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Bakersfield, CA... June 22,
2002....David Cardey made it two straight wins on the California Lightning
Sprint schedule and three overall in 2002 as he led the final 19 laps to win
Saturday night's 20 lap feature at Bakersfield Speedway Park. Greg Bragg from
nearby Visalia has dominated the winner's circle at the 1/3 mile clay oval over
the years and a couple early incidents put him on the pole for the 20 lapper. He
led just one lap before D Cardey took over. Bragg is the 2002 season point
leader and he ran second for those final 19 laps with Brent Sexton a race long
third. The busy Bragg had won the Modified Mini Sprint 600 feature at Plaza Park
on Friday night.
Some rough recent events saw the traveling series arrive at Bakersfield with
just 22 cars and four of those were done before the heat races were over. Paul
Townsend won the first heat from the pole with third starter Jonny Bates second
over last starter B Sexton. D Cardey lined up fifth for the second heat, but
blasted to the win with last starter Bragg second in the San Diego based Ken
Alden car. Talented female rookie Ashley Walker won heat 3 from her pole start
with outside front row starter Steve Cardey second over Jim Henderson. The field
was reduced by one more car when third place heat finisher Ernie Bartley III
pitted on a feature pace lap. Gary Sexton flipped for an early race red flag and
Townsend's race was over as he pitted from the pole. Bragg led the opening lap
over outside front row starter D Cardey, B Sexton, Bates and Henderson. After
the rough early start, the field ran the rest of the 20 lapper without a single
slowdown. D Cardey grabbed the lead from Bragg on lap 2 and maintained it as
they worked heavy lapped traffic through the event. B Sexton was a race long
third ahead of Bates and Henderson. Fifteenth starter Robert Sczymczak was
sixth, the final lead lap car after the quick 20 rounds. S Cardey ran 7th over
Jesse Dean, Lonnie Clabaugh and Denise Sczymczak.
Summary
Heat 1-Paul Townsend, Jonny Bates,
Brent Sexton, Lonnie Clabaugh, Gary Sexton.
Heat 2-David Cardey, Greg Bragg, Ernie Bartley, Karl Benefiel, Josh Williams.
Heat 3-Ashley Walker, Steve Cardey, Jim Henderson, Jesse Dean, Robert Sczymczak.
Main-D Cardey, Bragg, B Sexton, Bates, Henderson, R Sczymczak, S Cardey, Dean,
Clabaugh, Denise Sczymczak, Dylan Morris, Mike Barnette, Walker, Williams,
Benefiel, G Sexton, Townsend
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