Perris, CA | Nov. 26, 2013 - For the second consecutive year, Midget racing’s longest running and most historical race will stay on a dirt trackwhen Oval Entertainment and Agajanian Promotions present the 73 Annual Running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Perris Auto Speedway on Thanksgiving Night. Spectator gates will open at 2:00 PM, qualifying will begin at 6:00 and the first race will take the green flag at 7:15.
“It is going to be a full day of racing and fun for the entire family,” longtime Perris Auto Speedway promoter Don Kazarian said on Monday. “There will be autograph sessions for early arriving fans, a live band and, of course, the best racers in the nation competing for Midget racing’s most prestigious title and a chance to kiss the Agie trophy. We also hope a lot of fans come out early in the day to tailgate in the spectator parking lot.”
There will be two autograph sessions before the race. The first one will be from 2:30 – 3:30 on the front straightaway of the famous Riverside County clay oval featuring all of the drivers and cars entered in this year’s race. From 3:30 to 4:30 there will be another autograph session in the track’s sports bar featuring some of the legends of the Turkey Night Grand Prix including this year’s Grand Marshal Sleepy Tripp, past Turkey Night winners Rick Goudy (1978), Kevin Olsen (1983), Chuck Gurney (1988 & 1989) and Jordan Hermansador (1994).
In the racing portion of the show, the fastest 14 cars in qualifying will be locked in to the 98-lap main event. All of the other cars will contest a pair of qualifying races with the top eight from each of those gaining their tickets into the feature. Those who do not proceed to the main event from qualifying or the qualifying races and who have a provisional, will be eligible to join the main event as well.
“Last year more than 30-cars started the 98-lap main event,” Kazarian said. “It was a great race and it was fascinating watching the drivers adapt to the track which changed several times in the race. An ever changing track and drivers & cars having to adapt to it is one of the most fascinating parts of dirt track racing. Some are able to come to grips with the track and some are not. It is a science for sure.”
Fans who wish to catch an early glimpse of the competitors can attend the pre-race practice at the track on Wednesday night. The practice is free for fans in the grandstands. The spectator gates will open at 4:00 PM for the practice and cars will be on the track from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.
Two first time newly crowned USAC champions will be in the event. Norman, Oklahoma’s Christopher Bell has already sewed up the Honda National Midget championship along with Norco, California’s Ronnie Gardner who was recently crowned the Honda Western Midget Dirt and the Overall Western Midget champion. Riverside native Darren Hagen, who recently sewed up the National Midget Pavement Series title will, also be in the star studded field.
In the event weather intrudes on the race on Thanksgiving night, it will be moved to Friday. If weather were to intervene on both Thursday and Friday, the race will be held on Saturday.
Thursday’s event will bring a close to the 18th successful season of racing at Perris Auto Speedway. The off season will not be a long one as the track will kick off the 2014 campaign on Saturday March 1st with the Oil Twins Amsoil PASSCAR Series followed by the Sokola Shootout for the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, Senior Sprints, Young Gun Sprints and the California Lightning Sprint Cars on March 15th. Also, many in the sprint car world are already abuzz about the historic April 12th “Southern California Sprint Car Spectacular” featuring the World of Outlaws, USAC/CRA Sprint Cars and PAS Senior Sprints. It will be the first time USAC/CRA and the WoO have raced on the same card giving fans a rare look at both traditional (non wing) and winged 410 sprint car racing on the same night.
Tickets to the longest running and most prestigious Midget race in the world will be available at the track ticket office on the day of the race. Advance tickets are available 24-7 by calling 1-800 595-4849 or by visiting the following link online: http://pas.tix.com/Schedule.
For those who cannot attend the race in person, it will be streamed live online on “The Cushion.” Cost of the PPV broadcast is $24.95. There is a 100-mile blackout radius around the track. Fans who wish to get more information, to purchase the PPV or to see what other races “The Cushion” has On-Demand, can visit the web site at: http://thecushion.com/
Fans attending the race in person who would like to camp at the track can do so for $25.00 per night. The campground will open at noon on Tuesday, November 26th. Fans can tailgate in the spectator parking lot on Thanksgiving.
The remaining 2013 PAS schedule is listed at the end of this release.
Perris Auto Speedway wants to thank its corporate sponsors for the 2012 season. 1-800LoanMart, 777 Racecars, Aaron's, Ahern Rentals, All Coast Construction, Amsoil, Ayers Hotel and Spa, Budweiser, CamGuard, Champion Towing, City of Perris, Comfort Inn, Day Construction, Daytona Boat & RV Storage, Edelbrok, Frazee Paint, HD Industries, Hoosier Tires, K&N Engineering, McMahon’s RV, OneDirt.com, P.I.P.E., Pep Boys, Pepsi-Cola, Pick-A-Part Auto Salvage, Prolong Super Lubricants, Running Waters Hospice, Scott Sales, Snap-on, Soboba Casino, Sprint Car Driving Experience, Square H, Swedish Speed, Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply, Trench Shoring, US Foods, Valley Auto Salvage, White Nuckl USA and Zanzabuku Sports Lounge.
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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 sitehttp://www.loudpedalvideo.com/
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.
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