(Lakeside, CA, April 8, 2021) San Diego, California’s Parker Dumas started outside of the front row and went on to post the victory in last Saturday’s Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car main event at the Barona Speedway. The victory was Dumas first in a Lightning Sprint.
Before the main event, Yucca Valley, California’s Jeff Dyer and Wyatt Boczanowski split the two 10-lap heat races.
Veteran Jon Squire of El Cajon, California was on the pole for the main event with Dumas outside. Row two was made up of Boczanowski and teenager Grant Sexton of Lakeside, California. Dyer and Dalton Sexton started in row three. Squire immediately jumped to the point at the drop of the green and had nearly a half straight lead by the end of the second circuit. However, Dumas dramatically closed back in on lap three.
The racing came to a halt on the fourth lap when a car near the back spun in turn four. When the yellow came out, track officials checked the surface and found a lot of oil on the front straight. It came from Dyer’s car which had spit off its oil filter at the start of the race forcing him to drop out. After a rather lengthy delay to clean up the slick stuff, racing resumed with Squire in the lead ahead of Dumas, Boczanowski, Dalton Sexton and his younger brother Grant. Dumas immediately began hounding Squire for the top spot and going into turn three on the sixth lap, he poked his nose ahead and captured the lead.
Another yellow flew on lap seven when Boczanowski spun in turn two while running third. That allowed Squire to close to Dumas’ rear end for the restart. It also moved Grant Sexton, who was driving the same car that his dad won in at Mojave Valley Raceway the week before, up to third. This time when the green came back out, Dumas raced away to a commanding lead. At the same time, Grant Sexton and San Diego’s David Bezio quickly passed Squire to move into second and third, respectively. One circuit later, Dalton Sexton got by Squire putting SGR cars second, third and fourth. That, however, did not last for long. On lap 11 Dalton pulled to the infield relinquishing the fourth spot to impressive El Cajon teen Braden Chiaramonte. It was amazing that Chiaramonte even started the main event after a nasty cockpit fire earlier in the night.
A surprise to many came when Dumas built a half straight lead over the youngest of the Sexton clan, Grant, when action resumed. However, when they hit the lapped traffic on lap 16, Sexton reeled him back in. Coming off turn four on the 17th go around, Sexton dove to the inside and bulled his way into the lead. He then tapped the inside berm in turn one and nearly handed the top spot back to Dumas, but once he recovered from that momentary bobble, he steered his car clear of the second-place runner and began to pull away. Unfortunately, all that action went for naught when the car of Matt Sotomayor lost a tire and came to a stop by the turn four crashwall forcing another yellow.
Before action got back underway, the race was reverted to the last completed lap, putting Dumas back in front followed by Sexton, Bezio, Chiaramonte and Boczanowski, who had worked his way back up to fifth after his earlier spin. Another brief yellow came when a back marker spun in turn two setting up what turned out to be the final restart of the night. A green, white checkered finish would decide it. Once the green waved, Bezio tried to dive to the inside of Sexton for second. Those two battling for the runner up spot allowed Dumas to pull away and he ended up winning by nearly a half straight. Sexton came home second with Bezio, Chiaramonte and Boczanowski rounding out the top five. Impressive rookie Chiaramonte was the “Hard Charger” finishing fourth after starting 10th.
The SWLS gets this weekend off but will be back in action on April 17th at the Barona Speedway.
The Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series would like to thank the following sponsors for making the 2021 season possible. Lucas Oil, Sexton Fire Protection, RTL Traffic Control & Equipment, Victory Graphix, United Cleaning Company, BK Wing, and A.M. Ortega Construction Inc. If you or your company would like to become part of the series, please contact Brent Sexton at (619) 454-6945 or mailto:sextonfire@cox.net
For up to the minute updates on the Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series, please visit the series website at raceswls.com or the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Southwest-Lightning-Sprints-101419131399196
April 3 Barona Speedway Main Event Results (with starting position)
- Parker Dumas – San Diego, CA – 2nd
- Grant Sexton – Lakeside, CA – 4th
- David Bezio – San Diego, CA – 8th
- Braden Chiaramonte – El Cajon, CA – 10th
- Wyatt Boczanowski – 3rd
- Jim Squire III – Lakeside, CA – 7th
- Jon Squire – El Cajon, CA – 1st
- Robert Early – Riverside, CA – 9th
- Matt Sotomayor – 11th
- Dalton Sexton – Lakeside, CA – 6th
- Jeff Dyer – Yucca Valley, CA – 5th
2021 Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Schedule
March 26 Mohave Valley Raceway (Winged) – James Turnbull
March 27 Mojave Valley Raceway (Winged) – Brent Sexton
April 3 Barona Speedway (Winged) – Parker Dumas
April 17 Barona Speedway (Winged)
May 1 Mojave Valley Raceway (Winged)
May 15 Barona Speedway (Wingless)
May 29 Missouri Speedway (POWRi Nationals)
May 30 Missouri Speedway (POWRi Nationals)
June 12 Barona Speedway (Winged)
June 26 Barona Speedway (Wingless)
August 7 Barona Speedway (Winged)
August 21 Barona Speedway (Wingless)
September 4 Barona Speedway (Winged)
September 18 Barona Speedway (Wingless)
October 2 Barona Speedway (Winged)
