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SEXTON WINS SANTA MARIA CALIFORNIA LIGHTNING
SPRINT SERIES RACE
(Torrance, CA, August 10, 2022)
Two-time California Lightning Sprint Car Series
champion Brent Sexton raced to a convincing win
when the CLS was part of the reopening of the
Santa Maria Raceway last Saturday night. The win,
Sexton’s first ever at the San Luis Obispo County
oval, came before an enthusiastic, sellout crowd.
A total of 16 CLS cars showed for the
first race at Santa Maria in over a year. Savage
Racing Qualifying saw teenager “Shugah” Shane
Sexton record the fastest lap with a time of
14.161. Defending CLS champion and current point
leader David Gasper of Santa Barbara was second
best on the clocks with a 14.275. Five-time series
champion Bobby Michnowicz of Oak Hills turned in
the third fastest time at 14.308.
T Shirts
By Timeless sponsored the two CLS heat races. San
Diego’s A.J. Bender, who has two CLS winds at the
Bakersfield Speedway in 2022, captured the first
heat race over “Rockstar” Jon Robertson of
Torrance, and Michnowicz. Rookie driver Connor
Speir of Fillmore captured the second heat over
Sexton, who was the eighth fastest driver in
qualifying, and Gasper.
A three lap trophy
dash, sponsored by R&R Racing, Dick Hindman,
Timeless Enterprises, and J.J. Ercse, would
determine the starting positions for the first
three rows of the main event. Bender picked up
right where he left off in his heat race and won
the dash, too. The victory was worth $230.00. He
would start on the front row of the main with
Gasper alongside. Third place Robertson was on the
inside of the second row and was joined by Sexton.
The third row was slated to feature Jeremy Queener
of Lake Elsinore and Michnowicz. However,
Michnowicz withdrew for the night after the dash.
Bender steered Mike Schweitzer’s #41B into the
lead on the start with Gasper, Sexton, Robertson,
and Yucca Valley’s Jeff Dyer giving chase. The
boat captain by trade quickly put some distance
between himself and Gasper and was a quarter
straightaway ahead by lap 5. Likewise, Gasper had
pulled away from third place Sexton.
Bender
caught up to the lapped traffic on lap 9. That was
despite broken wing struts on the front wing of
his race car. As the lappers momentarily slowed
his progress, Gasper, in the “Kittle-Blue #18,”
closed in on the leader. He raced outside of
Bender going into turn three and snatched first
place as they raced off turn four.
Bender
closed back in on Gasper on lap 11. He tried to go
by on the inside in turn one. By that time of the
night, turns one and two looked like a lunar
landscape and Gasper maintained the top spot.
Conditions continued to deteriorate on the same
end of the track and Bender got way sideways in
turn two on the 13th circuit. By the time he
recovered, Sexton had raced by for second.
Three laps later, series leading rookie Will
Browne spun in the same spot where Bender got
sideways. Gasper who was not far behind, could not
avoid the white #8 and plowed into him. The
current point leader broke a shock and bent his
front axle and was knocked out of the race.
However, it could have been worse. As the race was
scheduled in June, it was not a traditional points
race. All drivers who showed received the same
amount of points. Thus, Gasper will have the same
point lead at the next race.
When the race
resumed, Sexton, who has two wins and is the point
leader in the POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car
Series, had Bender on his tail with less than 10
circuits remaining. That is, he had Bender behind
him until lap 22 when the #41B broke a chain
tensioner and the chain ripped all the teeth out
of the back sprocket. Bender’s exit gave Sexton
a commanding lead. When the checkers ended the
race, he was nearly a half track ahead of the
competition in his Sexton Fire Protection/BK
Wings/ Johnny Motorhead/Troy Dirt/Victory
Graphix/Swift Powdercoat/ Maxima Oil/Automated
Interior/Scotty and Jimmy Keys #44. Queener ended
up second with Sexton’s nephew, “Shugah” Shane
Sexton, third. Robertson and Bakersfield’s Leland
Day were the first two CLS regulars across the
line and they finished fourth and fifth
respectively. It was the best 2022 series finish
for both.
"Me and my boys are running the
Minkota Nationals next week,” Sexton told the
massive crowd after the race. “So, I wanted to
come out here and shake the car down. It worked
out perfect. Hopefully, it will be a shot in the
arm for us back in the Midwest. It is great to see
Santamaria back open again. This place is awesome.
