CLS VS BCRA CIVIL WAR KICKS OFF SATURDAY AT THE BAKERSFIELD SPEEDWAY (Torrance, CA, May 31, 2023) The California Lightning Sprint Cars and the Bay Cities Racing Association kick off the annual Civil War Series this Saturday, June 3, at Scott Schweitzer’s Bakersfield Speedway. The race will be the first of four that pits two of the best lightning sprint car series in the nation against each other. In addition to this week’s Civil War race on “The West’s Fastest 1/3 Mile High Banked Clay Oval,” other series races will be on August 19th during the running of the Johnny Key Classic at the Ocean Speedway, back at Bakersfield on September 9th and the closer at the Merced Speedway on October 7th at the Wayne Albright Memorial. Drivers will accumulate Civil War points and CLS regular season points at all four events. A new champion will be crowned in the Civil War Series in 2023. During his rookie season in 2021 and his sophomore year in 2022, Santa Barbara’s David Gasper won the CLS championship and the Civil War title in both years. This year Gasper is concentrating on the USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series and the USAC Western Midgets. The CLS dominated the Civil War in 2022 winning all four of the main events and taking the top five spots in the standings. Gasper won two of the main events and Bobby Michnowicz and Connor Speir had one victory each. Behind Gasper, Eric Greco, Michnowicz, Will Brown, and Cody Nigh rounded out the top five. BCRA drivers Harlee Aguilera, and Greg Dennett were sixth and seventh. CLS Rookie of the Year Speir took the eighth spot and BCRA’s Matt Land and Dakota Albright placed ninth and 10th. Michnowicz will carry a two-race win streak, including a victory two weeks ago at Bakersfield, into Saturday’s show. In addition, he has a 104-point lead over Greco in the CLS standings. Yucca Valley’s Jeff Dyer, who smoked the competition in a POWRi Southwest Lightning Series race last Saturday at Perris Auto Speedway, is third. The top five is rounded out by “Rockstar” Jon Robertson of Torrance and AJ Bender of San Diego. Saturday will be the fifth race of the season for the BCRA. Albright leads the series with two wins this year. Jake Andreotti and Greg Dennett won the other two. Dennett has a seven-point lead over Albright in the standings. Hunter Kinney, Cody Meyer, and Scott Kinney round out the top five. In addition to the Civil War battle being waged by the CLS and BCRA, the USAC West Coast Sprint Cars, Stock Cars and Mini Stocks will also be in action at Bakersfield. Spectator gates will open at 4:00 p.m. with racing at 6:00. Adult tickets are $25.00. Seniors 65 and over and military with proper id get in for $23.00. Kids 6-12 are $15.00 and children 5 and under are free. Parking is free. The track is located at 5001 North Chester Ext. Ave., Bakersfield (93308). The track website is http://www.bakersfieldspeedway.com/ and the office phone number is (661) 393-3373. The following companies are marketing partners with the CLS in 2023. Hoosier Tires West, T-Shirts By Timeless, Extreme Mufflers, RacingJunk.com, Advanced Racing Suspension, King Racing Products, BR Motorsports, EZ Up, RC Fuel Injection, and Triple X. If you or your company would like to be a marketing partner with the CLS, please contact Jon Robertson using the contact information at the top of this release. To keep up with the CLS online, please visit the website at http://racecls.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/californialightningsprints 2023 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Point Standings 1. Bobby Michnowicz, Lomita, CA … 796 2. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA … 692 3. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 594 4. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA … 569 5. AJ Bender, San Diego, CA … 533 6. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA … 482 7. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA … 477 8. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 459 9. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA … 388 10. Aiden Lange, Lakeside, CA … 358 2023 CLS vs SWLS Best of the West Standings 1. Bobby Michnowicz, Lomita, CA, CLS … 526 1. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA, CLS … 474 3. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA, CLS … 403 4. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA. SWLS … 388 5. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA, CLS … 367 6. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA, CLS … 360 7. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA, CLS … 342 8. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA, CLS … 308 9. Cody Griggs, Lakeside, CA, SWLS … 299 10. Robbie Brockman, El Cajon, CA, SWL … 280 2023 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule March 10 Imperial Raceway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #1 AJ Bender March 11 Imperial Raceway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #2 Braden Chiaramonte March 18 Bakersfield Speedway CLS With USAC Western Midgets Rained Out April 1 Mohave Valley Raceway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #3 Brent Sexton April 8 Bakersfield Speedway CLS AJ Bender May 13 Ventura Raceway CLS With USAC 360 Sprint Cars Bobby Michnowicz May 20 Bakersfield Speedway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #4 Bobby Michnowicz June 3 Bakersfield Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series Round” #1 With USAC 360 Sprint Cars June 17 Ventura Raceway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #5 July 8 Ventura Raceway CLS August 19 Ocean Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series” Round #2, Johnny Key Classic September 9 Bakersfield Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series” Round #3 September 23 Ventura Raceway CLS October 7 Merced Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series” Round #4, Wayne Albright Memorial Non Wing October 14 Mohave Valley Speedway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #6 With USAC/CRA Sprint Cars October 28 Ventura Raceway CLS November 14 Bakersfield Speedway CLS With USAC National Midgets November 16 Placerville Speedway “Hangtown 100” No Points Non Wing November 17 Placerville Speedway “Hangtown 100” No Points Non Wing November 18 Placerville Speedway “Hangtown 100” No Points Non Wing 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, 2022 David Gasper This press release was produced by Scott Daloisio Sports (909) 226-7768 mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com