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Perris, CA., Nov. 6, 2010 – Brent Sexton, of Lakeside, charged from 13th starting position in a 21-car winged California Lightning (mini) Sprint car field and won the Perris Auto Speedway 20-lap main event Saturday night at the PAS half-mile clay oval. The CLS $500 preliminary race opened the third night of racing at the 15th annual Oval Nationals for 410 cubic inch sprint cars. Two drivers—Jarrett Kramer, 28, of Spring Valley, and A. J. Bender, 17, of Ramona--entered the race 46-points apart as they dueled for their first CLS championship. The 18th and final CLS race of 2010 offered double points, so the title was definitely up for grabs. A CLS victory is worth 120 points with a five-point drop-off per position to 13th place and three points less per finishing position after 13th.
Point leader Kramer started 14th in his Rossom Racing No. 5. His challenger Alec “A.J.” Bender started 15th in his No. 21 Henchcraft 1,200cc Kawasaki ZX12. Kramer had to finish five positions higher than Bender to become the CLS champion. When starter Eddie Ramirez waved the checkered flag at 6:46 pm, Kramer was fourth and teenager Bender was ninth. Kramer and his chain-driven 1,200cc powered Henchcraft No. 14 won the CLS 2010 championship by 96 points--2,403 to 2,307--over Bender. The CLS series raced 18 times this year at four tracks—PAS, Ventura, Santa Maria and Bakersfield.
Bobby Bender, 24, shot from sixth grid position to lead the opening lap over front row drivers Peter Benker and Dale Gamer. His leading No. 4 Kawasaki ZX12 1,200cc opened a straightaway lead by lap 4 and was still expanding his advantage at lap 11. Then the Kawasaki ZX12 engine of Tim Brown blew on the front straight, causing a yellow flag. Racing after the lap 11 green flag quickly became a three-way dog-fight with eventual winner Sexton, who took second on lap 6, and 16-year old Kevin Michnowicz, of Torrance, racing high and low grooves in a tight pack. Leader B. Bender broke his fuel pump on the lap 17 green flag after a caution flag to remove as stalled car.
Michnowicz, the younger son of former CRA 410 sprint car feature winner Bobby Michnowicz, had started 16th in his dad's Henchcraft chassis with a Kawasaki ZX12 for power. He traded his USAC Ford Focus Midget to an Idaho resident for the CLS car. In only his fifth CLS race, Michnowicz passed Kramer for the lead briefly on the outside on the backstretch, but he trailed by two lengths after the final four green flag laps. It was the career-best finish for Michnowicz, who had a third, and three fifth place finishes in his brief 2010 CLS career.
Stuart Hielscher, Sr., the 2009 CLS champion, started ninth and finished third in his No. 9 car driven by his son last year to main event victories. Stuart, Jr has not raced this year because he is concentrating on playing football for Palomar Junior College, where as No. 70 he plays linebacker and defensive end. Pole starter Peter Benker, the 2010 CLS rookie of the year, finished eighth in final points with his No. 13. El Cajon resident Tim Moody, in the ex-No. 3 Jon Rahe 1,000cc Yamaha-powered car, Seth Kramer, Gamer, A. J. Bender and 15-year old rookie Alex Bisset rounded out the top ten.
Seniors Karl Von Yokel and Scotty Ashlock, from Austin, Colo., finished 11th and 12th, with Jacob Will, 15, Steve Limon, Guy Maresch and Mike Kotlinski (down a lap) the other finishers. Non-finishers in order were: B. Bender, Dan Hillberg (the 2011 CLS president), Darren Hillberg, Ryan Sherman and Tim Brown. Eighteen CLS cars present Friday night competed in three six-car, six-lap heat races before the first of five USAC 410 sprint car heats. A. J. Bender, J. Kramer and Sexton led all the way from their front row starting positions in the three heats.
FINAL CLS 2010 POINT STANDINGS:
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