27 Rookie of the Race Contenders Prepare for Turkey Night 2024
Photo by Lucas Halbert
VENTURA, Calif. — The ARP Turkey Night Grand Prix Presented by the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame annually presents the Don Basile Rookie of the Race Award, honoring the top performance by a first-time feature starter in the 98-lap classic each year.
The 2024 crop of 27 Turkey Night Rookies arrive to stake their claim and make their initial mark on the great race featuring USAC’s NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship, which will take place for the 83rd time this Saturday night, November 30, at California’s Ventura Raceway.
No Rookie has won the race since Warren Mockler’s last lap heroics in 1986. Corey Day topped the field of Turkey Night debut starters in the 2023 race, finishing a close second.
Nearly half of this year’s 57-car field is among the abundance of Rookie of the Race contenders. In this year’s group are two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch (Las Vegas, Nev.), plus USAC National Midget newcomer Cale Coons (Greencastle, Ind.) who was three times a winner with the USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midgets in 2024 and is the son of 2012 Turkey Night runner-up finisher Jerry Coons Jr.
Zach Wigal (Belpre, Ohio) leads the overall USAC National Midget MPI Rookie of the Year standings going into the event and will be making his first Turkey Night appearance. A pair of 2024 USAC Western States Midget winners – Drake Edwards (Peoria, Ariz.) and Caden Sarale (Stockton, Calif.).
Stevie Sussex (Tempe, Ariz.), the 2017 USAC National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year, will also be eying a first career Turkey Night start as will Karter Sarff (Mason City, Ill.), T.J. Smith (Fresno, Calif.) and Dalten Gabbard (Peoria, Ariz.) along with returnees Terry Nichols (Delano, Calif.), Jim Vanzant (Prescott, Ariz.) and Bryan Drollinger (San Pedro, Calif.), all looking to crack the Turkey Night starting field for the first time.
International flair in the Rookie class belongs to New Zealanders Mathew Radisich (Auckland, N.Z.) and Ben Covich (Auckland, N.Z.) while Aussie Barrie Valentino (Brisbane, Australia) will also make the trip up.
First time Turkey Night midget participants in 2024 include Adam Teves (Concord, Calif.), Tom Dunkel (Menifee, Calif.), Todd Hawse (Simi Valley, Calif.), Alex Karpowicz (Spring Branch, Texas), Kyle Hawse (Las Vegas, Nev.), Peter Paulson (Woodland, Calif.), Troy DeGaton (Wickenburg, Ariz.), Dane Culver (Riverside, Calif.), Abby Hohlbein (Cloverdale, Ohio), Broedy Graham (Bakersfield, Calif.), Cole Wakim (Simi Valley, Calif.) and Austin Torgerson (Glendale, Ariz.).
The award, named in memory of track owner, promoter and 1999 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee Don Basile, made its debut in 1998 with Kasey Kahne the first recipient.
Over the years, the Don Basile Rookie of the Race honors at Turkey Night have been awarded to some of the most talented young racers in America. A glance at
the list reveals some of the top names from the sport over the past two decades, including two race winners – Kyle Larson (2011) & Tanner Thorson (2013 – and four others who’ll be in this year’s field: Carson Macedo (2016), Cannon McIntosh (2019), Jake Andreotti (2022) and Corey Day (2023).
RACE DETAILS:
This year’s Turkey Night weekend will also host the Ultimate Sprint Car Series for both nights of on-track action on November 29-30.
On Friday, November 29, the grandstands open at 3pm Pacific with cars on track at 3:30pm featuring midget practice, plus sprint car racing.
On Saturday, November 30, the grandstands open at 3pm Pacific with cars on track at 3:30pm featuring midget and sprint car racing.
Advance tickets can be purchased now at www.venturaraceway.com. Additional information is available at 805-648-7223.
Both nights of the Turkey Night Grand Prix will be streamed live on FloRacing at https://flosports.link/usac.
2024 TURKEY NIGHT GRAND PRIX MIDGET ROOKIES: (27)
1p TERRY NICHOLS/Delano, CA (Nichols-Peckfelder Motorsports)
3p DRAKE EDWARDS/Peoria, AZ (Petty Performance Racing)
3v JIM VANZANT/Prescott, AZ (Jim & Bonnie Vanzant)
10 ADAM TEVES/Concord, CA (Dana & Robin Craig)
14 MATHEW RADISICH/Auckland, NZ (Graunstadt-Streeter Racing)
17A TOM DUNKEL/Menifee, CA (Josh Ford Motorsports)
18 TODD HAWSE/Simi Valley, CA (Todd Hawse)
19 ALEX KARPOWICZ/Spring Branch, TX (Mounce-Stout Motorsports)
20AZ STEVIE SUSSEX/Tempe, AZ (Crown Jewel Racing)
20x KYLE HAWSE/Las Vegas, NV (Hawse Racing)
Q23 BARRIE VALENTINO/Brisbane, AU (El Toro Racing)
31 KARTER SARFF/Mason City, IL (Beilman Motorsports)
32 CADEN SARALE/Stockton, CA (Caden Sarale)
Q32 PETER PAULSON/Woodland, CA (El Toro Racing)
32x T.J. SMITH/Fresno, CA (Caden Sarale)
39T TROY DeGATON/Wickenburg, AZ (Troy DeGaton)
50 DANE CULVER/Riverside, CA (Knuckles Up Racing)
51B KYLE BUSCH/Las Vegas, NV (Kyle Busch Motorsports)
55 ABBY HOHLBEIN/Cloverdale, OH (Lambert Motorsports)
63 CALE COONS/Greencastle, IN (Joe Dooling)
65NZ BEN COVICH/Auckland, NZ (Covich Motorsports)
66 BROEDY GRAHAM/Bakersfield, CA (Graham Racing)
71D BRYAN DROLLINGER/San Pedro, CA (Drollinger Bros. Racing)
73 COLE WAKIM/Simi Valley, CA (Josh Ford Motorsports)
77 DALTEN GABBARD/Peoria, AZ (Dalten Gabbard)
88A AUSTIN TORGERSON/Glendale, AZ (Mounce-Stout Motorsports)
89 ZACH WIGAL/Belpre, OH (CB Industries)
PAST DON BASILE TURKEY NIGHT ROOKIES OF THE RACE:
1998: Kasey Kahne – Finished 5th
1999: Dave Steele – Finished 5th
2000: Aaron Pollock – Finished 7th
2001: Bobby East – Finished 10th
2002: Jerome Rodela – Finished 9th
2003: Ryan Durst – Finished 10th
2004: Brad Loyet – Finished 9th
2005: Kevin Swindell – Finished 11th
2006: Kody Swanson – Finished 2nd
2007: Mike Murgoitio – Finished 4th
2008: Nic Faas – Finished 13th
2009: Levi Roberts – Finished 2nd
2010: Dalton Armstrong – Finished 3rd
2011: Kyle Larson – Finished 4th
2012: Ryan Bernal – Finished 3rd
2013: Tanner Thorson – Finished 10th
2014: Isaac Chapple – Finished 13th
2015: Robert Dalby – Finished 14th
2016: Carson Macedo – Finished 3rd
2017: Zeb Wise – Finished 5th
2018: Jason McDougal – Finished 8th
2019: Cannon McIntosh – Finished 2nd
2020: No Race
2021: Mitchel Moles – Finished 3rd
2022: Jake Andreotti – Finished 4th
2023: Corey Day – Finished 2nd
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