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Oildale, CA -- Backing up a
feature win at Route 66 Raceway the previous weekend, California Lightning
Sprint point leader Brent Sexton from Lakeside charged into the lead on lap 14
and won the 20 lap feature Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway Park. Both he
and Central California visitor Cameron Beard used lapped traffic as they moved
around race long leader Jonny Bates on lap 14. Beard ran second with Bates third
ahead of heat winner Dylan Morris and Visalia's Lonnie Lopez.
The California Lightning Sprints brought a 24 car field north to the 1/3 mile
clay oval. The winner of a pair of features earlier this season at Perris,
second ranked point racer David Cardey broke in hot laps to end his night. The
son of super modified legend Lloyd Beard, C Beard started outside front row in
heat 1 and won by 1/4 lap as rookie Stuart Hielscher ran second ahead of Gary
Sexton. Bates came from the third row to win heat 2 with B Sexton also coming
from row 3 for second. Morris won heat 3 from an outside front row start with
fifth starter Ernie Bartley III in second. Newcomer Stan Sexton got into the
back fence and flipped hard to end his night. The top five from each heat
advanced to their 20 lap feature and they were joined by five transfers from a
10 lap B Main. Top runner Keith Janca easily won the B Main ahead of rookies
Dale Gamer and Danny Hyde after top runner Paul Townsend threw a chain leading.
A big tangle in turn 4 on the opening lap of the main event ended the night for
four teams. Jim Henderson nearly flipped in the incident and the race was also
over for Mike Barnette, fifth ranked point racer Donny Gansen and Hyde. After
the restart, the reduced 16 car field ripped off 20 straight green flag laps.
Bates started outside front row and took a quick lead over pole starter Beard
with fifth starting B Sexton into third on lap 2. Steve Barnette was lapped
after he spun on lap 5 and B Sexton used an inside move in turn 2 on lap 8 to
take second from Beard. At the midway mark, Bates led B Sexton, Beard, Morris, G
Sexton, Lopez, Bartley and Janca. Lopez traded fifth a couple times with G
Sexton and the heavy lapped traffic played a role when both B Sexton and Beard
were able to pass leader Bates on lap 14. Beard challenged B Sexton hard over
the final rounds, but settled for second with Bates third ahead of Morris,
Lopez, G Sexton, Janca, Jesse Dean and Bartley. The top 9 finished on the lead
lap with four more cars just one lap down after the quick feature. This was the
first of four 2003 visits to Bakersfield Speedway for the touring California
Lightning Sprints. Their next race is April 12 at Perris Auto Speedway.
* Editor's Note: Dylan Morris was disqualified for contaminated fuel. Keith
Janca again earned Hard Charger moving up 10 positions finishing 6th.
Race Summary:
Heat 1-
Cameron Beard, Stuart Hielscher, Gary Sexton, Jim Henderson, Josh Williams, Paul
Townsend, Keith Janca, Dale Gamer
Heat 2-
Jonny Bates, Brent Sexton, Donny Gansen, Karl Benefiel, Robert Early, Bruce
Haserot
Heat 3-
Dylan Morris, Ernie Bartley III, Mike Barnette, Lonnie Lopez, Jesse Dean, Pat
Hickey, Danny Hyde, Stan Sexton
B Main-
Keith Janca, Dale Gamer, Danny Hyde, Steve Barnette, Bruce Haserot, Pat Hickey,
Paul Townsend
A Main-
B Sexton, Beard, Bates, Lopez, G Sexton, Janca, Dean, Bartley, Williams,
Benefiel, Early, Hielscher, Gamer, S Barnette, Haserot, M Barnette, Henderson,
Gansen, Hyde
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