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Turkey Night Grand Prix: This Southern California tradition is the West Coast's Indy 500
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The 69th Annual Turkey Night (Photo: Janelle Jalbert)
Turkey Night at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale is a nearly seven-decade, Thanksgiving Day tradition in Southern California, bringing USAC midget teams from around the country to what has been touted as the “Indy 500 for midgets.”
The event attracts top-tier names from various motorsports arenas. Most recently, NASCAR notables such as Tony Stewart, Kasay Kahne, and Jason Leffler have been major draws to the track overlooking the 605 Freeway. Other participants have included Jeff Gordon, Mario Andretti, P.J. Jones, Kenny Irwin Jr., Parnelli Jones, and A.J. Foyt to name a mere handful of the storied entrants and winners.
The Lucas Oil Turkey Night Grand Prix is the second-oldest motorsports event in the nation, with the Indy 500, which ran its first race in 1911, being the only race that is older. The event began at a multi-use facility in Los Angeles named Gilmore Stadium. The stadium held 18,000 spectators and was the brainchild of real estate developers and the auto industry, which hoped to pull people out to the West Coast. It opened in the spring of 1934 and was demolished in 1952 to make way for the CBS Television City.
The event has been held at several venues since its inception including: Gilmore Stadium (1934-1950), Gardena Stadium (1955-1959), Ascot Park (1960-90), Saugus Speedway (1991), Perris Auto Speedway (1996) and now Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.
“Like Indy, it's deep in history, and if you win, your name is added to a prestigious list,” according to J.C. Agajanian Jr., whose family has promoted the annual Thanksgiving event since the mid-1950s.
The 69th annual Turkey Night
This year’s event boosts a field of over 100 entrants from the USAC Mopar National and Western Midget Series, the USAC Western Sprint Car Series, and the USAC California Pavement Ford Focus Series.
Toyota Speedway at Irwindale spectator gates open at 4 p.m. Thursday, with a fan appreciation autograph session with drivers and cars on the track scheduled at 5:45 p.m. Racing is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Toyota will have the Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot Camry show car available in its vehicle pavilion, and fans will get the chance to sit behind the wheel of the No. 20 car for pictures.
Prior to the gates opening, the Speedway, several Turkey Night racers, and the Foothill Unity Center will be serving dinner to needy families and can still benefit from donations in putting together the turkey dinner. Toyota is hosting a busload of Marines from Camp Pendleton.
More information regarding tickets, schedule, and the racers to watch out for can be found at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale website.
For more information on Southern California Motorsports, check out:
- Southern California represents at the 42nd Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
- Hendrick at Homestead: Jimmie Johnson takes title, team takes triple, Hendrick handles emergency
- Jimmie Johnson put on a clinic: Let's talk legacy
Janelle Jalbert is a fan of a variety of racing formats and equally enjoys the history of the sport. Janelle grew up in an auto mechanic’s family and swears that there is carb spray running through her veins. She can be reached via email for both comments and story ideas. You can follow Janelle as the Southern California Motorsports Examiner on Twitter as @SoCalMotorsport.
Janelle also serves as the NASCAR Truck Series Examiner. Feel free to join the discussion about the hard racing in the CWTS at the NASCAR Truck Series Examiner fan page on Facebook.
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