7.8.23 California Lightning Sprints Results
MICHNOWICZ LEADS WIRE TO WIRE AGAIN TO WIN HIS FOURTH CALIFORNIA LIGHTNING SPRINT RACE OF THE YEAR
(Torrance, CA, July 10, 2023) For the drivers in the California Lightning Sprint Car Series, what could be worse than Bobby Michnowicz starting on the front row for the main event? The answer is, Bobby Michnowicz starting on the front row in the main event two races in a row. That is just what happened at Jim Naylor’s Ventura Raceway last Saturday night when the veteran racer not only captured the main event for the second time in a row but once again led every inch of the way.
California Highway Patrol Officer Jeff Dyer sped to his third fast qualifying time of the year when he toured the 1/5 mile oval located on the beach in 12.009. Camarillo’s Cody Nigh was second quick at 12.209. The third speediest in qualifying was the always-steady Eric Greco of Palmdale at 12.258. Five-time series champion Michnowicz was fourth best at 12.354 and Lakewood’s Aiden Lange was fifth at 12.488.
Race Junk Heat Race #1 featured the 10-car field starting straight up by qualifying time. Dyer, who lives in Yucca Valley, captured that one over Greco and Nigh. The win in the eight lapper was his temporary series-leading fourth heat race victory of 2023.
Extreme Muffler Heat Race #2 was a complete invert by qualifying times. That entertaining heat saw Dyer’s 16-year-old son Seth fend off Michnowicz most of the way. However, the wily veteran snuck by late in the race and tied Seth’s dad with his fourth heat race triumph of the year. Seth hung on for second with Jeff coming from the back to finish third.
For the 25-lap main event at the last CLS race until August 19th at the Ocean Speedway, Lange drew the pole. Michnowicz’s wife Wendy drew for him and she pulled the outside of the front row. Michnowicz’s nephew Nigh was on the inside of row two with Jeff Dyer on the outside. Row number three was comprised of teenager Seth Dyer on the low line with Greco next to him.
When starter Kris Kornder sent the field on the way with his green flag, Michnowicz was first across the start-finish line and he stayed there the entire distance. Lange, Jeff Dyer, Nigh, and Fillmore’s Connor Speir were his initial pursuers in the top five. Dyer got past Lange for second and began closing in on the leader. By the end of the third lap, he was only three car lengths behind.
Dyer kept getting closer to the back of Michnowicz’s powerful T Shirts By Timeless/Super Shox/Pflum & Wagner/Outlaw Wings/Fabozi Metal Works/Bondio Fab/Fast Time Studios/TJ Forged/DLX/Kawasaki ZX10 #21K. Dyer was on the race-long leader’s push bar when they hit lapped traffic on the sixth go-around but was unable to get by. Once Michnowicz passed the lapped car he again started to stretch his lead out. With the help of more lapped traffic, the 59-year-old Oak Hills racer was able to establish a near half straightaway advantage. However, that was all tossed out the window when Speir came to a stop between one and two on the 15th lap.
For the restart with 11 laps to go the top five were Michnowicz, Dyer, Lange, Nigh, and Greco. When the green lights came back on, Michnowicz botched the start and Dyer nearly sailed by. However, Dyer momentarily bobbled in turn one and by the time he recovered, Lange had flown past on the inside for second.
It took a couple of laps for Dyer to retake the runner-up spot, but by that time Michnowicz’s lead was over a half straightaway. Lange nearly took the second spot back on lap 19 but Dyer managed to fend him off. Moments later, Nigh had a strange, almost slow motion tip over in turn four. That brought out the race’s only red flag. Neither Nigh nor his car were hurt and he restarted at the back.
Unlike the restart before, Michnowicz made no mistakes on this one and pulled away for a half-straight win at the end of the 25thh lap. Dyer was second and was followed by Lange, Greco, and “Rockstar” Jon Robertson of Torrance. Robertson was the recipient of the Advance Suspension Hard Charger Award for placing fifth after starting ninth.
“A lot of it has to do with track position,” Michnowicz said after his second win in a row. “Wendy pulls our pill and she puts us on the front row. Jeff Dyer was faster all night and I made a lot of mistakes. I am lucky he did not get by me. He is a good racer and he is clean. So, I did not worry about him taking me out. The track was amazing. I think it was faster on the top, but I did not want to give up on the bottom.”
It was Michnowicz series-leading fourth win of the year, his second in a row, and his fourth in the last five races.
Seeking his sixth CLS title, Michnowicz maintains his point lead but second-place Greco is only 49 markers behind. Jeff Dyer is third with Robertson fourth and last season’s Rookie of the Year, Connor Speir of Fillmore, fifth.
The CLS drivers are now off until they head north for round #2 of the annual Civil War Series at the Johnny Key Classic at Ocean Speedway on August 19th. It will be the first-ever appearance for the CLS on the Watsonville, California track.
The following companies are marketing partners with the CLS in 2023. Hoosier Tires West, T-Shirts By Timeless, Extreme Mufflers, RacingJunk.com, Advanced Racing Suspension, King Racing Products, BR Motorsports, EZ Up, RC Fuel Injection, and Triple X. If you or your company would like to be a marketing partner with the CLS, please contact Jon Robertson using the contact information at the top of this release.
