By Scott Daloisio
(Perris, CA, November 23, 2015) When the historic 75th running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix rolls into Perris Auto Speedway on Thanksgiving Night, fans will be treated to a format change that they had requested with more action on the night for the Honda USAC National and Western States Midgets. In addition to the traditional qualifying, B main and 98-lap championship main, drivers will also have to run heat races giving fans more bang for their racing buck.
“Normally we qualify all of the cars and half the field gets seeded into the main event by their qualifying times,” promoter Don Kazarian told the crowd on the final night of the 20th Annual Oval Nationals. “Then we would run a couple of B mains to seed the rest of the field into the 98-lap main event. This year everybody is going to have to qualify and nobody gets seeded into the main event through qualifying. They will have to get into the main the old fashioned way by transferring from the heat races. If they do not transfer from their heat race, they will have to go to the B main and try to transfer from there. It is a whole new ball game and the fans are going to see a lot more racing.”
NASCAR Sprint Cup star Kyle Larson of Elk Grove, California, defending Turkey Night winner Christopher Bell of Norman, Oklahoma, 4-time USAC/CRA Sprint Car champion Damion Gardner of Concord, California, USAC National Midget point leader Tracy Hines of New Castle, Indiana, 3-time Western Midget champion Ronnie Gardner of Corona, California and Rutherford, California’s Rico Abreu are just a handful of the racing stars who will be on hand to try and get their name inscribed on the historic “Aggie Trophy.”
Kyle Larson with Cary Agajanian (left) and J.C. Agajanian Jr. as he accepts the famous Aggie Trophy after winning the 98-lap Turkey Night Grand Prix at Perris Auto Speedway in 2012. Please give photo credit to Doug Allen.
Spectator gates will open at 3:00 PM and fans can meet, get autographs and take photos with all of the competing drivers on the front straightaway from 3:30 to 4:15. At the same time, some of the legends of Turkey Night, including 8-time winner and 2015 Grand Marshal Ron Shuman, will be signing autographs in the track’s sports bar.
Fast qualifier on the night will receive the beautiful, one of a kind Jason Leffler Fast Time Award.
Wheel packing will begin at 5:15 with qualifying at 6:00. The first heat race will take the green flag at 7:00.
For fans wanting turkey dinner, the track will have turkey dinners available at the concession stand.
For fans who want a sneak peek at the competition, there will be a practice session ONLY for Turkey Night Grand Prix cars on Wednesday night that will be free to watch from the grandstands. $2.00 pizza, soda and beer will be available. The practice will begin between 5:00 and 6:00 PM.
Advance tickets are available 24-hours a day by calling (800) 595-4849 or online at: http://pas.tix.com/Schedule.aspx?OrgNum=7. For fans who choose not to buy advance tickets, there will be plenty of tickets available for everyone at the track on race night.
Camping will be available for $25.00 per night for beginning at noon on Wednesday, November 25th.
Perris Auto Speedway wants to thank its corporate sponsors for the 2015 season. AA Lynco Painting, All Coast Construction, All Seasons Tree Repair, Amsoil, Archibald’s Restaurants, Ayers Hotel and Spa, BlueLine Rentals, Budweiser, California Budget Finance, CamGuard, Champion Towing, City of Perris, Perris Com Ecco, Daytona Boat & RV Storage, Drop Zone, Edelbrock, Engine Pro, Harry’s Café, HD Industries, Hoosier Tires, Horizon Solar, K&N Engineering, Livingwaters Hospice, Luke’s Transmission, Moon Nursery, Paul Oil Company, Pepsi-Cola, Pick-A-Part Auto Salvage, Pizza Factory, Red Lion Inns and Suites, Robert Dempster, Scott Sales, Shaver Racing Engines, Sherwin-Williams, Stassines Cross, Square H, Swedish Speed, Trench Shoring, US Foods and Valley News.
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Video and DVD productions of all racing events at Perris Auto Speedway are available from Loudpedal Productions. For more information on these productions you can contact them by calling (805) 844-3854, E-mailing mailto:trtruex@gmail.com or you can visit the web site LoudPedal Productions
Perris Auto Speedway is located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds (home of October’s Southern California Fair), approximately one hour east of Los Angeles and one hour North of San Diego. To get to the track, take the 215 freeway, exit on the Ramona Expressway and go three miles east to the fairgrounds.
racesatthepas@aol.com is the only authorized Internet address to issue official media news released from The Perris Auto Speedway or Oval Entertainment.