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CALIFORNIA
LIGHTNING SPRINT CAR SERIES OPENS IT’S 31ST SEASON
THIS SATURDAY AT THE BAKERSFIELD SPEEDWAY
(Torrance, CA, April 7, 2025) The
California Lightning Sprint Car Series Presented
by Motor City Buick/GMC will open its 31st season
this Saturday, April 12th, on the Bakersfield
Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway. The race
will only be the second for the CLS at the Kern
speed plant and the first since the track was
reconfigured earlier this year.

CLS action at the old Bakersfield Speedway. CLS
photo.
Saturday’s race will be the first of
16 in 2025 for the CLS. Over the next seven
months, the races will be spread between six
different California racetracks. Bakersfield and
longtime series stop, the Ventura Raceway, will
each host five events. The Merced and Santa Maria
Raceways will hold two races each. Plaza Park
Raceway in Visalia and Lemoore Raceway will each
host the CLS for one race during the 2025
campaign.
The top five drivers in last
season’s championship chase are all expected to be
on hand on Saturday. Oak Hill’s star Bobby
Michnowicz, the seven-time CLS champion, heads the
list of entries. However, he will have an
unfamiliar look as he will be making his first
appearance in the Mike Schweitzer #41 car.
Last season, Michnowicz captured the title by
112 points over Palmdale’s Eric Greco. Each tied
for the lead in main event wins with four apiece.
Michnowicz last win came at Ventura on June 8th.
One week later at the original Bakersfield
Speedway, Greco notched his first win of the
campaign. Greco got hot late in the season,
winning three of the last five races of the year,
including the last three at Ventura.
Jeff
Dyer of Yucca Valley, a California Highway Patrol
Officer, finished third in last season’s title
chase. He notched one victory at Santa Maria in
July. A week after his win, he was seriously
injured in a grinding crash in the USAC/CRA Series
at Perris Auto Speedway. He came back faster than
expected but was not at 100%. After a rest over
the winter, he comes into Saturday’s race fully
recovered.
Camarillo’s Cody Nigh was one
of the most consistent drivers in the CLS in 2024.
He parlayed the consistency into a fourth-place
finish in the final standings. While he went
winless in 11 starts, he finished in the top five
eight times. The San Diego State graduate scored
two second-place finishes, four third-place
results, and came home fourth two times. Only
three times during the season did he finish
outside the top four, and only once outside the
top 10.
Greco and one other driver had
perfect attendance and made all 16 CLS races in
2024. The other racer was “Rockstar” Jon Robertson
of Torrance. Robertson, who also serves as CLS
President, finished in the top ten 13 times.
Included were two top-five results. The first came
at Bakersfield in June when he went by the
checkered flag in third place. The other was a
fourth at Ventura on October 26th.
Saturday’s race will only be the second for the
CLS on the Bakersfield Speedway, located at Kevin
Harvick’s Kern Raceway. For years, the club raced
at the popular, original Bakersfield Speedway in
Oildale. However, longtime Bakersfield promoter
Scott Schweitzer moved the operation from that
track to the facility across town. Located next to
the gorgeous half-mile paved track and adjacent to
Interstate 5, the existing dirt track underwent a
massive makeover this year. The exit of turn two
and entrance into turn three on the 1/3-mile oval
have been reshaped. More than 2,000 additional
seats have been added as well as a new press box.
The Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin
Harvick’s Kern Raceway is located at 13500 Raceway
Boulevard in Bakersfield, California. Spectator
gates for Saturday’s race will open at 4:00 p.m.
with racing at 6:00. For more information,
including ticket prices, please visit the track
website at https://www.bakersfieldspeedway.com/ or
call the track office at 661-835-1264.
The
CLS would like to thank the following companies
for being partners in the 2025 season. Motor City
Buick/GMC, American Racer Tires, T Shirts By
Timeless, Extreme Mufflers, RacingJunk.com, Rod
End Supply, CSI Shocks, Hoosier Tires, RC Fuel
Injection, Saldana Racing Products, Advanced
Racing Suspension, Triple X Racing Components, The
Joie of Seating, and Diablo Fabrication and
Design.
FINAL 2024 California Lightning
Sprint Car Series Points 1. Bobby Michnowicz,
Oak Gills, CA … 1882 2. Eric Greco, Palmdale,
CA … 1780 3. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA …1527
4. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, CA … 1465 4. Jon
Robertson, Torrance, CA … 1453 6. Zate Legend,
Riverside, CA … 1400 7. Seth Dyer, Yucca
Valley, CA … 13532 8. Connor Speir, Fillmore,
CA … 1326 9. Clay Byers, Castaic, CA … 768
10. Leland Day, Bakersfield, CA … 722 11. Pat
Kelley, Chino, CA … 706 12. Broedy Graham,
Bakerfield, CA … 626 13. Roland Smith … 432
14. Aiden Lange, Lakewood, CA … 402 15. Kelly
Weitzel, El Cajon, CA … 312 16. Jacob
Magalannes, Pasadena, CA … 257 17. Bill
Changus, Fillmore, CA … 169 18. Tate Manu … 156
19. Dale Gamer, Anaheim, CA … 70
2025
California Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule
April
12 Bakersfield Speedway With the Ultimate Sprint
Car Series
May 3 Bakersfield Speedway
May 17 Merced Speedway CLS vs BCRA Civil War
May 31 Ventura Raceway
June 7
Bakersfield Speedway With the Ultimate Sprint Car
Series
June 21 Ventura Raceway
July
5 Santa Maria Speedway With USAC/CRA Sprint Car
Series on Flo
July 26 Santa Maria Speedway
With NARC Sprint Car Series on Flo
August
22 Plaza Park Raceway
August 23 Lemoore
Jet Bowl Raceway
August 30 Ventura Raceway
September 12 Bakersfield Speedway CLS vs BCRA
Civil War With World of Outlaws on Dirt Vision
September 13 Merced Speedway CLS vs BCRA Civil
War Albright Memorial
October 4 Ventura
Raceway
October 25 Ventura Raceway
November 25 Bakersfield Speedway Western Lightning
Sprint Car Championship with USAC National Midgets
on Flo
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,
2024 Bobby Michnowicz
This press
release was produced by Scott Daloisio Sports
(909) 226-7768 mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com
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