To keep up with the CLS online, please visit the website at http://racecls.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/californialightningsprints
CLS Ventura Raceway July 8 Results
Qualifying: 1. Jeff Dyer, 12.009; 2. Cody Night, 12.207; 3. Eric Greco, 12.258; 4. Bobby Michnowicz, 12.354; 5. Aiden Lange, 12.488; 6. Connor Speir, 12.505; 7. Jon Robertson, 12.586; 8. Seth Dyer, 12.614; 9. Zate Legend, 13.343; 10. Pat Kelley, 14.238
Racing Junk Heat One (8 Laps): 1. Jeff Dyer, 2. Greco, 3. Nigh, 4. Lange, 5. Michnowicz, 6.Robertson, 7.Speir, 8.Kelley, 9.Seth Dyer, 10. Legend
Extreme Muffler Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. Michnowicz, 2. Jeff Dyer, 3. Seth Dyer, 4. Greco, 5. Nigh, 6. Kelley, 7. Speir, 8. Lange, 9. Legend, 10. Robertson
Ventura 25 Lap Main Event (with starting positions and distance behind the leader)
1. Bobby Michnowicz, Oak Hills, CA (2nd)
2. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA (4th) … – .753
3. Aiden Lange, Lakewood, CA (1st) … – 2.326
4. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA (6th) … – 3.345
5. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA (9th) … – 5.481
6. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, CA (3rd) … – 6.112
7. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA (7th) … – 7.025
8. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA (5th) … – 1 Lap
9. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA (8th) … – 2 Laps
10. Zate Legend, Riverside, CA (10th) … – 3 Laps
CLS June 3rd Contingency Awards
Racing Junk Heat Race #1 – Jeff Dyer
Extreme Muffler Heat Race #2 $50.00 Certificate – Bobby Michnowicz
BR Motorsports Main Event 2nd Place Finisher $25.00 Certificate – Jeff Dyer
King Motorsports Main Event 5th Place Finisher $25.00 Certificate – Jon Robertson
Advanced Racing Suspension Hard Charger $50.00 Certificate – Jon Robertson
Additional 2023 Contingency Awards
Member: Extreme Muffler – 10% off purchase
Member: EZ UP – 30-40% Off Purchase
Member: RC Fuel Injection – 50% Off Products and Services to all race series participants
Series Champion: Triple X Racing Components – $500.00 off any chassis or chassis kit
2023 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Point Standings
1. Bobby Michnowicz, Lomita, CA … 1121
2. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA … 1072
3. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 998
4. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA … 858
5. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA … 761
6. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 727
7. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA … 661
8. Aiden Lange, Lakewood, CA … 648
9. AJ Bender, San Diego, CA … 611
10. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA … 591
2023 CLS vs SWLS Best of the West Standings
1. Bobby Michnowicz, Lomita, CA, CLS … 666
1. Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA, CLS … 602
3. Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA, CLS … 535
4. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA. SWLS … 490
5. Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA, CLS … 447
5. Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA, CLS … 447
7. Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA, CLS … 438
8. Pat Kelley, Chino, CA, CLS … 403
9. Cody Griggs, Lakeside, CA, SWLS … 299
10. Robbie Brockman, El Cajon, CA, SWLS … 280
CLS vs BCRA Civil War Standings
1. Jeff Dyer, CLS … 135
2. Eric Greco, CLS … 130
3. Greg Dennett, BCRA … 125
4. Dakota Albright, BCRA … 118
5. Connor Speir, CLS … 105
6. Brent Sexton, CLS … 101
7. Josef Ferolito, BCRA … 96
8. Jon Robertson, CLS … 93
9. Aiden Lange, CLS … 88
10. Seth Dyer, CLS … 82
2023 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule
March 10 Imperial Raceway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #1 AJ Bender
March 11 Imperial Raceway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #2 Braden Chiaramonte
March 18 Bakersfield Speedway CLS With USAC Western Midgets Rained Out
April 1 Mohave Valley Raceway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #3 Brent Sexton
April 8 Bakersfield Speedway CLS AJ Bender
May 13 Ventura Raceway CLS With USAC 360 Sprint Cars Bobby Michnowicz
May 20 Bakersfield Speedway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #4 Bobby Michnowicz
June 3 Bakersfield Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series Round” #1 Jeff Dyer
June 17 Ventura Raceway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #5 Bobby Michnowicz
July 8 Ventura Raceway CLS Bobby Michnowicz
August 19 Ocean Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series” Round #2, Johnny Key Classic
September 9 Bakersfield Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series” Round #3
September 23 Ventura Raceway CLS
October 7 Merced Speedway CLS/BCRA “Civil War Series” Round #4, Wayne Albright Memorial Non Wing
October 14 Mohave Valley Speedway CLS/SWLS “Best of the West” Round #6 With USAC/CRA Sprint Cars
October 28 Ventura Raceway CLS
November 14 Bakersfield Speedway CLS With USAC National Midgets
November 16 Placerville Speedway “Hangtown 100” No Points Non Wing
November 17 Placerville Speedway “Hangtown 100” No Points Non Wing
November 18 Placerville Speedway “Hangtown 100” No Points Non Wing
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
This press release was produced by Scott Daloisio Sports (909) 226-7768 mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com