THREE RACES IN TWO CLASSES FOR SEXTON GATLIN RACING THIS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
2024-09-12 13:53
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(Lakeside, CA, September 11, 2024) After a weekend away from the track, Sexton Gatlin Racing returns to action with a busy 24 hours this Friday and Saturday, contesting three races in two nights at two tracks. On Friday, Grant Sexton will return to the site of one of his biggest wins, the Bakersfield Speedway, to race in the California Lightning Sprint Car Series vs Bay Cities Racing Association Civil War event. Twenty-four hours later, he will be joined by his father, Brent, for the Ultimate Sprint Car Series race presented by Inland Rigging at the Ventura Raceway.
Friday's race will be the second time the CLS has teamed with the World of Outlaws at the "Okie Bowl." The race will bring back memories of the then-17-year-old's magnificent triumph in March of 2022. Competing in front of a near-capacity live crowd and thousands more World of Outlaw fans watching from around the world on Dirt Vision, Grant fearlessly banged the Bakersfield boards over the final few laps and took the lead less than a foot before the checkered flag.
Sexton's thrilling win that night sent the crowd into a frenzy and earned him a standing ovation. His enthusiastic victory speech afterward charged the crowd up one more time before the CLS turned the track over to the World of Outlaws.
For Grant, whose mantel at home already sports the 2021 POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Championship hardware, 2019 POWRi Nationals Night #1 winner's trophy, and the 2023 USAC/CRA Rookie of the Year award, Friday will only be his second lightning sprint car race of 2024. His first came minutes away from the family's Lakeside, California compound at the Barona Speedway on May 11th. That night, the young driver arrived late at the track and had to start last in each race. In the main event, he started 13th and was up to fourth before the lap five mark. By the end of the 20-lapper, he had advanced another spot to finish third and win the race Hard Charger award.
In addition to both of the Sexton's racing in the USCS event at Santa Maria on Saturday, USAC/CRA star AJ Bender of San Diego will step into the team's lightning sprint for the CLS race at Ventura. Bender has been a lethal hired gun for SGR in the past. Last year, in November's Hangtown 100 at Placerville, he won the first two nights and finished second to Grant at the finale. That bookended a season that saw him win the March SWLS opener at Imperial Valley. In 2021, Bender won a round of the Cal Cup in Lemoore and placed second on all three nights at the Hangtown 100 in Placerville in an SGR car.
Advance tickets for the World of Outlaws/CLS show at Bakersfield are available now at the following link: https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/The track is located at 5001 North Chester Ext. Ave., Bakersfield (93308). The track website is bakersfieldspeedway.com, and the office phone number is (661) 393-3373.
Adult tickets for Ventura are $22.00. For seniors 65 and over, it is $18.00. Military and students with id also get in for $18.00. Kids 12 and under are free when they are accompanied by an adult. The track is located on the Ventura County Fairgrounds at 10 W. Harbor Boulevard (93001). The website is http://venturaraceway.com/ and the office phone number is (805) 648-RACE.
Fans from out of town can catch both of the races streaming live this weekend. Friday's race will be on Dirt Vision and Saturday's show will be on Flo Racing.
Grant and Brent were last on track over Labor Day weekend at the Avanti Windows and Doors USAC/CRA race at Kevin Harvick's Kern Raceway on Saturday and the USCS race at Santa Maria the next night. At Kern, things started off bright enough for Grant when he qualified ninth fastest in the 27-car field. In his heat, he finished fourth, which was one position better than Brent, who earlier in the night qualified 18th. Grant started the main in ninth, with Brent coming from 18th. Unfortunately, Grant's night ended early when he broke a drag link. That stuck him with a 20th-place finish. Brent, who is 52, started 18th in the main event and moved forward to finish 13th.
The following night at Santa Maria, Grant was third fastest in his qualifying group and 10th overall with a lap of 14.105. His dad's qualifying time was 14.333. That was the fourth fastest in his group and 15th best of the night.
Brent had success in his 10-lap heat race. He started on the pole and steered his white and orange #44 to his first USCS heat victory. Grant was in heat three and moved up one position to place second.
