7.7.18 California Lightning Sprints Results
Teenage star Aiden Lange continued his impressive season in the USAC/California Lightning Sprint Car Series when he won his third main event of the year last Saturday night at the Ventura Raceway. The victory was the second in three races at the beachside oval in 2018 for the Lakewood resident.
Aiden Lange won his third CLS race of 2018. Please give photo credit to Doug Allen.
Twenty-one CLS cars signed in for the seventh race of the year. Two-time series champion Brent Sexton of Lakeside was the fastest in qualifying with a lap of 11.895. Ventura local Bruce Douglass, who won the series last main event three weeks earlier at Bakersfield, was second quick with a time of 11.903. Placentia’s Dan Hillberg, who got a late start to the 2018 season, was third fast when he toured the oval in 11.909. Lange timed in sixth quick when he stopped the clocks at 12.035.
Preceding the main the CLS contested three eight-lap heat races with the wins going to Lange, Pat Kelley of Chino and Indio teen James Turnbull.
Qualifying sixth worked out perfectly for Lange as it put him on the pole for the main event. Current point leader Jarrett Kramer of Spring Valley was starting alongside. Row two was made up of veterans Bobby Michnowicz of Lomita on the inside with Hillberg on the outside. Douglass and fast qualifier Sexton made up the third row.
At the outset, pole sitter Lange steered the Langeford Farms/Uncle Brad Motorsports/Kopp’s Custom Guitars/Randal Z Warranty Service/Replika Maschinen/Chris’s Precision Machine/JDR Graphics/T-Shirts by Timeless/Jim Ryan/EMI Henchcraft/Suzuki GSXR 1000 #13X into the lead. The young racer led the first lap over Michnowicz, Kramer, Douglass and Hillberg.
Early on the race was plagued by yellow flags caused by action back in the pack. A slip by Michnowicz allowed Kramer to race into second and Hillberg to drive by for third. Kramer immediately turned the heat up on Lange. At the same time, Michnowicz was fighting to get back around Hillberg. Little did anyone know, disaster was about to strike.
On the tenth circuit, Bakersfield’s Wink Schweitzer went around in turn two and then coasted towards the bottom of the track. Fourth place Michnowicz, who was running on the low line, had nowhere to go and caught a piece of the lapped car. Likewise, fifth place Sexton and sixth place Douglass also ran out of room and got into the melee. Sexton flipped onto his left side. None of the drivers were injured, but the crash knocked out title contender Sexton, Michnowicz and Schweitzer.
After the mess was cleaned up, the revamped top five was comprised of Lange, Kramer, Hillberg, Lakeside’s Dalton Sexton and Kelley. Kramer went to the inside of Lange and got a good drive coming off turn two and took the lead on the 11th lap. However, that lead was short-lived. Turnbull’s car slowed in turn one and by the time it came to a stop in turn two, the engine had burst into flames. The animated racer climbed out of the car and was saddled with a frustrating 17th place finish.
Lange got a tremendous restart and pulled away from Kramer after the Turnbull carbecue. Not long after, they were back in heavy traffic and longtime CLS watchers figured the inevitable would happen and Kramer would make quick work of the kid. Kramer was all over Lange as they weaved their way through the lappers and the teenager never folded under the pressure and he held onto the lead spot.
A yellow with one lap to go left Kramer on the leader’s rear end one more time for the restart with no traffic in front of them. Lange got another great start and crossed the line one lap later for the win with a four-car advantage. Kramer was second with Hillberg third for the second race in a row. Gardena’s Dominic Del Monte and local Cody Nigh of Camarillo rounded out the top five.
Youngster Grant Sexton of Lakeside, who is leading in “Rookie of the Year” points, was the race “Hard Charger” coming from 18th to finish seventh.
Lange’s win, combined with Brent Sexton’s crash, caused a shake up in the top four in the standings. Kramer is still on top of the championship heap and has a comfortable 106-point lead. Lange vaulted from fourth to second. Second-year CLS competitor Del Monte took over third and Sexton fell from second to fourth.
The CLS will be back in action on July 21st at round #2 of the “Civil War Series” vs the BCRA at the Santa Maria Raceway.
