LAKESIDE, Calif. — The Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series has released its schedule for the 2023 racing season, with 19 dates on the calendar.
Seventeen of the races will be in California and two will be across the border in Arizona.
Among the 19 races will be first-time stops at the Bakersfield Speedway and the Ventura Raceway. In addition, the biggest track lightning sprint cars compete on in the southwest, the half-mile at Perris Auto Speedway will become a regular stop for the first time for the SWLS. An impressive showing by the club at the longtime Riverside County clay oval last September has led to four races at the venue this year.
As well as the new tracks, the SWLS will be back in action at familiar racing facilities. The rejuvenated Imperial Valley Raceway will be the club’s home track in 2022 with six races scheduled.
San Diego County’s only quarter-mile dirt oval, the Barona Speedway, will see the SWLS make four trips to town.
“It is going to take a lot of these guys from down here in the San Diego area to tracks they have not been to before,” SWLS President Brent Sexton said when asked about the new series venues. “They will be able to compete against some different drivers on different tracks. Hopefully, at some point, we can join forces with the two groups (California Lightning Sprint Cars and Northern California’s Bay Cities Racing Association) and have 25 cars and B mains.”
The SWLS calendar shows a co-sanctioned six-race series with the California Lightning Sprint Cars that is titled “Best of the West.” Those six races will feature a $3,000 point fund that will be paid out to the top 10 drivers. Those races include:
Imperial Valley Raceway (Race 1-2)
Mohave Valley Raceway (Race 3)
Bakersfield Speedway (Race 4)
Ventura Raceway (Race 5)
Mohave Valley Raceway (Race 6)
Being back at Perris, one of the most visible tracks in the country is important for the SWLS. A longtime home to lightning races, last September’s SWLS appearance at the track was the first lightning race there in several years.
“It is huge for us getting to run all of those races there with USAC,” Sexton said. “It is a good thing so we can highlight these lightning sprints. It shows that these things can definitely lead to racing in midgets and sprint cars. It is a step for all of us (lightning sprints) here in California. It will strengthen that gap with the younger generations coming up through the ranks. Hopefully, it will help lightning sprint racing and full-size sprint cars as well.”
In a change from the 2022 season when the SWLS had seven wingless races, there are only three topless shows on the schedule this year.
“At some of the tracks we are at it will make it more entertaining,” Sexton said. “Plus the six-race ‘Best of the West’ series with CLS is all winged races.”
Built into the regular season will be three breaks for teams to travel to the Colorado Nationals in June, Washington’s “Dirt Cup” in July, and the “Minkota Nationals” in mid-August.
2023 Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule
March 10 Imperial Valley Raceway Winged
March 11 Imperial Valley Raceway Winged
April 1 Mohave Valley Raceway Winged
April 15 Perris Auto Speedway Winged
April 22 Imperial Valley Raceway Wingless
May 13 Barona Speedway Winged (TBD)
May 20 Bakersfield Speedway Winged
May 27 Perris Auto Speedway Winged (TBD)
June 10 Colorado Nationals Winged (TBD)
July 8 Barona Winged (TBD)
Deming Speedway Clay Cup Winged (No Points)
July 22 Ventura Raceway Winged
August 5 Barona Speedway Wingless (TBD)
August 19 Perris Auto Speedway Winged
August 10-13 13th Minkota Nationals Winged (Non-Points)
September 2 Barona Speedway Winged (TBD)
September 23 Imperial Valley Raceway Winged
October 14 Mohave Valley Raceway Winged
October 20 Imperial Valley Raceway Winged
October 21 Imperial Valley Raceway Wingless
October 28 Barona Speedway Winged (TBA)
November 11 Perris Auto Speedway Winged