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CALIFORNIA
LIGHTNING SPRINT CARS OPEN 30th SEASON FRIDAY AND
SATURDAY AT IMPERIAL (Torrance, CA,
February 27, 2024) The California
Lightning Sprint Car Series will kick off its
historic 30th season with a pair of races during
the California Mid-Winter Fair at the Imperial
Valley Raceway this Friday and Saturday, March 1st
and 2nd. Joining the CLS for this week’s exciting
races will be the SoCal Lightning Sprints. Racing
will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and 6:30 on
Saturday. The main event will be 20 laps each
night.
Six-time CLS Champion Bobby Michnowicz heads the
list of entries at Imperial. CLS Photo.
Heading the list of entries for this weekend is
six-time CLS champion Bobby Michnowicz of Oak
Hills, California. He first won the series
championship in 2012 and followed that title by
winning four in a row in 2014, 2015, 2016, and
2017. He won his sixth championship with a
phenomenal season in 2023. In 16 races, the now
60-year-old star posted five wins. However, his
most impressive stat was 15 top-four finishes in
the 16 races. The only time he finished out of the
top four was his only DNF of the year. That came
after two straight wins and was followed by two
more in a row. In addition to his five victories,
the Oak Hills, California star’s ledger for the
season included six second-place finishes, one
third-place result, and three fourth-place
outings.
“You have Bobby Michnowicz, Jeff
Dyer, Eric Greco, and Aiden Lange,” CLS President
“Rockstar” Jon Robertson said when asked who he
thought the heavy hitters would be this year.
“Then you have Connor Speir, Cody Nigh, and
whoever the Schweitzer’s are bringing to the club.
Look at that kid (Brodey Graham) they brought in
last year. Dyer’s kid (teenager Seth Dyer) is
actually picking up the pace and is going pretty
good. The competition is going to be fierce. They
are just the tip of the iceberg. Of the 10 cars
that show up at every race, any of them are
capable of winning on a given night. They are just
going to have to string together a bunch of good
nights (to win the championship).”
“This is
like my ninth or 10th season with the CLS,”
Robertson went on. “This is looking to be a pretty
spectacular year. All of the old gang is coming
back. We have some new teams coming on board, and
some other new rookies coming in later in the
season as they are eligible (age wise). We should
have a pretty good season. We have a lot of really
good races and a good schedule starting this
weekend. It is one of our better schedules and it
is pretty exciting. We have a lot of good stuff
going on starting off with this coming weekend at
Imperial. We should have quite a few cars down
there and it should be a spectacular show.”
In addition to those drivers, two-time CLS
champion Brent Sexton (1999 and 2008) will be on
hand on Friday night. If the inaugural USCS Sprint
Car race at Ventura gets rained out on Saturday,
he will be at Imperial both nights. If Ventura
does not get rained out, Sexton will be racing
there and AJ Bender, who won one of the season
openers at Imperial last year, will drive Sexton’s
#44.
Beginning at Imperial is nothing new
on open-wheel fans. Starting in 1956, the original
California Racing Association Sprint Car Series
raced during the fair for decades and was known
back then as “El Centro.” The races combined with
the fair made the events among the most popular
stops of the season.
The significance of
competing at the famous facility has not been lost
on Richardson. Even though the racing is not on
the giant half-mile as it was in the 1950s, 60s,
and 70s, it is still in front of the grandstands
and on the same plot of land on the fairgrounds.
“It is a racing landmark,” Robertson said of
Imperial. “When I first started racing 30-some-odd
years ago, that was one of the first tracks I ran
at with USAC. It is always a great crowd and the
racetrack just keeps getting better. Last year it
was fantastic and since then they have done a lot
of work on it. I am expecting a really good show
with two days of great racing and the fair going
on. What is not to like?”
Last March when
the CLS visited Imperial Valley to open the
season, USAC/CRA Sprint Car star AJ Bender and
rising teen star Braden Chiaramonte won the two
main events.
The pit gate will open at
noon on Friday, driver check-in is 3:00-4:00 p.m.,
wheel packing will start at 5:00 with hot laps and
single-car qualifying to follow. The first race of
the night will begin at 7:00. On Saturday, the pit
gate and driver check in times will be the same.
Wheel packing will be at 4:30 and again will be
followed by hot laps and single-car qualifying.
The first race will start at 6:30.
One
week after the season openers, the CLS stars and
cars will travel 317 miles from Imperial for its
first of six 2024 races at the famous Bakersfield
Speedway.
The CLS would like to thank the
following companies for being partners in the 2024
season. Extreme Mufflers, RacingJunk.com and
Hoosier Tire.
2024 California Lightning
Sprint Car Series Schedule
March 1 Imperial
Valley Raceway Mid-Winter Fair
March 2
Imperial Valley Raceway Mid-Winter Fair
March 9 Bakersfield Speedway CLS
April 13
Merced Speedway CSL vs BCRA Civil War #1
April 20 Bakersfield Speedway CLS
May 4
Ventura Raceway CLS
May 18 Bakersfield
Speedway CLS
June 8 Ventura Raceway CLS
June 15 Bakersfield Speedway CLS
July 5
Santa Maria Raceway CLS
July 6 Santa Maria
Raceway CLS
July 27 Santa Maria Raceway CLS
vs BCRA Civil War #2
September 13
Bakersfield Speedway CLS vs BCRA Civil War #3
September 14 Ventura Raceway CLS
September 28 Ventura Raceway CLS
October 5
Merced Speedway CLS vs BCRA Civil War #4 Albright
Memorial
October 26 Ventura Raceway CLS
November 15 Placerville Speedway Hangtown 100
– No Points
November 16 Placerville
Speedway Hangtown 100 – No Points
November
26 Bakersfield Speedway CLS
To keep up with
the CLS online, please visit the website at
http://racecls.com/
and follow on the club’s Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/californialightningsprints.
2023 California Lightning Sprint Car
Series Final Point Standings 1. Bobby
Michnowicz, Lomita, CA … 2026 2. Eric Greco,
Palmdale, CA … 1883 3. Aiden Lange, Lakewood,
CA … 1509 4. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA … 1434
5. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA … 1383 6. Jeff
Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 1349 7. Seth Dyer,
Yucca Valley, CA … 1440 8. Cody Nigh,
Camarillo, CA … 959 9. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA …
927 10. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA … 817
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, 2023 Bobby Michnowicz
This press
release was produced by Scott Daloisio Sports
(909) 226-7768 mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com
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