$1,000.00 ADDED TO THE CLS/SWLS PURSE FOR SATURDAY’S WAGSDASH AT VENTURA (Torrance, CA, June 12, 2023) The California Lightning Sprint Car Series and the POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Cars will be racing for an extra $1,000.00 this Saturday night, June 17th, at Jim Naylor’s Ventura Raceway. The lightning sprint “Best of the West” series portion of the program will be part of the 2023 Wagsdash and the extra money has been kindly raised and donated by Ken Wagner and his legion of Wagsdash helpers. Heading into Saturday’s race on the 1/5 mile oval located on the beach at the Ventura Fairgrounds, the top three are the same in the season-long CLS and “Best of the West” point standings. Five-time CLS champion Bobby Michnowicz of Oak Hills sits on top of each and is followed by Palmdale’s Eric Greco and Jeff Dyer of Yucca Valley. In the CLS championship standings, Greco chopped Michnowicz’s lead down to 53 points two weeks ago when he placed second at Bakersfield and Michnowicz failed to finish for the first time this year. Dyer, who won the Bakersfield race, is 146 points behind Michnowicz. “Rockstar” Jon Robertson of Torrance and San Diego’s A.J. Bender are fourth and fifth. Michnowicz, who in his career has raced ¼ midgets, full midgets, winged and wingless sprint cars, and stock cars, leads Greco by 52 points in the “Best of the West” rankings going into Saturday’s race. Behind Dyer in fourth is defending SWLS champion Brent Sexton of Lakeside. 2022 CLS Rookie of the Year Connor Speir of Fillmore completes the top five. The only other SWLS driver in the top 10 in the “Best of the West” is Lakeside’s Cody Griggs who is ranked ninth. The 2022 SWLS Rookie of the Year, Griggs currently sits on top of the SWLS regular season championship point standings. He won his first-ever lightning main event a month ago at Barona. Last Saturday on the same San Diego county quarter mile, he extended his point lead when he finished second while driving the Sexton Gatlin Racing #3 for the first time. Saturday’s race at Ventura will be the eighth of the year for the CLS. Bender and Michnowicz are the only two drivers with multiple victories and they have two wins each. Sexton, Dyer, and El Cajon teenager Braden Chiaramonte have one triumph apiece. Bender, Chiaramonte, Sexton, and Michnowicz have notched the wins in the first four “Best of the West” races of 2023. Saturday will be the second of five CLS races at Ventura this season. At the beachside track on May 13th, Michnowicz beat Bender and Greco in the main event. After Saturday’s race, the CLS drivers will get a break. They will be off until July 8th at Ventura. After that, they are again off until the August 19th “Johnny Key Classic” at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville. As well as the CLS vs SWLS “Best of the West” race on Saturday, the USAC West Coast 360s, VRA Dwarf Cars, and the WMR Midgets will also be in action. The pit gate at Ventura will open one hour earlier than normal at 11:00 a.m. The Wagsdash pre-race activities, including the chili feed (chili, hot dogs, hamburgers), sexiest driver contest, pit crew challenges (including a separate pit crew challenge for the lightnings), silent auctions, and sales will begin at noon. The grandstand area will be swept at 2:30. Fans will be able to purchase tickets and re-enter the grandstands at 3:00. Racing will commence at 5:30. The picturesque track 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. Adult tickets for Saturday’s race are $22.00. Seniors 60 and over, military with id, and students with id get in for $18.00. Children 12 and under are free when they are accompanied by an adult. 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 … 875 2. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA … 822 3. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 729 4. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA … 662 5. AJ Bender, San Diego, CA … 611 6. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA … 582 7. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 541 8. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA … 489 9. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA … 482 10. Aiden Lange, Lakeside, CA … 446 CLS vs BCRA Civil War Standings 1. Jeff Dyer, CLS … 135 2. Eric Greco, CLS … 130 3. Greg Dennett, BCRA … 125 4. Dakota Albright, BCRA … 118 5. Connor Speir, CLS … 105 6. Brent Sexton, CLS … 101 7. Josef Ferolito, BCRA … 96 8. Jon Robertson, CLS … 93 9. Aiden Lange, CLS … 88 10. Seth Dyer, CLS … 82 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 Jeff Dyer 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