When the 30-lap main event pushed through the pit gate, Brent was starting fifth. Grant was a couple of rows behind on the inside of row five in ninth. Unfortunately for Grant, his main event ended early for the second night in a row with another issue.
Things went better for Brent, who had his best run in a full-size car this year. However, it was not without a problem. Running in the top five early in the race, he had to go to the back of the pack after going around on the back chute. As the yellow flag came out for his mishap, Brent had to restart at the back. From there, he stayed focused and drove all the way up to ninth.
Sexton Gatlin Racing would like to thank the following companies for making the 2024 season possible. East County Electric Works, Keys Brothers, BR Motorsports, Maxima Oil, Automated Interiors, Sexton Fire Protection, BK Wings, Troy Dirt.
If you or your company are interested in becoming a marketing partner with Sexton Gatlin Racing in 2024, please call (619) 454-6945 or E-mail mailto:sextonfire@cox.net or mailto:sextonfire@gmail.com.
Brent Sexton 2024 Results
2/24/24 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 15th A Main
3/1/24 Imperial Valley Raceway SoCal Lightning Sprints 4th A Main
3/2/24 Imperial Valley Raceway SoCal Lightning Sprints 2nd A Main
3/8/24 Imperial Valley Raceway Imperial Valley 360/410 Sprint Cars 12th A Main
3/9/24 Imperial Valley Raceway Imperial Valley 360/410 Sprint Cars 16th A Main
3/16/24 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 13th A Main
3/23/24 Cocopah Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 14th A Main
4/6/24 Mohave Valley Raceway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 17th A Main
4/20/24 Bakersfield Speedway USCS Sprint Cars 25th A Main
4/20/24 Bakersfield Speedway California Lightning Sprints 6th A Main
4/27/24 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 16th A Main
5/18/24 Bakersfield Speedway California Lightning Sprints 6th A Main
5/25/24 Barona Speedway SoCal Lightning Sprints 1st A Main
6/1/24 Ventura Raceway USCS Sprint Cars 10th A Main
6/8/24 Barona Speedway SoCal Lightning Sprints 5th A Main
6/22/24 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 13th A Main
7/6/24 Santa Maria Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 15th A Main
7/13/24 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 9th A Main
7/20/24 Ventura Raceway USCS Sprint Cars 7th B Main
8/10/24 Santa Maria Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 14th A Main
8/31/24 Kevin Harvick's Kern Raceway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 13th A Main
9/1/24 Santa Maria Raceway USCS Sprint Cars 9th A Main
Grant Sexton 2024 Results
2/24/24 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 18th A Main
3/8/24 Imperial Valley Raceway Imperial Valley 360/410 Sprint Cars 9th A Main
3/9/24 Imperial Valley Raceway Imperial Valley 360/410 Sprint Cars 5th A Main
3/16/24 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 21st A Main
3/23/24 Cocopah Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 16th A Main
4/6/24 Mohave Valley Raceway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 11th A Main
4/20/24 Bakersfield Speedway USCS Sprint Cars 16th A Main
4/27/24 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 19th A Main
5/11/24 Barona Speedway So Cal Lightning Sprints 3rd A Main
5/18/24 Bakersfield Speedway USCS Sprint Car Series 5th A Main
6/1/24 Ventura Raceway USCS Sprint Cars 3rd A Main
6/22/24 Perris Auto Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 6th A Main
7/6/24 Santa Maria Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 20th A Main
7/20/24 Ventura Raceway USCS Sprint Cars 7th A Main
8/10/24 Santa Maria Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 23rd A Main
8/31/24 Kevin Harvick's Kern Raceway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars 20th A Main
9/1/24 Santa Maria Raceway USCS Sprint Cars 24th A Main
Braydin Collie 2024 Results
7/6/24 Santa Maria Speedway California Lightning Sprints 6th A Main
8/3/24 Barona Speedway SoCal Lightning Sprints 5th A Main
8/17/24 Barona Speedway SoCal Lightning Sprints 9th A Main
This release was produced by Scott Daloisio. Contact (909) 226-7768 mailto:sdaloisiosports@gmail.com