Special Invite  74th Running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix -  Nov. 27, 2014 @ Perris Auto Speedway
Channel: Perris Auto Speedway
Date: 23/11/2014

http://perrisautospeedway.com       Special Invite  74th Running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix -  November 27, 2014 @ Perris Auto Speedway

THE TRADITION OF KISSING THE AGGIE TROPHY AT THE TURKEY NIGHT GRAND PRIX!
It has been a long honored tradition for the winner of the world’s most famous auto race, 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 it’s much heralded 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 massive Aggie trophy. That tradition will be carried on this Thanksgiving Night, November 27th, when the famous Riverside County clay oval hosts the 74th Running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix for the USAC Honda National Midgets and Western States Midgets.

The trophy came about a few years ago when Irwindale Speedway PR Chief Doug Stokes mentioned the possibility of a perennial Turkey Night Grand Prix trophy to J.C. Agajanian Jr.

“Doug suggested we should have a perennial trophy for Turkey Night,” J.C. Jr. said on the phone on Tuesday afternoon. “We (the Agajanian family) had talked about it, but just had not done it. Stokes said he would work on it and asked it if we still had one of my dad’s hats.”

After talking with Stokes, J.C. Jr. went to see his mom to ask if she still had any of his father’s hats he could put on the trophy. Anyone who had been around racing for a period of time knew that from Ascot to Indy and everywhere in between, J.C. Agajanian Sr. always had a Stetson on. 

“We (J.C. Jr. and his mom) went into my dad’s walk in closet and there was a hat on the shelf that he had worn at Indianapolis,” J.C. Jr. said. “I told my mom we were going to make a perennial trophy and I asked her if I could take it to honor dad for his work with the Turkey Night Grand Prix. She said I could have it so I took it to Stokes.”

Stokes immediately went to work on the large wooden trophy which stands well over three-feet tall. The trophy has brass plaques with the name and year of every winner of the Turkey Night Grand Prix back to the inaugural victor Bob Swanson who won in 1934 at Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles which is now the site of CBS Studios.

In addition to the plaques with all of the driver’s names on the trophy, J.C. Sr.’s Stetson, which Stokes had bronzed, sits on top of the award and it sits there in a very distinctive manner.

The famous Aggie trophy with J.C. Agajanian’s bronzed hat sitting in the podium during the running of the 73rd Turkey Night Grand Prix at Perris Auto Speedway last Thanksgiving. Media feel free to publish this photo and please give photo credit to Doug Allen.

“The hat sits on top of the trophy in a way so it looks like J.C. had just taken it off, set it on the trophy and went to his desk to do business,” J.C. Jr. said. “That was all Stokes idea. A big thanks to Doug Stokes for all of that. That is how the trophy came about. He made it happen and we were thrilled with what he had done.”

The kissing of the trophy came about with a very simple suggestion. It came after Larson won the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Perris in 2012. It was after the race and the suggestion came from a photographer and longtime dear friend of the Agajanian family named Albert Wong. Wong has shot Turkey Night for the Agajanian’s for many years.

“We took a photo with Kyle Larson  and the trophy and Kyle and his crew with the trophy,” J.C, Jr. said. “Then the crew was gone and Albert asked Kyle if he could bend over and kiss the trophy. He explained that it was J.C. Agajanian’s hat. Kyle said he knew what it was and as he bent over and kissed the hat, Albert got the shot and the new tradition was born right there at Perris Auto Speedway.”

Agajanian further explained about traditions being born at the Turkey Night Grand Prix. 

“Things happen at Turkey Night,” he laughed into the phone. “A fan out of the stands came up to me at Ventura a few years ago and said it should not be a 100-lap race, it should be a 98-lap race to honor my dad (J.C. Sr.’s cars were always #98). I told him I thought that was a wonderful idea. I talked to USAC about it and they said it sounded like a great idea. I talked to the drivers and they agreed. So, another tradition was born. And, that is what Turkey Night is known as. A tradition.” 

See Kyle Larson, defending champ Dave Darland, USAC National point leader Rico Abreau, Western Midget point leader Ronnie Gardner and the rest of the top Midget stars battle to see who gets to kiss Aggie’s hat Thursday night Nov. 27, 2014 at Perris Auto Speedway. . 



Perris Auto Speedway
18700 Lake Perris Dr.
Perris, CA  92571
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