Fans from Several States Expected for this Weekend’s Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium
Wall, NJ — Short track auto racing fans from throughout the northeast and the mid-Atlantic states are expected to take advantage of the final outdoor short track auto racing event of the season this Friday, Saturday and Sunday as Wall Stadium presents the 36th running of the “Turkey Derby.” As has been the case since the outset, Turkey Derby competition is always held during the daylight hours and is presented on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 27 and 28) of Thanksgiving weekend. This year, Sunday afternoon action has been added featuring Enduro, Legend Cars and Champ Kart racing.
On Friday, November 27, pit gates will open at 7:00 a.m., with pre purchased ticket holders’ grandstand gates opening at 9:30 a.m. and grandstand seating opening at 10:00 a.m. On the track, all eight divisions that will see competition on the weekend will practice on Friday morning starting at 8:30 a.m. The Garden State Vintage Stock Car Club vehicles will then go 15-laps at 12:15 p.m., before qualifying begins at 12:30 p.m. Friday’s qualifying will consist of time trials for the Red Bank Sleep Shoppe Modifieds and the Late Model stock cars, along with heat races and consolation races as needed for the Calabreeze Pools Sportsman, Flanagan Retail Development Factory Stocks, I.N.E.X. Legend Cars, Street Stocks and the RBSS Modifieds.
Friday main events are set to start at 2:30 p.m. with the Legend Cars in a 25-lapper, the Late Models in a 75 lapper and the Factory Stocks rounding out Friday’s action in a 30-lap feature.
On Saturday, November 28, pit gates will again open at 7:00 a.m., with pre purchased ticket holders’ grandstand gates opening at 9:30 a.m. and grandstand seating opening at 10:00 a.m. On the track, Street Stock, TQ Midget, Calabreeze Pools Sportsman, RBSS Modified and tour type Modified practice will start at 8:30 a.m., while a mandatory drivers’ meeting is set for 9:10 a.m. Qualifying, which will consist of tour type Modified time trials and a “B” main and TQ Midget heat races will be next up at 11:00 a.m.
Saturday’s opening ceremonies will be presented at 12:35 p.m., before the Saturday main events of Turkey Derby XXXVI take the green flag at 1:00 p.m. The Sportsman 30-lapper will be first up, followed by the tour type Modified 100-lapper, Street Stock 30-lapper, RBSS Modified 100-lapper and the TQ Midget 25-lap main event.
For the first time ever, late-November racing action will be carried over to Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend as the shore speedway presents another of it’s popular “$5 Family fun Days.” Heading the Sunday card will be the popular NEETS Enduro Series and the INEX Legend Cars in a 30-lap, $500 to win main event. Morton says that the popular Champ Karts have been added to Sunday’s card. All gates will open at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, with Legends practice at noon and main event action set for 1:00 p.m.
In the event of a Friday rainout on Turkey Derby weekend, Friday’s three main events will be added to Saturday’s card with qualifying kept to a minimum for only the divisions that absolutely need it. In the event of a Saturday rainout, Turkey Derby Day 2 action will be rescheduled to Saturday, December 5. If Sunday is rained out, that days events will be contested on Sunday, December 6.
In addition to impressive prize money, competitors will also enjoy rich bonuses. The MacMann Race Crew has posted a $100 bonus to the drivers who lead at the half-way mark in both the tour type Modified and RBSS Modified 100-lap feature races. Meg Wheels will present a racing wheel to the fifth and tenth place finishers in both Modified main events and the Sportsman feature. Brice’s Auto Supply has posted “Award Charger Awards” in the TQ Midget, Sportsman, Legend Car, Factory Stock and Street Stock main events.
Fans are also reminded to bring a potable headset style FM radio to the speedway for the weekend as the call of the racing will be broadcast over 97.1 FM as well as on the track’s public address system.
Wall Stadium is located on Route 34 in Wall Township, N.J., just one mile north of Garden State Parkway exit 98 and Interstate 195 exit 35B. The speedway office is open from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Information and Turkey Derby entry forms are available by calling 732-681-6400 and at www.wallspeedway.com.
Sources: Wall Stadium PR