Sexton/Gatlin Racing
[email protected]
[email protected]
(619) 454-6945
For Immediate Release
SEXTON/GATLIN RACING WRAPS UP 2018 CALIFORNIA LIGHTNING SPRINT CAR SEASON!
(Lakeside, CA, December 4, 2018) The Sexton/Gatlin Racing trio of father Brent and his two teenage sons, Dalton and Grant, finished up the 2018 USAC California Lightning Sprint Car season at the “2nd Annual Western Lightning Sprint Car Championships” at the Bakersfield Speedway in late November. Patriarch Brent led the way for the racing family when he placed seventh in the 25-lap main event on the 1/3 of a mile banked clay oval.
Twenty-nine cars signed into the pits for the 2018 season finale. Brent, a two-time series champion, was quickest of the Sexton clan in qualifying when he stopped the clocks at 13.023. That was good for seventh fastest. Fourteen-year-old Grant was 19th with a lap of 13.688 and his soon to be 16-year-old brother Dalton was 22nd with a time of 13.884.
Heat racing saw all three Sextons lineup in the first eight-lapper. Brent again top scored the family in that outing with a third-place finish. Grant was three positions behind his dad in sixth and Dalton finished seventh. By virtue of taking third in the heat, Brent earned a ticket to the six-lap dash which determined the starting spots for the first four rows in the main event. Grant and Dalton’s finishes did not get them a starting spot in the A main, so they would have to try again in a stacked semi.
Brent did well in the dash by finishing third. That placed him on the inside of the second row to start the main. Grant and Dalton finished sixth and eighth in the 10-lap semi. That was enough for both to qualify for the final A main event of 2018.
As mentioned previously, Brent was starting third in the final race of the year. Dalton was coming from the 18th spot (outside row nine) and Grant began in the 19th spot inside row 20. Engine gremlins, which the team had pretty much avoided all year long, reared their ugly head in the main for both Grant and Dalton. Grant lost an engine on the 14th lap and finished 20th. Dalton wisely pulled out after 21 laps when his car began to overheat and he was thus saddled with a 19th place finish.
With the two boys done early, it was up to father Brent to fly the family flag until the end and he did so with a seventh-place finish to bring the curtain down on 2018.
In 20 races on the year, Brent racked up three second-place finishes, eight top-five outings and 15 top 10’s. He ended up fourth in the championship standings. In his 20 races, rookie Grant had a season-high of a fourth-place finish and he crossed under the checkered flag five times in the top 10. Grant ended up eighth in the championship standings and was the “Rookie of the Year.” Dalton missed five races due to his high school football commitments, but still recorded one third-place finish and like his brother, had five top 10’s. He ended up 12th in the standings and he was second in the “Rookie of the Year” chase.
Work has already started for 2019. The cars are stripped down and the team is going over every inch of them so they are top of the line and race ready for the first green flag of the new season.
To keep up with all the exploits of the Sexton/Gatlin Racing Team, be sure to visit it’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Sexton-Gatlin-Racing-1173560279445564/
Sexton/Gatlin Racing would like to thank the following companies for making the 2018 season possible. Sexton Fire Protection, Scotty and Jimmy Keys, BK Wings, Victory Graphics, Henchcraft, Sam Coe Performance and Swift Powdercoat. If you or your company would like to be a part of the Sexton/Gatlin team for the 2019 campaign, please call (619) 454-6945 or E-mail [email protected]
SEXTON/GATLIN 2018 CALIFORNIA LIGHTNING SPRINT CAR SERIES RACING SCHEDULE
March 31 – Placerville Speedway – BCRA – Brent 2nd - Grant 14th - Dalton 17th
April 14 – Ventura Raceway – USAC National – Brent 5th – Grant 7th – Dalton DNS
April 21 – Bakersfield Speedway – USAC National – Brent 7th – Dalton 9th – Grant 18th
May 5 – Ventura Raceway – USAC National – Brent 2nd – Dalton 10th – Grant 12th
May 19th – Barona Speedway – Jim Squire Memorial – Brent 4th – Dalton 8th – Grant 18th
May 26 – Perris Auto Speedway – USAC National – Salute to Indy – Brent 11th – Dalton 12th – Grant 16th
June 16 – Bakersfield Speedway – Civil War vs BCRA – Brent 6th – Grant 12th – Dalton 21st
July 7 – Ventura Raceway – USAC National – Grant 7th – Dalton 11th – Brent 19th
July 21 – Santa Maria Raceway – Civil War vs BCRA – Grant 17th – Dalton 18th – Brent 19th
August 1 – Ventura Raceway – USAC National – Ventura County Fair – Brent 2nd – Grant 14th
August 11 – Merced Speedway – BCRA – Brent 8th – Grant 13th
August 18 – Perris Auto Speedway – USAC National – Grant 4th – Brent 5th – Dalton 11th
August 25 – Barona Speedway – Brent 5th – Dalton 12th – Grant 13th
September 8 – Bakersfield Speedway – USAC National – Brent 7th – Grant 12th
September 21 – Placerville Speedway – Civil War vs BCRA – Brent 18th – Grant 10th in B-Main
September 22 – Placerville Speedway – Civil War vs BCRA – Brent 8th – Grant 15th – Dalton 18th
October 6 – Ventura Raceway – USAC National – Brent 10th – Grant 16th
October 20th – Barona Speedway – Brent 4th – Grant 6th – Dalton 7th
October 27 – Ventura Raceway – USAC National – Dalton 3rd – Grant 6th – Brent 9th
November 17- Bakersfield Speedway USAC National – Brent 7th – Dalton 19th – Grant 20th
December – River City Expo Center – Tulsa, Oklahoma
This release produced by Scott Daloisio. Contact (909) 226-7768 mailto:[email protected]
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