Missy Benker photo.

Saturday’s field of 19 cars was two cars more than competed 24 hours earlier on the same quarter-mile oval. Joining the field for the Saturday portion of the two-day event were rookies Will Browne of Glendora and Imperial Beach’s C.J. Marin.  Veteran Jim Squire of Lakewood was also a night two edition. Longtime 410 sprint car racing veteran Cal Smith of Phelan steered the number 4X car which was driven the night before by Yucca Valley’s Seth Dyer.  Five-time CLS champion Bobby Michnowicz of Oak Hills, who dropped out of the main on Friday, did not return for Saturday’s race. 

Saturday’s show had two distinctive differences from Friday night’s race. Most noticeable was the cars were racing on Saturday without wings on top. Also, they were qualifying before the races begin.  Lakeside’s Dalton Sexton, who finished third in the main event on Friday, was the fastest driver in qualifying with a time of 13.419. Colorado Springs, Colorado star Chris Crowder, who won the inaugural SWLS championship in 2020, was second quickest at 13.489. Rookie Cody Griggs of Lakeside, was the third fastest at 13.520.

Alpine’s Matt Sotomayor bested Dalton Sexton and Browne to capture the first heat race on the breezy night.  The final SWLS heat race of 2022 went to Rosamond’s Mark Henry.  El Cajon’s Kevin Bates and Alpine’s Peter Benker were second and third.

Benker started on the inside of row one for the main with Browne just to his right.  Row two featured Bates, and Sotomayor with Dalton Sexton and Henry in row three.  Benker, who was the 2010 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Rookie of the Year, raced into the lead at the start with Browne and Dalton Sexton giving chase.  Sexton, who turns 20 years old in December, went to the front on the fourth circuit. 

Lap five saw the first of two red flags in the race when Benker and Browne got together in turn three.  Both flipped with Browne going high in the air before returning to earth. Each driver emerged from the incident unscathed but the same cannot be said for their cars. Both were damaged enough to knock them out for the night.

When the action began again, it was Dalton Sexton at the point with Henry, Sotomayor, Bates, and Brent Sexton, who started ninth, comprising the first five.  Brent Sexton, who had a sensational swoop around three cars in the main the night before, used the inside to go from fifth to third when he passed Bates and Sotomayor coming off the fourth corner on lap six.  Two laps later in turn four, he slid inside of Henry and took second just as Dalton slowed dramatically.  The elder Sexton and Henry managed to steer around him but it was obvious something was amiss with his #18.  The teen dropped to the back of the pack and two laps later pulled into the infield with a broken fuel pump. That not only ended his main event, but it also ended his championship hopes for 2022.

The action continued through lap 17 with the eldest Sexton out front with Henry in tow.  However, another red interrupted the racing when fourth-place running Matt Sotomayor clipped an infield tire coming out of turn four and spectacularly flipped halfway down the front stretch.  Like Browne and Benker earlier, Sotomayor was not injured, but his car suffered extensive damage and he was through for the night. 

Sexton and Henry were in the first two positions for what turned out to be the final restart of the year.  Bates was in third with rookie Griggs fourth and Bentley fifth. As soon as the green light came back on, Sexton was gone.  Due to time constraints, the race was shortened to 20-laps.  The final three laps flew by and Sexton was a half straight in front for his series-leading fourth win of the year and his third title.  Henry, Bates, and Griggs finished second through 4th and all recorded their best finishes of the year. Twenty-four hours after winning the Friday main event, Bentley crossed the line in fifth.

In addition to the win and the season title, Sexton was crowned “King of the Oval,” for accumulating the most points over the two nights of racing.

When the race was over and the points were tallied, Brent Sexton beat son Dalton by a mere seven points in the championship standings.  Griggs, who is “Rookie of the Year,” was third.  Marin was fourth and Benker rounds out the top five.

Homestead Sheet Metal, Sign Downsouth Motorsports, MudCam Photos, Sexton Fire Protection. AG Sand Cars,  Triple XXX Chassis, Triple Z Racing, SoTech Solutions, Behind The Wheel, Crowder Racing, EMI, Diablo Fabrication, Cakes By Kim, Savage Racing, RP3 Racing, Premiere Roofing CA, Paul Davis Emergency Cleanup & Restoration, and Iron Alliance Engineering all donated to the main events on the weekend.

