Before there’s any potential misunderstanding here, allow me to tell you that I really don’t hate the Thanksgiving holiday. I have a very healthy respect for the fact that Thanksgiving is indeed a special day for us to take stock of our lives and count our blessings. I also have a healthy respect for the first ever Thanksgiving and the historical significance it played in the development of our country.
It’s the modern day version of the warm family gathering ceremony I don’t get. That process begins with moms and grandmothers getting up at 0 dark thirty on a holiday to spend an entire day cooking in the kitchen to feed the company that’s coming. In some cases these hard working ladies will be feeding people they actually don’t like. By the way the prep work for this feast is being accomplished while the rest of the family is elsewhere in the home watching football and playing video games because, after all, they have their traditions too.
Then there’s the portion of the day when everyone sits down at the dinner table. This part of the process often starts off nice and smooth. But it’s invariable that a slightly senile uncle is going to mention some family crisis from 1970 something and that’s when the dinner war starts. Add into this mix mass quantities of beer from the aforementioned football games plus some wine at the dinner table and you have the potential for a good old fashioned food fight.
Have you ever been an invited guest at one of these holiday spectacles? A social situation where you’re meeting a friend’s family for the first time? Once the dinner war starts, the entire process is like watching a foreign film without subtitles. It’s basically interesting but you really don’t have a clue what’s going on. The other problem here is: if a food fight actually does break out you honestly don’t know who to throw mashed potatoes at.
Then there’s the matter of the turkey inspired leftover recipes that you are expected to eat during the holiday weekend. This list of leftover creations seems to get longer with each year. There’s cold turkey sandwiches, warm turkey melts, turkey pot pie, turkey lasagna and even turkey tacos just to name a few. Then, somewhere from a dark and rarely seen portion of a kitchen cabinet, comes a special machine purchased from a home shopping network whose sole purpose is to produce, you guessed it, turkey jerky.
Okay,you’re right. It’s time for a little less bitching and more time spent on the presentation of solutions. Once again it’s time for me to suggest that you take a break from the traditional fare and spend the Thanksgiving weekend at the race track of your choice. That’s because grilled hot dogs and burnt rubber tops left over turkey recipes any time.
Good news race fans. There is a virtual Thanksgiving cornucopia of motorsports waiting for you during this holiday weekend. Let’s start with the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. The fastest half mile paved oval in the southwest, near Los Angeles, has a motorized Thanksgiving feast lined up for its fans.
The racing fun begins on Thursday, November 25th, the actual day of Thanksgiving. The speedway will be presenting the prestigious 70th annual Turkey Night Grand Prix. This spectacular night features a full evening of USAC, United States Auto Club, open wheel racing. The fans will be treated to action from the USAC Sprints, USAC Midgets and the USAC K&N Filters Ford Focus Midgets. The evening also features some of the finest open wheel driving talent in the country.
Because this event is actually on Thanksgiving Thursday some of you race fans may have to develop some sort of elaborate plan to get a kitchen pass because, if you live outside of the Irwindale area, it could mean missing the traditional dinner. If you’re lucky the special person you spend your life with is also a racing fan who will be only happy to skip the all day kitchen duty and emotional mayhem to go racing on Turkey Day.
But the action at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale doesn’t end on Turkey night. The following Saturday they will be treating holiday racing fans to the CANIDAE All Natural Pet Food California Classic, presented by Master Craft Safety. Highlighting this evening will be an appearance by the Spears SRL Southwest Tour. This outstanding regional touring series for stock cars visits race tracks from eastern Arizona to the pacific northwest. The cars are lightning fast and the racing is extremely exciting. Adding some additional excitement to the evening will be racing from the speedway’s super late and late model divisions. Irwindale has one of the best late model programs in the country. Check out all of the Irwindale action at www.toyotaspeedwayatirwindale.com.
Also presenting some exciting racing on Thanksgiving Saturday will be the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway in Blythe. This quarter mile paved oval, located at the Colorado River Fairgrounds will be presenting their annual Pepsi Thanksgiving Classic. This special evening will treat racing fans to 50 laps features from the Lucas Oil Modifieds and the high flying Legend Cars. There’s also going to be action from the speedway’s street stock division as well as a special appearance by the Southwest Tour Trucks. www.i10speedway.com.
Spending Thanksgiving weekend in beautiful Lake Havasu City-Arizona isn’t a bad deal either. The Havasu 95 Speedway, a quarter mile paved oval located in the city’s beautiful Sara Park, will be presenting a Saturday afternoon of ASA sanctioned racing featuring their Late Model, Street Stock, Bandolero and Factory Stock divisions. Because this race is a 1 pm start, you will have plenty of time to explore the night life, restaurants and special attractions this tourist community has to offer. www.havasu95speedway.com.
Now if you’re a racing fan who believes that dirt is for racing and asphalt is for getting you to the race track then check out the special Thanksgiving Saturday event being offered by the Perris Auto Speedway, PAS. This well known three-eighths of a mile clay oval has a long standing reputation of putting on one of the best dirt racing shows in the country. They will be living up to that rep with the Glenn Howard Memorial featuring the high flying USAC/CRA Sprint Cars.
The PAS will also be endorsing community food drives on this night. Any fan who brings $5 worth of canned food to this race will receive a free ticket good for a race in March when the speedway’s 2011 gets underway. www.perrisautospeedway.com.
A lot of old school race fans will enthusiastically recall the barnstorming days of sprint car teams who raced at literally any track you could name all over the country. These dirt slinging daredevils were the forerunners that led to the excitement of the Indy Racing League that we all enjoy today. The Willow Springs International Raceway Park, the mammoth racing facility located in Rosamond, will be presenting the annual Walt James Memorial on Thanksgiving Saturday on their three eighths of a mile dirt track named after the guest of honor: the Walt James Stadium Oval.
This is a moving museum reflecting the history of open wheel racing in America. You will see a variety of sprint car racers from multiple decades in pristine condition and, YES, they will be taking the cars out onto the track to race them. Fans will also get to interact with some true racing characters who will more than happy to share some of the best racing stories you’ve ever heard. If you love the classics, you will love this event. www.willowspringsraceway.com.
So there you have it. Full holiday racing weekends that can be enjoyed in one evening or can be turned into mini racing vacations. If you decide to go racing during the Thanksgiving weekend we hope the hot dogs are fresh and the burnt rubber is pleasant to the olfactory system. Go ahead and wash both of them down with some cold beer and enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving race fans.
| 
|