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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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Turkey Night 2006 by Norm Bogan |
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This was a whole different perspective for me.
Six weeks ago, I broke my ankle and my racing season came to
a sudden end. Irwindale
is one of the friendliest tracks for those in wheel chairs and since
my wife had tolerated me at home every Saturday night for the past
month and a half, she informed me that I would have an early
Thanksgiving dinner, after which she would transport me to the gate
at the speedway and then I was on my own. Arriving at the track about a quarter to four,
I stopped by the program stand to find Harold Osmer’s wife and
daughters standing at ready, while Osmer was circulating throughout
the pits. Soon Harold returned with Jay Agajanian in tow.
As Jay talked with the girls about being program sellers, I
reminded him that when he was about their age, his Dad assigned him
to a similar task. In the nearby Chalet area, there was a nice
display of vintage midgets and sprinters along with all the old guys
that have restored and maintained them.
These cars and the old timers with their stories add much
flavor to the event and are crowd favorites.
Often present are cars that raced in previous Turkey Night
shows and some of the drivers that sat behind the wheel. Early arrivals began to mill around the area
giving me a chance to visit with a number of old friends, getting
caught up on what I had missed over the past several weeks and in
some cases during the past year.
One of the fun things about the Thanksgiving show is that
many of the past competitors return to witness the event, but now
are working on their kid’s cars. Tonight’s program would feature Ford Focus
series racers from around the country, who had a year-end challenge
among them. It began
last week at Ventura Raceway’s quarter-mile clay oval and moved to
tonight’s third-mile paved facility.
Points were collected from both disciplines and an overall
National Champion was crowned.
Entrants came from eleven different states plus, Canada and
Holland with a total of thirty-two.
Michael Faccinto, a sixteen-year-old, second-generation
driver from Hanford, California, running a car owned by drag racer,
Gary Scelzi, claimed the trophy. Next on the program was the Western States Sprint series with thirty-six cars qualifying and defending Western States Champ, Kody Swanson setting fast time. The top fourteen qualifiers went directly into the feature, while nine more were added from the Last Chance race captured by Tim Barber. Half of the forty-lap feature was in the books,
when Kody Swanson running in third while advancing around the top
passed two lapped cars side by side.
When they wiggled up slightly, Swanson launched over a wheel,
skated along the wall and turned upside down sliding in a shower of
sparks into turn three. Swanson
was removed from the car and taken to the ambulance for observation.
Due to the delay in clearing the accident, the event was
reduced to thirty laps. Tony
Hunt closed out his Western States Championship season capturing the
final race of the year over Mike Murgoito and Tracy Hines, who
started on the outside front row and then dropped back a few
positions before making his charge back to third at the finish. Now it was time for the Main Event, the 66th
edition of the Turkey Night Grand Prix, a tradition that began in
1934 and has generated a list of winners that appears as roll call
at the Hall of Fame. The
top fourteen qualifiers were locked into the Grand Prix, with the
top eight from each of two Last Chance races added to the back of
the pack. Two USAC
National provisionals were also allowed to Darren Hagen and Cole
Carter, while Chase Barber and Shannon McQueen collected USAC
Western States provisionals, setting the field at thirty-four. As the grid was set, who appears on the poll?
None other than Kody Swanson, last seen sliding down the
backstretch in an upside down sprint car.
Kody, all of eighteen was the fastest qualifier for both the
Midget and Sprint classes. At the green, Swanson took the lead and set
sail for the next eighty laps, when teammate, Billy Weese, who had
been dogging Swanson for many laps, caught a break in lapped traffic
and assumed the lead. Josh
Wise came from twelfth to grab third, as third starting Dave Steele
dropped back in the field, but put on a late race charge to collect
fourth. Twenty-fourth
starting Kyle Nicholas made steady progress through the pack to
collect a top-five finish. USAC
Western States Champion, Jerome Rodela finished seventh, while USAC
National Champion, Jerry Coons Jr. came home eighth. Irwindale Speedway and the Agajanian family benefited from good weather, which brought out a large crowd to witness the latest edition of this historic race. Fans got to see youngsters, Weese, Swanson and Faccinto, twenty, eighteen and sixteen, who represent the future of open wheel racing. By the way, I bummed a ride home that night and should be set to go, when racing season gets underway next year! |