Hopefully, we can keep doing it.”
Sexton
pocketed the lion’s share of the lap money when he
took home $250.00. Bender grabbed $200.00 before
his exit and Gasper pocketed $175.00 before his
early dismissal.
The drivers and staff of
the CLS would like to thank the following for
making the race possible. Timeless Enterprises,
Savage Racing, Dyer Motorsports, Sexton Fire
Protection, Speir Racing, Kittle Motorsports,
Dick Hindman, JJ Ercse, R&R Racing, Schweitzer
Motorsports, Gasper Racing, Greco Racing, Chris
Dickie, Win Now Racing, and Dave Miller.
The CLS is now off until August 26th and 27th when
the club journeys north to battle the BCRA on two
of its local tracks, the Silver Dollar Speedway in
Chico, and the Placerville Speedway. In addition
to being the next two-point paying races for the
CLS, the events will be rounds two and three of
the annual Civil War Series.
Savage Racing
Qualifying: 1. Shane Sexton, 14.161; 2. David
Gasper, 14.275; 3. Bobby Michnowicz, 14.308; 4.
Eric Greco, 14.322; 5. Jeremy Queener, 14.364; 6.
Cody Nigh, 14.377; 7. Grant Sexton, 14.395; 8.
Brent Sexton, 14.517; 9. AJ Bender, 14.607; 10.
Leland Day, 14.808; 11. Jon Robertson, 14.892; 12.
Connor Speir, 14 529; 13. Seth Dyer, 15.868; 14.
Jeff Dyer, NT; 15. Harlee Aguilera, NT; 16. Will
Browne NT
T Shirts By Timeless Heat Race #1
(8 laps): 1. A.J. Bender; 2. Jon Robertson; 3.
Bobby Michnowicz; 4. Jeremy Queener; 5. Shane
Sexton; 6. Seth Dyer
T Shirts By Timeless
Heat Race #2 (8 laps): 1. Connor Speir; 2. Brent
Sexton; 3. David Gasper; 4. Jeff Dyer; 5. Cody
Nigh; 6. Eric Greco; 7. Harlee Aguilera; 7. Leland
Day
Six Lap Dash: 1. A.J. Bender; 2. David
Gasper; 3. Jon Robertson; 4. Brent Sexton; 5.
Jeremy Queener; 6. Connor Speir
Main Event
25-Laps (with finishing diff. and starting
positions: 1. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA, (4th)
2. Jeremy Queener, Lake Elsinore, CA, 7.132,
(5th), 3. Shane Sexton, Warner Springs, CA,
9.118, (8th), 4. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA,
10.690, (3rd) 5. Leland Day, Bakersfield, CA, 1
Lap, (11th) 6. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA, 1
Lap, (6th) 7. Harlee Aguilera, Galt, CA, 2
Laps, (13th) 8. AJ Bender, San Diego, CA, 3
laps, (1st) 9. Will Browne, Glendora, CA, 9
Laps, (14th) 10. David Gasper, Santa Barbara,
CA, 10 Laps, (2nd) 11. Eric Greco, Palmdale,
CA, 16 Laps, (9th) 12. Cody Nigh, Camarilla,
CA, 17 Laps, (10th) 13. Jeff Dyer, Yucca,
Valley, CA, 20 Laps, (7th) 14. Seth Dyer,
Yucca, Valley, CA, 21 Laps, (12th) 15. Grant
Sexton, Lakeside, CA, 24 Laps, (15th) DNS Bobby
Michnowicz, Oak Hills, CA
California
Lightning Sprint Car Series Point Standings 1.
David Gasper, Santa Barbara, CA, 1313 2. Jeff
Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA, 1274 3. Eric Greco,
Palmdale, CA, 1272 4. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, CA,
1195 5. Bobby Michnowicz, Oak Hills, CA, 984
6. Will Browne, Glendora, CA, 894 7. Connor
Speir, Fillmore, CA, 854 8. Pat Kelley, Chino,
CA, 847 9. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA, 739
10. Dominic Del Monte, Gardena, CA, 656
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 – David Gasper
June 25
Ventura Raceway Winged – David Gasper
July
9 Ventura Raceway Winged – David Gasper
July 23 Ventura Raceway Winged – Dave Gasper
August 6 *Santa Maria Raceway Winged – Brent
Sexton
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
*Non Points
Race
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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