29 rookies entered in Turkey Night Grand Prix
Photo by Josh James Artwork
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 2025 crop of 29 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 84th time this Saturday night, November 29, at California’s Ventura Raceway.
No Rookie has won the race since Warren Mockler’s last lap heroics in 1986. Zach Wigal topped the field of Turkey Night debut starters in the 2024 race, finishing 11th.
More than half of this year’s 50-car field will be in contention for the Don Basile Rookie of the Race as they attempt to make their first Turkey Night midget feature start.
This year’s list includes 2025 USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year Steven Snyder Jr., USAC National Midget winner Drake Edwards, winged sprint car standout Justin Peck, NASCAR’s Ty Gibbs, USAC National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year Gunnar Setser, USAC Western States Midget champion Caden Sarale, plus USAC Western States Midget winners Jett Yantis and Dane Culver.
The Turkey Night Rookie list also consists of Connor Lundy, Anthony Bruno, Jakeb Boxell, Connor Speir, Austin Wood, Grant Schaadt, Drake Cardey, Todd Hawse, Brecken Reese, Kyle Hawse, Karter Sarff, Kyle Jones, Joey Bishop, Cole Wakim, Cale Coons, T.J. Smith, Bryan Drollinger, Preston Norbury and Brody Wake, all looking to crack the Turkey Night starting field for the first time.
International flair in the Rookie class belongs to New Zealand’s Mathew Radisich and England’s Brandon Carr, making the trip across the pond.
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) and Corey Day (2023), plus Carson Macedo (2016), Cannon McIntosh (2019) and Jake Andreotti (2022).
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 28-29.
Friday, November 28: Grandstands open at 3pm Pacific. Cars on track at 3:30pm. Midget practice, plus sprint car racing.
Saturday, November 29: Grandstands open at 3pm Pacific. Cars on track at 3:30pm. Sprint car racing, plus midget hot laps, qualifying, last chance qualifiers, semis and the 98-lap feature.
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.
2025 TURKEY NIGHT GRAND PRIX MIDGET ROOKIES: (29)
2p (R) CONNOR LUNDY/Peoria, AZ (Team Petty-Rossi Racing)
3p (R) JUSTIN PECK/Monrovia, IN (Team Petty-Rossi Racing)
4 (R) STEVEN SNYDER JR./Rising Sun, MD (RMS Racing)
4y (R) JETT YANTIS/Bakersfield, CA (Rusty Carlile)
9 (R) ANTHONY BRUNO/San Jose, CA (Tony Boscacci)
14JB (R) JAKEB BOXELL/Zanesville, IN (4 Kings Racing)
14JR (R) CONNOR SPEIR/Fillmore, CA (Matt Streeter Racing-Graunstadt Enterprises)
15 (R) AUSTIN WOOD/Sacramento, CA (Dennis Hart)
15LS (R) GRANT SCHAADT/San Tan Valley, AZ (Lonnie Oliver)
17A (R) DRAKE CARDEY/Riverside, CA (Tom Dunkel Racing)
17NZ (R) MATHEW RADISICH/Auckland, NZ (Out & About Racing)
18 (R) TODD HAWSE/Simi Valley, CA (Todd Hawse)
20Q (R) BRECKEN REESE/Canyon, TX (Jeff Reese)
20x (R) KYLE HAWSE/Las Vegas, NV (Hawse Racing)
25 (R) KARTER SARFF/Mason City, IL (Jerome Rodela)
27x (R) KYLE JONES/Kennedale, TX (Joyner Motorsports)
32 (R) CADEN SARALE/Stockton, CA (Caden Sarale)
43 (R) GUNNAR SETSER/Columbus, IN (Kevin Arnold)
45 (R) JOEY BISHOP/Camarillo, CA (Bishop Motorsports)
50 (R) DANE CULVER/Riverside, CA (Knuckles Up Racing)
55 (R) COLE WAKIM/Simi Valley, CA (Lambert Motorsports)
63 (R) CALE COONS/Greencastle, IN (Dooling Autosports-Curb-Agajanian)
68 (R) T.J. SMITH/Fresno, CA (Six8 Motorsports)
71D (R) BRYAN DROLLINGER/San Pedro, CA (Drollinger Bros. Racing)
77AZ (R) PRESTON NORBURY/Chino Valley, AZ (Bugs Norbury)
78 (R) BRODY WAKE/Lake Havasu City, AZ (BWR Racing-Ryan Wake)
83 (R) DRAKE EDWARDS/Peoria, AZ (CB Industries)
86 (R) TY GIBBS/Charlotte, NC (CB Industries)
98K (R) BRANDON CARR/Sheffield, UK (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
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
2024: Zach Wigal – Finished 11th
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