Be sure to stay tuned for exciting information on the 2023 season that will be here before you know it. 

The Lucas Oil 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 

Qualifications: 1. Dalton Sexton, 13.419; 2. Chris Crowder, 13.489; 3. Cody Griggs 13.520; 4. J.D. Bentley, 13.663; 5. Brent Sexton 13.669; 6. Mark Henry, 13.733; 7. Will Browne, 13.754; 8. Parker Dumas, 13.786; 9. Peter Benker, 13.869; 10. C. J. Marin, 14.007; 11. Matt Sotomayor, 14.009; 12. Brent Horn, 14.072; 13. Clint Newman, 14.214; 14. Deejay Dumas, 14.236; 15. Kevin Bates 14.258; 16. Cal Smith, 14.326; 17, Jim Squire, 14.394; 18. Landon Dalton, 14.493; 19. Ryan Dumas, NT

Heat #1:  1. Matt Sotomayor, 2. Dalton Sexton, 3. Will Browne, 4. Cody Griggs, 5. Brent Sexton, 6. Deejay Dumas, 7. C.J. Marin, 8. Cal Smith, 9. Clint Newman

Heat #2:  1. Mark Henry, 2. Kevin Bates, 3. Peter Benker, 4. J.D. Bentley, 5. Brent Horn, 6. Chris Crowder, 7. Jim Squire, 8. Landon Dalton, DNS

Imperial Valley Raceway Main Event (with starting positions)

1. Brent Sexton, Lakeside, CA – 9th

2. Mark Henry, Rosamond, CA – 5th

3. Kevin Bates, El Cajon, CA – 3rd

4. Cody Griggs, Lakeside, CA – 7th

5. J.D. Bentley, Sydney, Australia – 8th

6. Parker Dumas, San Diego, CA – 13th

7. Deejay Dumas, El Cajon, CA – 12th

8. Brent Horn, Lakeside, CA – 10th

9. C.J. Marin, Imperial Beach, CA – 88

10. Clint Newman -16th

11. Chris Crowder, Colorado Springs, CO – 11th

12. Cal Smith, Phelan, CA – 14th

13. Matt Sotomayor, Alpine, CA – 4th

14. Dalton Sexton, Lakeside, CA – 5th

15. Peter Benker, Alpine, CA – 1st

16. Will Browne, Glendora, CA – 2nd

DNS Landon Dalton, San Diego, CA

DNS Jim Squire, Lakeside, CA

DNS Ryan Dumas, San Diego, CA

2022 Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series Point Standings

1. Brent Sexton … 1760

2. Dalton Sexton … 1753

3. Cody Griggs … 1359

4. C.J. Marin … 1138

5. Peter Benker … 1081

6. Jeremy Queener … 1024

7. Grant Sexton … 1023

8.  Jim Squire … 1015

9. Matt Sotomayor … 919

10. Ryan Dumas … 917

2022 Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule

March 4           Imperial Valley Raceway                                           Wingless – Dalton Sexton

March 5           Imperial Valley Raceway                                           Wingless – Brent Sexton

April 23           Imperial Valley Raceway                                           Winged – Braden Chiaramonte

April 30           Barona Speedway                                                    Winged – Grant Sexton

May 14            Barona Speedway                                                   Wingless – Dalton Sexton

June 11            Barona Speedway                                                  Winged – Grant Sexton

June 25            Barona Speedway                                                  Winged – Dalton Sexton

July 9              Barona Speedway                                                   Wingless – Brent Sexton

Sept. 14           Perris Auto Speedway (with USAC/CRA)               Winged – Braden Chiaramonte

October 1        Barona Speedway                                                   Winged – Grant Sexton

October 8        Mojave Valley Raceway (co sanction with CLS)      Winged – Brent Sexton

October 22      Imperial Valley Raceway                                          Winged – D.J. Bentley

October 23      Imperial Valley Raceway                                          Wingless – Brent Sexton

Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series Champions

2020    Chris Crowder

2021    Grant Sexton

2022    Brent Sexton