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CALIFORNIA
LIGHTNING SPRINTS TAKE ON THE BCRA IN ROUND #1 OF
THE CIVIL WAR SERIES SATURDAY AT MERCED
(Torrance, CA, April 8, 2024) After a
month off, the California Lightning Sprint Car
Series will head north this Saturday, April 13th,
to square off against the Bay Cities Racing
Association in round #1 of the annual Civil War
Series at the “Gateway to Yosemite,” the Merced
Speedway. The race will be the fourth of the
season for the CLS.
Going into Saturday’s race, Lakewood’s Aiden
Lange sits on top of the CLS championship point
standings. The winner of the season-opening CLS
race at the Imperial Valley Raceway on March 1st
during the California Midwinter Fair, he brings a
51-point advantage over Camarillo’s Cody Nigh in
the standings. Palmdale’s Eric Greco, Connor Speir
of Fillmore, and six-time CLS champion Bobby
Michnowicz of Oak Hills comprise the remainder of
the top five. Besides Lange, Speir and Michnowicz
have posted series wins in 2024. Speir’s win came
on the second night of racing during the Midwinter
Fair while Michnowicz bested the field at the
legendary Bakersfield Speedway on March 9th.
The four-race Civil War Series will see two of
the races take place in CLS territory and two in
the land of BCRA. After this Saturday at Merced,
it will be nearly three and a half months before
round two takes place at the Santa Maria Raceway
on Jully 27th. Round #3 will be at the CLS home
track, the Bakersfield Speedway, on September
13th. The finale will switch back to Merced on
October 5th.
In 2023, Colorado’s Chris
Crowder won the two middle races in the four-race
Civil War Series. Those victories came at the
Ocean Speedway and Bakersfield. Wrapped around
Crowder’s wins were triumphs from CLS regulars
Jeff Dyer of Yucca Valley at Bakersfield and
Palmdale’s Eric Greco on the same Merced oval the
clubs will duel at on Saturday. When the smoke
from the battle cleared after the four races in
2023, BCRA star Greg Dennett of Livermore was the
champion. Greco finished second with Michnowicz
third. Dakota Albright of Waterford and Lange
rounded out the top five.
The CLS teams
will have no time to rest after this weekend’s
date on the popular Merced quarter mile. On
Saturday, April 20th, the club will head to
Bakersfield for the second of six times in 2024.
Joining the lightning sprints on Merced’s
action-packed program will be the USAC Western
States & BCRA Midgets, mini stocks, dwarf cars,
and the IMCA Hobby Stocks. Spectator gates will
open at 5:00 p.m. and the first green flag will
fly at 7:00. The track is located at 900 Martin
Luther King Drive in Merced, California. The
website is
http://www.mercedspeedway.net/ and the
office phone number is (209) 383-7799.
The
CLS would like to thank the following companies
for being partners in the 2024 season. Extreme
Mufflers, RacingJunk.com and Hoosier Tire.
California Lightning Sprint Car Series Points
1. Aiden Lange, Lakewood, CA … 382 2. Mike
Nigh, Camarillo, CA … 324 3. Eric Greco,
Palmdale, CA … 278 4. Connor Speir, Fillmore,
CA … 271 5. Bobby Michnowicz, Oak Hills, CA …
254 6. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 250 7.
Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA … 248 8. Jon
Robertson, Torrance, CA … 246 9. Ryan Dumas,
San Diego, CA …198 10. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA …
194
Lap Leaders After Three Races 1.
Bobby Michnowicz … 24 2. Conner Speir … 20
3. Aiden Lange … 16 4. Cody Nigh … 4 5. Greg
Dennett … 1
2024 California Lightning
Sprint Car Series Schedule
March 1 Imperial
Valley Raceway Mid-Winter Fair Aiden Lange
March 2 Imperial Valley Raceway Mid-Winter Fair
Connor Speir
March 9 Bakersfield Speedway
CLS Bobby Michnowicz
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
Speedway CLS
July 6 Santa Maria Speedway
CLS
July 27 Santa Maria Speedway 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.
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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