Tradition: What Turkey Derby Means

Tradition: What Turkey Derby Means
by Pete MacDonald

Forty one years ago, Thanksgiving for many people that live in the Northeast was changed forever. Wall Stadium’s Jennie Nicol decided she wanted to give her drivers one last race before heading into the long off season. At that moment Turkey Derby was created and has been run on the Friday, Saturday and now Sunday following Thanksgiving every year since, even despite the 2008 season when the Speedway laid dormant up until Turkey Derby.

If you walked around the pit area this past Saturday and asked anybody there what Turkey Derby meant to them, they would all tell you the same thing, it’s about tradition. It’s usually the last outdoor race of the season where anybody who is anybody, from NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers to your local dirt track racers, show up just because it’s the last race of the season before the long winter. When you make your schedules at the beginning of the year this is one of the five I put on it that I just have to get to. Why? Because its tradition.

Last season I went from a hospital bed on Thursday to the grandstands at Turkey Derby on Saturday. It’s one last time to you see all your racing friends prior to the holidays and its one last time to get your fix, whether racing in it or attending, before calling it a season. It truly is the last chance to dance so they say. It’s the traditional wreath given in Victory Lane. It’s a packed grandstand on Saturday afternoon. It’s seeing people you don’t see but once a year. Its who’s going to pit and when. It’s the history. There just isn’t any other way to put it besides IT’S TURKEY DERBY.

There’s just something at Wall Stadium that brings everyone out on Thanksgiving weekend, from the haulers that start to park on the Tuesday prior to the campers that show up the Saturday before. I really don’t know how else to explain it. It’s just one of those races you just have to go to in order to see what it’s all about.

Over the years, a true who’s who has picked up wins or simply has raced at the Jersey Shore speed plant on Thanksgiving weekend. Names like Evernham, Petty, Truex, and Baldwin have all graced the high banks of Wall Stadium for the event. And even more have conquered it, including Evans, Bohn, Blewett, Hirschman, Siscone, and more.

Yes there are those pessimist’s out there that don’t care for the bumping and banging that there is, and think that asphalt racing is nothing but a glorified freight train. But you know what? It’s a race track that opens during the season which is good enough for me.

If you’re not busy and can sneak away from your family the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after Thanksgiving weekend, I would strongly suggest making an effort to get to Wall Stadium. You just never know what could and might happen.

So, what does Turkey Derby mean to you? Tell us over on the RacersGuide.com Discussion Forum! For questions, comments or concerns I can be emailed at info@racersguide.com or I’m on Twitter @PMacDonald51 Thanks!