The Automotive Racing Products Turkey Night Grand Prix is an annual race of

midget cars Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like "dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of ca ...

. It is the third oldest race in the United States behind the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

and the

Pikes Peak International Hill Climb The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), also known as The Race to the Clouds, is an annual automobile hillclimb to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, USA. The track measures and has over 156 turns, climbing from the sta ...

. It has been held on

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

night most years since 1934, where it was founded by

Earl Gilmore Earl Bell Gilmore (1887–1964) was the son of Arthur Fremont Gilmore and took control of the family businesses, including the Gilmore Oil Company, in 1918. He was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum The Indianapolis Motor Speedw ...

at his

Gilmore Stadium Gilmore Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Los Angeles, California. It was opened in May 1934 and demolished in 1952, when the land was used to build CBS Television City. The stadium held 18,000. It was located next to Gilmore Field. The stad ...

in Los Angeles. It stayed at this location until 1950. Since that time it has been held at various southern California race tracks. Since 1955, the race has been promoted by J. C. Agajanian and later his descendants, currently by son Cary. Traditionally a dirt track event, it has sometimes been on asphalt during the turn of the 21st century, although it returned to dirt in 2012. The feature race was held over 98 laps in the modern era, the same number that Agajanian used for his racecars. The race is the traditional end of the midget and sprint car racing season in North America, although many top stars typically take a few weeks off before returning to racing in Australia or New Zealand, with the Southern Hemisphere summer leading to an "international season" that starts Boxing Day. There was no race in 1942–44 (World War II) nor 2020 (California state pandemic restrictions). As the USAC Midget schedule in November has expanded with the Hangtown 100 in Placerville the week before, and the

Merced County Fairgrounds The Merced County Fairgrounds are home to the annual Merced County Fair, the county fair of Merced County, California. The Merced County Fair was first held on September 2, 1891. The first fair was held on 18th Street in Merced and was a joint co ...

meeting on the Tuesday and Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, the Turkey Night Grand Prix moved away from Thanksgiving night in 2021, instead being split across the following two days with practice on Friday, and the heat races and feature on Saturday.

Drivers

The event is considered a major event in the midget cars series. It frequently attracts drivers from other disciplines, especially former drivers that have moved to the highest levels of auto racing; the major auto racing circuits in the United States end their seasons prior to Thanksgiving, so major drivers do not have any schedule conflicts with their main circuits. Drivers that have competed in the event include

Parnelli Jones Rufus Parnell Jones (born August 12, 1933) is an American former professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race. In 1962, he became the ...

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...

Johnnie Parsons Johnnie Woodrow Parsons'' The Talk of Gasoline Alley'' – 1070-AM WIBC, May 15, 2007 (July 4, 1918 – September 8, 1984) was an American race car driver from Los Angeles, California who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1950. During his racing care ...

Bill Vukovich William John Vukovich Sr. (; December 13, 1918 – May 30, 1955) was an American automobile racing driver of Serbian descent. He won the 1953 and 1954 Indianapolis 500, plus two more American Automobile Association National Championship races, ...

Danny Oakes Danny Oakes (July 18, 1911 – January 13, 2007) was an American midget car hall of fame driver. Early life Daniel G. Oakes became interested in racing when he delivered morning and evening newspapers in his hometown of Santa Barbara, Californ ...

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...

J. J. Yeley Christopher Beltram Hernandez "J. J." Yeley (born October 5, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the Nos. 13 and 66 cars for MBM Motorsports and part-time in ...

Jason Leffler Jason Charles Leffler (September 16, 1975 – June 12, 2013) was an American professional open-wheel and stock car racing driver. Leffler began racing in the open-wheel ranks, competing in the 2000 Indianapolis 500 before moving to primaril ...

Kasey Kahne Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American dirt track racing driver and former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018, driving the No. 95 Dumont Jets/Procore, Procore ...

, and

Kyle Larson Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson is the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champ ...

. After Kaylee Bryson qualified fastest for the 2021 event, she became the first woman to start on the pole position in the 80th event. Her Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian teammate Taylor Reimer qualified second, and they became the first women to start first and second in USAC National Midget history. Bryson led the first 17 laps to become the first woman to lead the event.

Locations

Several locations have hosted the race. *

(1934–1950)98 laps "Turkey Night" in honor of J.C. Agajanian

Irwindale Speedway Irwindale is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 1,422 at the 2010 census, down from 1,446 at the 2000 census. The ZIP Codes serving the area are 91010, which is shared with Duarte, 91702 ...

; Retrieved December 12, 2007 (now Television City Studios) *

Gardena Stadium Gardena may refer to one of the following Places *Gardena, California, a city *Gardena, North Dakota, a city * Gardena, Idaho, an unincorporated community *Gardena Pass, a high mountain pass in South Tyrol, Italy *Val Gardena, a valley in the Dolo ...

(1955–1959) * Ascot Park (1960–1974, 1976–1990) * Speedway 605 (1975) *

Saugus Speedway Saugus Speedway is a 1/3 mile racetrack in Saugus, Santa Clarita, California on a site. The track hosted one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event in 1995, which was won by Ken Schrader. Schrader became the first NASCAR driver to win in a race i ...

(1991) * Bakersfield Speedway (1992–1995, 1998) *

Perris Auto Speedway Perris Auto Speedway, also known as the PAS, is a 1/2 mile clay oval track located at 18700 Lake Perris Drive on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds in Perris, California. The track features a raised backstretch offering fans a better view over the infie ...

(1996, 2012–2015) *

Ventura Raceway Ventura Raceway is a 1/5 mile, high-banked clay oval racetrack located at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura, California, United States. It is owned and operated by Jim Naylor, who is also the track announcer. In 2010 Jim was inducted in ...

(1997, 2016–present) *

(1999–2011)

List of winners

References

Irwindale Turkey Night Grand Prix Preview
November 3, 1999; motorsport.com; Retrieved February 5, 2007; includes winners list before 1999

scrafan.com; Retrieved February 7, 2007

External links

{{Thanksgiving American open wheel series races Motorsport competitions in California Thanksgiving (United States) Midget car racing