
David Gasper, Santa Barbara, CA, 1134
2. Eric
Greco, Palmdale, CA, 1117
3. Jeff Dyer, Yucca
Valley, CA, 1099
4. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, CA,
1029
5. Bobby Michnowicz, Oak Hills, CA, 865
6. Will Browne, Glendora, CA, 854
7. Connor
Speir, Fillmore, CA, 746
8. Pat Kelley, Chino,
CA, 721
9. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA, 597
10. Dominic Del Monte, Gardena, CA, 539
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.
http://rebelgears.com/http://rebelgears.com/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 – David Gasper
June 25 Ventura Raceway Winged – David Gasper
July 9 Ventura Raceway Winged – David Gasper
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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