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CALIFORNIA LIGHTNING SPRINT SEASON HITS HALFWAY MARK SATURDAY
(Torrance, CA, July 18, 2022)
The California Lightning Sprint Car Series will hit the halfway point of its 28th season this Saturday night, July 23rd, when it visits Jim Naylor’s Ventura Raceway. The race will be the third in a row for the CLS on its home track in 2022. It will also be the sixth of seven races on the 1/5 mile oval this year.

The first half of the season has been highly competitive for the CLS. The first ten races of the year have seen four different drivers lead the championship point standings. Currently on top of the heap is defending series champion David Gasper of Santa Barbara. It took the 16-year-old until the race at Ventura two weeks ago to capture the point lead for the first time in 2022. He goes into Saturday’s race with a narrow 17-point advantage over Palmdale’s Eric Greco. Yucca Valley’s Jeff Dyer currently sits third and trails Greco by 18 points. The fourth spot in the championship standings belongs to Camarillo’s Cody Nigh. Five-time series champion Bobby Michnowicz of Oak Hills currently sits fifth.

In addition to four drivers leading the championship standings in the first 10 races of the year, five different drivers have been to victory circle. Once again, Gasper who drives the Kittle Motorsports #18, leads the way with five victories. The only other driver with more than one win on the year is San Diego’s, AJ Bender. Greco, Michnowicz, and lakeside’s Grant Sexton have one win each.


David Gasper leads the CLS point standings and also leads the series in wins with five. CLS photo.

Gasper, who got off to an up and down start to the season blowing up in the first race of the year, winning the second, and blowing up again in the third, has won four of the last seven races including the last three in a row and the last two at Ventura.

In the battle for Rookie of the Year, Glendora’s Will Browne, who missed the last race while his engine was being repaired, currently leads Bakersfield’s Connor Speir by 108 points. They are currently ranked sixth and seventh in the overall championship standings going into Saturday’s race at “The Best Little Dirt Track in America.”

A healthy 47 cars have raced with the CLS this year and the average car count is 15.1. The Bakersfield Speedway has the highest average count with 16.5 cars showing up at the first four races there. The Kern County oval hosted the largest CLS car count of the season when 22 cars appeared at the March 25th race that also featured the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars.

The CLS will be joined by the VRA Sprint Cars, Senior Sprints, Dwarf Cars, Hobby Stocks, WMR Midgets, and Kid’s Classes on Saturday. Adult tickets are $18.00. Seniors 60 & over, military with id, and students with id get in for $15.00. Children 12 and under, who are accompanied by an adult, are free. Spectator gates will open at 3:00 p.m. and the first race will be at 5:30.

The Ventura Raceway 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.

After this week’s race at Ventura, the CLS will be off until the highly anticipated reopening of the Santa Maria Raceway on August 6th. CLS officials are still collecting lap money for that race. 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.

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