TURKEY NIGHT GRAND PRIX USAC MIDGET PURSE INCREASES FOR 2023 AT VENTURA
Ventura, California (November 16, 2023)………An increase in the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship feature purse is among the added attractions for this year’s 82nd running of the ARP Turkey Night Grand Prix Presented by the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame.
The 98-lap main event for the midgets at California’s Ventura Raceway on Saturday night, November 25, will pay a purse that has continually increased in recent years.
With ARP’s involvement in the Turkey Night Grand Prix, the car count for the midget portion of the event has exceeded more than 50 drivers and cars each year, producing some of the largest fields on the USAC tour each year. This year’s event already features an entry list with 53 drivers and cars at press time. Furthermore, in 2021, ARP boosted the purse to $10,000-to-win, adding even more prestige to the longest-running midget racing event on the planet.
Meanwhile, the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame has come on board this year to increase the payout to $750 to start in addition to adding a $500 hard charger award for the driver who advances the most positions in that night’s feature race. Provisional starters are excluded from hard charger honors.
The Turkey Night Grand Prix is the greatest tradition in midget racing, dating back to its inaugural edition won by Bob Swanson in 1934. The Agajanian Promotions event has been contested at Jim Naylor’s Ventura Raceway annually since 2016.
“The Turkey Night Grand Prix is one of the most prestigious events in all of racing,” Naylor said. “We couldn’t do it without the assistance of people like Ken Clapp from the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame and from ARP who show their dedication for the event by continually helping us elevate it to another level year after year.”
The event boasts a winners list that includes the likes of Indianapolis 500 winners Johnnie Parsons, Parnelli Jones and A.J. Foyt. Auto racing greats Tony Bettenhausen, Gary Bettenhausen, Bubby Jones, Ron Shuman, Chuck Gurney, Stan Fox, Jason Leffler, Tony Stewart, Dave Darland, Bryan Clauson, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell have won it in recent years.
Fifty USAC National Midgets are entered for this year’s edition of Turkey Night, including past event winners Tanner Thorson (2015), Logan Seavey (2021) and Justin Grant (2022).
Shuman has the most Turkey Night wins with eight. Bob Swanson, Billy Boat, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell each have won the Turkey Night Grand Prix on three occasions.
This year’s weekend will once again feature the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Cars, which also features an entry list that has already surpassed 50 drivers and cars.
SCHEDULE:
Friday, November 24: Grandstands open at 3pm. Midget practice, plus sprint car hot laps, qualifying, heat races and main event.
Saturday, November 25: Grandstands open at 3pm. Sprint car semis and main events plus Turkey Night Grand Prix midget hot laps, qualifying, last chance qualifiers, semis and the 98-lap feature.
Advance tickets, priced from $22-45, can be purchased at www.venturaraceway.com. Additional information is available at 805-648-7223.
2023 TURKEY NIGHT GRAND PRIX USAC MIDGET FEATURE PAYOUT:
1. $10,000
2. $5,000
3. $4,000
4. $3,000
5. $2,500
6. $2,000
7. $1,500
8. $1,200
9. $1,150
10. $1,100
11. $1,050
12. $1,000
13. $950
14. $925
15. $900
16. $875
17. $850
18. $825
19. $800
20. $775
21-26. $750
