4.16.16 California Lightning Sprints Results
Open wheel racing veteran Alex Grigoreas continued his domination of the California Lightning Sprint Car Series when he won the main event last Saturday night at the Santa Maria Raceway. The victory gave the Upland resident three wins in four starts in 2016 and propelled into the top spot in the championship point standings.
Starting seventh in the 16-car field, Grigoreas masterfully steered the Woodland Auto Display/Baldozier Racing/Cataba Farms/Home of the Zier Vineyards/Phased Power/Superior Machine Works/Nunes Performance/Circle Track Performance/Rosson Racing/Joe Godoy/Factory Jones Racing/Yamaha R1/Henchcraft around the rutty track and traffic to record the win. However, to say he did not have to fight for the win is an understatement. The race was slowed by two-red flags and after the second one, which flew with four laps to go, Grigoreas was runner-up to BCRA star Craig Dillard of Oakdale.
Once the green flew again after the final red, Grigoreas manned the top of the track for the final four-lap showdown, while Dillard occupied the bottom. Building momentum on the top, Grigoreas nearly stole the lead coming off the second corner on lap-19, but Dillard held him off. One lap later on the same spot on the track after taking the white flag, Grigoreas took the lead with a daring “win it or wear it pass” for his third win of the year and his second ever at Santa Maria. Dillard maintained second to the checkered flag. Third spot went to rookie Cody Nigh of Camarillo, who was coming back after a violent flip at the Ventura Raceway two weeks earlier. Fast qualifier Doug Nunes of Kingsburg was fourth at the finish with Pat Kelley of Chino fifth.
Corona’s Darren Hillberg, who went from 13th to 6th in the main, was the “Hard Charger.”
Earlier in the night Nunes out qualified the 18-car field with a lap of 14:189. Madera’s Charles Caraccilo led all three-laps and bested Grigoreas, Dillard and Nunes in the trophy dash. Grigoreas and Dillard won the two eight-lap heat races.
The Santa Maria results saw a big shake up in the top five in the championship points. Grigoreas, who was nine points behind leader James Heling of San Bernardino coming into the race, now leads second place Hillberg by 59-points. Kelley moved up one spot to third, but only trails Hillberg by two-points. Heling, who was un-injured in a main event flip at Santa Maria, dropped to fourth in the standings and is only eight-points out of third. Anaheim’s Dale Gamer rounds out the top five.
Lakewood teenager Wyatt Downing broke into the top 10 in points for the first time in his career and leads San Diego State student Nigh by a single point in the Rookie of the Year standings. Aiden Lange is third in the R.O.Y. battle and is only 15-points behind Downing.
The CLS is off this weekend, but will get back in action on April 30th when it attacks the Bakersfield Speedway for the second time in 2016.
Santa Maria Main Event (with starting positions)
1. Alex Grigoreas (7th) – Upland
2. Craig Dillard (6th) – Oakdale
3. Cody Nigh (1st) – Camarillo
4. Doug Nunes (8th) – Kingsburg
5. Pat Kelley (3rd) – Chino
6. Darren Hillberg (13th) – Corona
7. Wyatt Downing (12th) – Lakewood
8. Jon Robertson (2nd) – Torrance
9. Zach Zauss (11th) – Murrieta
10. Dan Foster (15th) – Sacramento
11. Aiden Lange (10th)
12. Dale Gamer (14th) – Anaheim
13. Charlie Cariccilo (5th) – Madera
14. Jeff Dyer (4th) – Victorville
15. James Heling (9th) – San Bernardino
16. Don Kuehner (16th) – Perris
California Lightning Sprint Car Series Points
1. Alex Grigoreas – -Upland – 517
2. Darren Hillberg – Corona – 458
3. Pat Kelley – Chino – 456
4. James Heling – San Bernardino – 448
5. Dale Gamer – Anaheim – 378
6. Jon Robertson – Torrance – 372
7. Zach Zauss – Murrieta – 346
8. Jeff Dyer – Victorville – 320
9. Wyatt Downing – Lakewood – 298
10. Bobby Michnowicz – 297
The California Lightning Sprint Car Series would like to thank the following sponsors for helping make the 2016 season possible: Christian Stover Foundation, Circle Track Performance, Cold Fire West, DK Fabrication, Extreme Muffler, Fast Undercar, Hoosier Tire, Keizer Wheels, Lucas Oil, Racing Optics, Rod End Supply, Rosson Racing, Saldana Race Products, Sander Engineering, Speedmart, Speed Partz, Surf N’ Sprint, Super Shocks, T Shirts by Timeless, Woodland Auto Display
If you or your company would like to become part of the series for the 2016 season, please call Bobby Michnowicz at: (310) 320-5569.
To keep up with the CLS on line, please visit the web site at: http://www.calightningsprints.com/index.html
2016 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule
March 5: Imperial Valley Raceway – El Centro, CA – Alex Grigoreas
March 19: Bakersfield Speedway – Bakersfield, CA – Bobby Michnowicz
April 2: Ventura Raceway – Ventura, CA – Alex Grigoreas
April 16: Santa Maria Raceway – Santa Maria, CA – Alex Grigoreas
April 30: Bakersfield Raceway – Bakersfield, CA
May 14: Ventura Raceway – Ventura, CA
May 28: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Salute To Indy)
June 11: Bakersfield Raceway – Bakersfield, CA (BoD & General Membership Meeting)
July 2: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Firecracker)
July 9: Ventura Raceway – Ventura, CA
August 3: Ventura Raceway – Ventura, CA (Ventura County Fair)
August 20: Santa Maria Raceway – Santa Maria, CA
September 3: Ventura Raceway – Ventura, CA (BoD & General Membership Meeting)
September 17: Bakersfield Raceway – Bakersfield, CA
October 1: Ventura Raceway – Ventura, CA
October 15: Ventura Raceway – Ventura, CA
October 29: Ventura Raceway – Ventura, CA
November 13: **General Membership Meeting / 2017 Rules Meeting
November 19: **Imperial Valley Raceway – El Centro, CA
———————————————–
**=Proposed Date.
This schedule is subject to change.
Civil War Dates TBD
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.