(Lakeside, CA, November 20, 2023) California Highway Patrol Officer Jeff Dyer sewed up the first title in his open-wheel career when he placed third in the POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series/California Lightning Sprint Cars main event last week in the 7th Annual West Coast Lightning Sprint Car Championship at the Bakersfield Speedway. The new champ trailed legendary Bobby Michnowicz and rising star Aiden Lange in the 25-lapper. That win assured Michnowicz the title in the six-race Best of the West mini-series that pits the SWLS vs the CLS.
After winning the six-car dash, Dyer started on the pole on “The West’s Fastest 1/3-Mile High Banked Clay Oval.” Michnowicz was alongside. That is, he was alongside until they crossed under starter Jimmy “The Shoe” Irwin’s green flag at the start of the 25-lap race. Michnowicz, who was only hours away from his 60th birthday, took off like a scalded cat. By lap five he had a commanding 2.5-second lead over Dyer.
Bad luck struck the top five two times before the race reached the halfway point. Bakersfield 15-year-old Brodey Graham pulled off on lap eight while in third. Three laps later, Levi Klatt, who came all the way down from Langley, British Columbia, Canada for the race, dropped out while running fourth.
Out front, Oak Hills resident Michnowicz maintained his impressive advantage. However, with 10 laps to go it was apparent that Lakeside’s Lange was inching closer. With five laps to go, he was not inching anymore. Instead, he was closing in like a runaway freight train. It still seemed like Michnowicz had the field covered and he had a three-car length lead at the white flag. He also had a lapped car ahead of him. Lange swung wide coming off the second corner and relieved the race-long leader of the top spot. Going into turn three, he dropped to the bottom ahead of Michnowicz but behind the lapped car.
It looked as though the race was going to go to Lange. However, coming off of four the lapped car slid off the bottom lane. Lange did the same. When he did, wily veteran Michnowicz dove into the gap, and the two cars were inches apart when they crossed under the checkers. It took a few seconds for officials to check the computer and determine that Michnowicz had bagged the win.
“I don’t know who won, I didn’t know,” Michnowicz told the crowd when he was interviewed by USAC’s Drake York after the race. “I thought I got him, but then I looked at the board and it said #13. I thought I lost (at that point), but I guess I won.”
“I knew I was slow,” the happy winner continued. “I couldn’t even get by the lapped cars. It is tough to go out because you have to guess (while waiting for the USAC B main to conclude). You cannot work on your car as you have to sit there in the hot chute. We just guessed. I left it stuck out on the right rear and everything. I knew I was not good, but we won and I guess that is what counts.”
Behind Michnowicz, Lange, and Dyer, 2022 SWLS champion Brent Sexton of Lakeside and BCRA star Greg Dennett of Livermore rounded out the top five. Bakersfield local Leland Day captured the PJ Benedetti Hard Charger award going from 13th on the start to finish sixth.
Before the main, Michnowicz’s lap of 12.580 was the quickest in Iron Alliance Engineering Qualifying at the “Okie Bowl.” Klatt was second fastest at 12.609. The third-best time in qualifying came from Graham at 12.812.
Sexton bagged the win in the AG Sandcars/Triple X Racing heat #1. The 50-year-old was chased to the checkered by “Rockstar” Jon Robertson of Torrance and Michnowicz. In the T Shirts By Timeless second heat, 16-year-old Seth Dyer of Yucca Valley beat Lange to the checkers. Dyer’s father, Jeff, finished third.
In addition to winning the title, Yucca Valley’s Dyer also led the SWLS with four victories in 2023. Michnowicz and Sexton had three victories each. No other driver posted more than one triumph in the series in 2023. Drivers with single wins were Seth Dyer, AJ Bender, Braden Chiaramonte, Cody Griggs, Parker Dumas, Darren Brown, and Peter Benker.
The Dyer family is taking two awards away from the 2023 SWLS season. As well as Jeff winning the championship, his son Seth placed third in the standings and is the Rookie of the Year. The highlight of the teen’s season came when he smoked the field for his first win at the Imperial Valley Raceway on October 21st.
The POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series would like to thank Sexton Fire Protection, RTL Traffic Control & Equipment, Victory Graphix, BK Wing, and A.M. Ortega Construction Inc. If you or your company would like to become part of the series in 2023, please contact Brent Sexton at (619) 454-6945 or mailto:sextonfire@cox.net
POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series Bakersfield Speedway November 14th Results
Iron Alliance Engineering Qualifying: 1. Bobby Michnowicz, 12.580; 2. Levi Klatt, 12.609; 3. Brodey Graham, 12.812; 4. Eric Greco, 12.869; 5. Greg Dennett, 12.937; 6. Aiden Lange, 12.946; 7. Connor Speir, 12.969; 8. Jeff Dyer, 13.022; 9. Brent Sexton, 13.206; 10. Seth Dyer, 13.251; 11. Jon Robertson, 13.279, 12. Zate Legend, 13.336, 13. Leland Day, 13.415; 14. Brent Horn, 13,657; 15. Jason Schapansky, 13.729; 16. Pat Kelley, 14.068
AG Sandcars/Triple X Racing Heat #1: 1. Sexton, 2. Robertson, 3. Michnowicz, 4. Dennett, 5. Graham, 6. Day, 7. Speir, 8. Schapansky
T Shirt By Timeless Heat #2: 1. Seth Dyer, 2. Lange, 3. Jeff Dyer, 4. Greco, 5. Horn, 6. Kelley, 7. Legend, 8. Klatt
Dash: 1. Jeff Dyer, 2. Michnowicz, 3. Lange, 4. Graham, 5. Dennett, 6. Greco
7th Annual Western States Lightning Sprint Car Championship 25-Lap Main Event With Starting Positions
- Bobby Michnowicz, Oak Hills, CA … 2nd
- Aiden Lange, Lakewood, CA …. 3rd
- Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 1st
- Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA … 7th
- Greg Dennett, Livermore, CA … 5th
- Leland Day, Bakersfield, CA … 13th
- Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA … 6th
- Zate Legend, Riverside, CA … 10th
- Brent Horn, El Cajon, CA … 14th
- Pat Kelley, Chino, CA … 15th
- Jason Schapansky, Kamloops, BC, Canada … 16th
- Levi Klatt, Langley, BC, Canada … 11th
- Brodey Graham, Bakersfield, CA … 4th
- Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA … 8th
- Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA … 9th
- Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA … 12th
2023 CLS vs SWLS Best of the West Standings
- Bobby Michnowicz, Lomita, CA, CLS … 919
- Eric Greco, Palmdale, CA, CLS … 821
- Jeff Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA, CLS … 789
- Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA. SWLS … 714
- Jon Robertson, Torrance, CA, CLS … 633
- Connor Speir, Fillmore, CA, CLS … 632
- Seth Dyer, Yucca Valley, CA, CLS … 617
- Pat Kelley, Chino, CA, CLS … 577
- Aiden Lange, Lakewood, CA, CLS … 490
- Cody Griggs, Lakeside, CA, SWLS … 299
2023 POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule and Results
March 10 Imperial Valley Raceway AJ Bender
March 11 Imperial Valley Raceway Braden Chiaramonte
April 1 Mohave Valley Raceway Brent Sexton
April 15 Perris Auto Speedway Brent Sexton
May 13 Barona Speedway Cody Griggs
May 20 Bakersfield Speedway Bobby Michnowicz
May 27 Perris Auto Speedway Jeff Dyer
June 10 Barona Speedway Parker Dumas
June 17 Ventura Raceway Bobby Michnowicz
July 8 Barona Speedway Darren Brown
August 5 Barona Speedway Jeff Dyer
August 19 Perris Auto Speedway Rained Out
September 23 Imperial Valley Raceway Peter Benker
October 14 Mohave Valley Raceway Jeff Dyer
October 20 Imperial Valley Raceway Brent Sexton
October 21 Imperial Valley Raceway Seth Dyer
November 11 Perris Auto Speedway Jeff Dyer
November 14 Bakersfield Speedway Bobby Michnowicz
POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series Champions
2020 Chris Crowder
2021 Grant Sexton
2022 Brent Sexton
2023 Jeff Dyer
