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| California Lightning Sprints Press Release |
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Round "4" -
Chris Rahe is Dominant on new Barona Speedway Surface! by Josh Williams |
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(Barona Speedway - April 20, 2002)
Chris Rahe led the pack of 31 Lightning Sprints around the new
Barona Speedway clay. The grandstands and pits were packed to near
capacity with over 100 racecars ranging from 5 horsepower
mini-dwarfs to 800 horsepower sprint cars. The "New &
Improved" Barona Speedway underwent a face-lift during the
offseason. The K - Rail is now 2' higher to accommodate the
additional banking and the new clay held moisture very well. In the
absence of qualifying, the CLS heat race starting line-up was
determined by a pea-pick method. The first heat race had Ernie
Bartley on the pole. Lonnie Clabaugh led into the first turn &
looked to be running away with the win until Tyler Brown chased him
down. Tyler took the win ahead of Clabaugh. Bartley recovered from a
bad start & worked his way back up to a 3rd place finish. Ashley
Walker took the final transfer spot. Karl Benefeil scored his first
CLS heat race win in heat 2 ahead of Gary Sexton and Donny Gansen.
4th was Wink Schweitzer who returned to CLS action after a nasty
flip at Perris Auto Speedway last season destroyed his racecar. The
3rd heat race was won by Jesse Dean from the pole ahead of James
Squire, Josh Williams & Keith Janca. Chris Rahe also used the
pole to his advantage running away with the win in heat 4. Greg
Bragg finished 2nd from the back row ahead of James Dean who also
returned to CLS action after a lengthy absence. Jonny Bates finished
4th. Carl Cosico looked very fast in the B Main taking the win ahead
of David Cardey, Brent Sexton and Danny Swanson. Tyler Brown paced the field through the 4 wide salute to the fans and started the race from the pole position. Tyler & Karl Benefeil led the field to the green flag. Tyler took command of the race until caution flew on lap 6 for Karl Benefeil & Josh Williams. Benefeil suffered front end damage & would not make the restart. Chris Rahe now within striking distance of Tyler Brown took the lead on lap 7. The red flag flew on lap 12 as Keith Janca lost steering and hit the pit exit K - Rail & flipped hard down the back straight. Keith was ok. Rahe padded his lead as Tyler Brown, Greg Bragg & Gary Sexton chased. Tyler Brown & Jesse Dean surrendered their 2nd & 5th place positions on lap 24 to mechanical problems. When racing resumed, Rahe again pulled away to take the win. Danny Swanson earned hard charging honors finishing in 7th place after starting last! Race Summary: Heat 1 - Tyler Brown, Lonnie Clabaugh, Ernie Bartley, Ashley Walker, Brent Sexton, David Cardey, Pat Hickey, Seth Kramer Heat 2 - Karl Benefeil, Gary Sexton, Donny Gansen, Wink Schweitzer, Carl Cosico, Steve Cardey, Steve Nelson, Eric King Heat 3 - Jesse Dean, James Squire, Josh Williams, Keith Janca, Danny Swanson, Jon Squire, Nick Nicholson, Kip McCleary Heat 4 - Chris Rahe, Greg Bragg, James Dean, Jonny Bates, Dylan Morris, Mike Barnette, Steve Barnette B Main - Carl Cosico, David Cardey, Brent Sexton, Danny Swanson, Nick Nicholson, Dylan Morris, Pat Hickey, Steve Cardey, Steve Nelson, Jon Squire, Seth Kramer A Main - Chris Rahe, Greg Bragg, Gary Sexton, Ernie Bartley,
Donny Gansen, James Dean, Danny Swanson, David Cardey, Brent Sexton,
Lonnie Clabaugh, Jonny Bates, Ashley Walker, James Squire, Josh
Williams, Jesse Dean, Tyler Brown, Carl Cosico, Keith Janca, Karl
Benefeil, Wink Schweitzer |
