CHANNEL ISLANDS FLOORCOVERINGS RAISE THE PURSE FOR CALIFORNIA LIGHTNING SPRINTS STARTING SATURDAY AT THE MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY (Torrance, CA, October 9, 2023) Thanks to Channel Islands Floorcoverings, the California Lightning Sprint Car teams received some great news late last week. The winners of the last three races of the year will receive a guaranteed minimum of $500.00 each night. In addition, each of the races will pay a guaranteed minimum $100.00 to start. The first race with the increased purse will be this Saturday, October 14th, at Arizona’s Mohave Valley Raceway when the CLS joins forces with the POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Cars for the next to last round of the 2023 Best of the West Series. Saturday's race with the expanded purse will be the second and final appearance for the CLS at the Mohave Valley banked 1/3 mile oval that is only minutes from the Colorado River and 20 minutes from downtown Laughlin. Defending SWLS champion Brent Sexton of Lakeside won the previous race on April 1st over five-time CLS champion Bobby Michnowicz of Oak Hills, Yucca Valley’s Jeff Dyer, Palmdale’s Eric Greco, and Torrance-based “Rockstar” Jon Robertson. All five are expected to be back on Saturday. Dyer, who suffered a severed Achilles tendon in a non-racing incident in August, will be attempting to make his first start since he sustained the injury. He will test it out in hot laps and if he is not able to go, San Diego’s AJ Bender will slip into the #4 and make a run for the big bucks supplied by Channel Islands Floorcoverings. “Keith Speir, the owner of Channel Islands Floorcoverings, is a very big supporter of lightning sprint cars and racing in general,” CLS President Robertson said on Sunday afternoon. “He is a really good dude and he wants to help the series out and keep things going. His biggest emphasis is to get some more cars out to the track and to get the guys who have been pushing the series some extra money. He really stepped up and brought some dough in.” “It is a great deal,” the excited Robertson said. “We have Mohave, Ventura and Bakersfield left this year. It is a minimum $500.00 guaranteed to win and guaranteed $100.00 to start the main. It will go up if we can get some more last-minute sponsors to join up. This all came up within the last week or so. It is pretty exciting and we will continue this effort going into next year. We want to keep the momentum going.” In addition to the extra money, Robertson is looking forward to some exciting championship battles to spice up the end of the 2023 campaign. It looks like the CLS regular season, seven-race Best of the West Series, and the year-long POWRi Southwest Lightning championship will all come down to the final race of the year at Bakersfield. “We will tie up everything at that last race on November 14th in Bakersfield,” the second-year club president said. “The stuff that is coming up is going to be really exciting. These are all great tracks we race on. Mohave, Ventura, and Bakersfield are all different. At Mohave, we are running with the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars. At Ventura, we will be running on a night with a Demolition Derby. At Bakersfield, we are running with the USAC Midgets. All three of these are big shows and they will have big crowds.” Going into Saturday’s race in the “Grand Canyon State,” Michnowicz, who leads the CLS with five wins this year, also leads the championship point standings. Trying to win his first series title since 2017 by 89 points. Greco won his first main of the season two weeks ago at the Ventura Raceway. Robertson is third and Lakeside’s Aiden Lange, who won his first main since 2019 at Ventura on September 23rd, is fourth. Last season’s Rookie of the Year, Connor Speir of Fillmore is fifth. The top two are the same in the Best of the West Series where Michnowicz is 64 points up on Greco. Dyer is third. Brent Sexton is fourth with Speir fifth. Michnowicz is also on top of the Best of the West victory ledger with two wins in the first five races. Sexton, Braden Chiaramonte, and AJ Bender have one win each. Heading the list of expected entries from the SWLS this weekend is the aforementioned Sexton, his 20-year-old son Dalton, and last season’s Rookie of the Year and current series point leader Cody Griggs of Lakeside. In addition to the battle between the California Lightning Sprints and the POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Cars, Saturday’s program at the Mohave Valley Raceway will also include the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, Dwarf Cars, and Mini Dwarfs. The family-run racetrack is located at 2750 E. Laguna in Mohave Valley, Arizona. It is just minutes away from the Colorado River and only 20 minutes from Laughlin, Nevada. Gates will open at 5:00 p.m. with racing at 7:00. Adult tickets are $25.00. For seniors 60 and over and active military with proper ID, it is $20.00. Kids 6-12 get in for $5.00. Children five and under are free and parking is free as well. It is cash only for tickets (no ATMs on site). Concessions, souvenirs, and the beer garden take cash or cards. For more information, the track website is https://www.mohavevalleyraceway.com  and the office phone is (928) 346-6000. 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 … 1631 2. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA … 1542 3. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA … 1154 4. Aiden Lange, Lakewood, CA … 1126 5. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA … 1096 6. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 998 7. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA …889 8. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, CA … 838 9. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA … 753 10. AJ Bender, San Diego, CA … 746 CLS vs BCRA Civil War Standings 1. Greg Dennett, BCRA … 504 2. Eric Greco, CLS … 485 3. Bobby Michnowicz, CLS … 447 4. Dakota Albright, BCRA … 441 5. Aiden Lange, CLS … 430 6. Chris Crowder, BCRA … 343 7. Connor Speir, CLS … 327 7. Jon Robertson, CLS … 272 9. Leland Day, CLS … 245 10. Seth Dyer, CLS … 243 2023 CLS vs SWLS Best of the West Standings 1. Bobby Michnowicz, Lomita, CA, CLS … 666 1. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA, CLS … 602 3. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA, CLS … 535 4. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA. SWLS … 490 5. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA, CLS … 447 5. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA, CLS … 447 7. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA, CLS … 438 8. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA, CLS … 403 9. Cody Griggs, Lakeside, CA, SWLS … 299 10. Robbie Brockman, El Cajon, CA, SWLS … 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 Bobby Michnowicz July 8 Ventura Raceway CLS Bobby Michnowicz August 19 Ocean Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series Round” #2 Chris Crowder September 9 Bakersfield Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series” Round #3 Chris Crowder September 23 Ventura Raceway CLS Aiden Lange September 30 Merced Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series” Round #4, Eric Greco 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/SWLS Best of The West Round #7 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