July 7 Ventura Main Event Results with Starting Positions
1. Aiden Lange – Lakewood – 1st
2. Jarrett Kramer – Spring Valley – 2nd
3. Dan Hillberg – Placentia – 4th
4. Dominic Del Monte – Gardena – 13th
5. Cody Nigh – Camarillo – 7th
6. Eric Greco – Palmdale – 15th
7. Grant Sexton – Lakeside – 18th
8. Bruce Douglass – Ventura – 5th
9. Dale Gamer – Anaheim – 14th
10. Frank Ditmar – Lakewood – 11th
11. Dalton Sexton – Lakeside – 9th
12. James Squire III – Lakeside – 17th
13. Rob Pelmear – Ventura – 18th
14. Pat Kelley – Chino – 10th
15. Jeff Dyer – Bermuda Dunes – 20th
16. Jon Robertson – Torrance – 12th
17. James Turnbull – Indio – 8th
18. Bobby Michnowicz – Lomita – 3rd
19. Brent Sexton – Lakeside – 6th
20. Wink Schweitzer – Bakersfield – 19th
2018 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Point Standings
1. Jarrett Kramer – Spring Valley, CA – 883
2. Aiden Lange – Lakewood, CA – 776
3. Dominic Del Monte – Gardena, CA – 756
4. Brent Sexton – Lakeside, CA – 745
5. Cody Nigh – Camarillo, CA – 705
6. Pat Kelley – Chino, CA – 647
7. Bobby Michnowicz – Lomita, CA – 611
8. Jeffrey Dyer – Bermuda Dunes, CA – 605
9. Grant Sexton – Lakeside, CA – 545
10. Eric Greco – Palmdale, CA – 538
2018 Civil War Standings (CLS vs BCRA)
1. Bobby Michnowicz – CLS – 135
2. Bruce Douglass – CLS – 132
3. Jarrett Kramer – CLS – 124
4. Dan Hillberg – CLS – 123
5. Cody Nigh – CLS – 114
6. Dominic Del Monte – CLS – 107
6. Brent Sexton – CLS – 107
8. Scott Kinney – BCRA – 97
9. Jon Robertson – CLS – 93
10. Kiwi Alexander – BCRA – 88
March 17 – Bakersfield Speedway – USAC National – Rained Out
March 24 – Ventura Raceway – USAC National – Rained Out
April 14 – Ventura Raceway – USAC National – Bobby Michnowicz
April 21 – Bakersfield Speedway – USAC National – Aiden Lange
May 5 – Ventura Raceway – USAC National – Aiden Lange
May 19th – Barona Speedway – Jim Squire Memorial – Cody Nigh
May 26 – Perris Auto Speedway – USAC National – Salute to Indy – Jarrett Kramer
June 16 – Bakersfield Speedway – Civil War vs BCRA – Bruce Douglass
July 7 – Ventura Raceway – USAC National – Aiden Lange
July 21 – Santa Maria Raceway – Civil War vs BCRA
August 1 – Ventura Raceway – USAC National – Ventura County Fair
August 18 – Perris Auto Speedway – USAC National – California Racer’s Hall of Fame Night
August 25 – Barona Speedway
September 8 – Bakersfield Speedway – USAC National
September 21 – Placerville Speedway – Civil War vs BCRA
September 22 – Placerville Speedway – Civil War vs BCRA
October 6 – Ventura Raceway – USAC National
October 20 – Barona Speedway
October 27 – Ventura Raceway – USAC National
November 17- Bakersfield Speedway USAC National with USAC National and Western Midgets
The California Lightning Sprint Car Series would like to thank the following sponsors for helping make the 2017 season possible: Christian Stover Foundation, Circle Track Performance, Cold Fire West, DK Fabrication, Extreme Muffler, Fast Undercar, Hoosier Tire, Keizer Wheels, Outlaw Wings, Racing Optics, Rod End Supply, Saldana Race Products, Sander Engineering, Speedmart, Speed Partz, Super Shocks, T Shirts by Timeless, Woodland Auto Display.
If you or your company would like to become part of the series for its historic 25th season in 2018, please call Bobby Michnowicz at (310) 320-5569.
To keep up with the CLS online, please visit the website at http://racecls.com/
Facebook 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.