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Racing News: Kissing the Aggie Trophy Tradition Continues at the Turkey Night Grand Prix

Compiled by SEMA Editors

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Dave Darland kisses Aggie’s hat after winning his second Turkey Night Grand Prix last Thanksgiving. J.C. Agajanian Jr. (left) and Perris Auto Speedway promoter Don Kazarian (right) look on at the yearly winner’s tradition. Photo credit: Doug Allen
  

The Tradition of Kissing the Aggie Trophy Continues at the Turkey Night Grand Prix

It has been a long, honored tradition for the winner of the the Indianapolis 500 to have his photo taken while kissing the famous “yard of bricks” at the start-finish line at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Two years ago when the world’s most famous Midget race—the Turkey Night Grand Prix—made its return to the dirt at Perris Auto Speedway, race winner Kyle Larson began a new tradition when he kissed J.C. Agajanian’s bronzed hat on top of the Aggie trophy. That tradition will be carried on this Thanksgiving night, November 27, when the Riverside County clay oval hosts the 74th Running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix for the USAC Honda National Midgets and Western States Midgets.

Hotchkis Sport Suspension to Sponsor Autocross at 2015 Street Machine Nationals Series

Hotchkis Sport Suspension has signed with Family Events to sponsor autocross events at the 2015 Street Machine Nationals series. The Hotchkis Autocross will challenge participants to get behind the wheel and tackle a tight-turning, hard-braking course. The object is to make it around the course as fast as possible without hitting the orange lane-marker cones. Hotchkis and their partner brands will present Hotchkis Autocross achievement awards and interact with the thousands of street-machine, musclecar, pro-touring car and performance truck enthusiasts that attend these “horsepower parties.”

The Family Events Street Machine Nationals series for 2015 starts with the Street Machine and Muscle Car Nationals at Fairplex in Pomona, California, March 14–15, followed by the Street Machine Nationals – DuQuoin, at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in Illinois, June 26–28. Then it is on to North Country at the Street Machine Nationals – St. Paul at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, July 17–19, and the series wraps up in the Ozarks at the Street Machine Fall Nationals at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds in Springfield, Missouri, September 26–27.

Route 66 Raceway to Host NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing

The ProMedia Competition Department has announced that the Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing will be held at Route 66 Raceway, in Joliet, Illinois, from Thursday, July 30, to Sunday, August 2, 2015. With the recently renewed contract between ProMedia LLC and Route 66 Raceway, the Super Bowl of Drag Racing has a home through the year 2020.