IRWINDALE, California — - It all started 77 years and hundreds of circle track racing champions ago In Hollywood, just north of 3rd and Fairfax, right where Farmer's Market, CBS Studio Center, and "THE" Grove now make parking something of a Ponzi scheme and being SEEN even more important than what one sees
What started at Gilmore Stadium in 1934, a special night of racing on Thanksgiving Night in Los Angeles, has become an annual racing tradition only surpassed by the grandfather of them all, the Indianapolis 500.
And the Thanksgiving Night Grand Prix for Midget Cars (to refer to the event by its given name) to this very day, still supplies that great race with fast new drivers who've annually headed for southern California on the last Thursday in November to duke it out with the best of them in angry little beasts called USAC Midgets. Short-wheelbase, high-horsepower, slicks, tippy little bombs of racing cars with no wings, no spoilers, tunnels, turning vanes, diffusers (blown or otherwise), or just about any "aero" at all.
These are class A (for "authentic"), quintessentially high-strung oval track racing cars: four open wheels shod with fat slick tires, a tight, vertical cockpit that literally requires the driver to stand ON the gas because it's so compact, a bit of vestigial bodywork (but only enough to display sponsor's names and logos and no more) The sum of the parts uncompromised by the need to prove anything except the single fact of who the best and bravest driver is over the 98-laps of the Grand Prix. The purse is modest by most standards, but the recognition level is sky-high.
Win Turkey Night and write your name among the all-time best in the business on the towering J.C. Agajanian Trophy named for the man who brought the event back in 1955 after Gilmore Speedway closed in 1950. The Agajanian family still heads the promotion of this tradition-rich event to this very day. Bob Swanson's name starts the list in 1934 and Johnnie Parsons, Bubby Jones, A.J. Foyt, Stan Fox, Mel Kenyon, Jason Leffler, Ron Shuman, Bill Boat, Parnelli Jones, and Tony Stewart are all there on the "Aggie" (as the perpetual trophy is nicknamed) just to name a few.
And all that tradition, competition, history, and raw racing is back on center stage in America on Thanksgiving Night, November 24, 2011 at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, California just 25 or so miles east of where it all began.
Adding to the show on the tough Toyota Speedway half-mile oval will be the Midget cars "bigger brothers", the USAC Sprint Cars. V-8-powered bolides that share all of the modest lack of extras (like doors, painted-on headlights, and tops) and who, like the midgets, are built, worked-on, and driven with no other thought than to be the fastest open-wheeler at the facility that evening and to sustain that speed for the full compliment of laps on the docket.
But wait, there's more! No three-ring circus is complete without a third ring and (of course!) Turkey Night at Toyota Speedway has one. The Ford Focus Midgets are a division that combines the best of midget racing with a tried-and-proven Ford Focus-derived engine that's exactly the same for everyone on the track to level the playing field so that driving talent can shine forth.
Hint: there are a ton of those "youngsters to watch" that we're talking about who will be on the track on Thursday, November 24, and a whole lot of serious fans in the stands who'll either be having Turkey dinner early, or on Friday, or like the real Turkey Night fans for 70 times before them, very happy to be "feasting" on a track dog or burger, and a cold one or a warm cup of coffee and taking part in one of the great motorsports traditions See ya at the Speedway! Turkey Night!
TICKETS ARE ON SALE ONLINE NOW AT: www.toyotaspeedwayatirwindale.com Or By Phone at: (626) 358-1100
