Corey Day’s first attempt at the ARP Turkey Night Grand Prix presented by the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2023 marked a grand entrance into the event for the Clovis, California native.
During his encore performance on Saturday night at California’s Ventura Raceway, Day literally and figuratively rose to the occasion as he made the winning move 17 laps from the finish to earn $15,000 and become a first-time winner of the 83rd running of the prestigious event .
In doing so, Day became the youngest winner in the history of the Turkey Night Grand Prix, having celebrated his 19th birthday just two days earlier. Caleb Armstrong was the previous record holder, winning the 2011 event at the age of 19 years, 3 months and 8 days.
In addition, Day earned the fifth consecutive Turkey Night USAC Midget victory for a driver from the state of California, following in the footsteps of Kyle Larson (2019), Logan Seavey (2021), Justin Grant (2022) and Kyle Larson (2023). .
Meanwhile, Daison Pursley completed a remarkable personal comeback from injury, capturing the 2024 USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship for himself and his CB Industries team with a third-place finish in the season finale.
Less than a week after giving car owner Willie Kahne his first career USAC National Midget triumph at California’s Merced Speedway, Day delivered again in the 98-lap event at Ventura’s 1/5 mile dirt oval with a 20 year-old power source – a year older than Day himself – at the wheel of his Durst – Four CCCC’s Construction – Sander Engineering/Triple X/Wirth Mopar.
“Hats off to Willie Kahne, Will Durst and Bob Wirth for giving me a good engine that no one thought would work, and it did,” Day said.
Day also admitted that he had never finished a season with a win before. To do this in one of the most prestigious motorsports events on the calendar is the icing on the cake for the driver who has competed regularly in the Kubota High Limit Series throughout the year as well as a handful of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series made. starts.
“This was my last race of the year and I have never finished the year with a win in all my racing years,” Day noted. “To do that feels really good. I’m so looking forward to this swing, and to just be able to come race and almost relax. It’s not as busy as the normal stuff I do and I’m just really happy that Willie and I were able to get a few wins here, and I’m happy to be one spot better here this year.
From eighth place, Day steadily improved and had worked himself into the top five by the middle of the 49th lap. Jacob Denney flexed his muscles early by leading the first 25 laps as he alternated low and high lines with steady chaser Pursley.
As the front runners worked through a traffic problem, Buddy Kofoid worked his way to the front of the pack as he worked under Pursley for second on lap 23, and soon after moved to the high side to travel around Denney for the lead on the race. at the 26th Circuit.
Suddenly, four-time Turkey Night winner Kyle Larson entered the picture when he finished fifth on lap 44 after starting in the 10th position. However, just three runs later on lap 47, Larson’s reign ended for all intents and purposes when a chain reaction from Pursley to Larson to Day resulted in rear bumper contact from Day to Larson. That chrome-on-chrome contact caused Larson to make a 360-degree turn in turn two. Normally, Larson had to restart the race from the tail, where he only managed to get back to 20th after dropping out with 21 laps to go, his first Turkey Night finish outside the top five in 12 starts.
After the restart, Tanner Thorson emerged as a contender and Kofoid was able to shift the lead, albeit briefly, into turns three and four on the 49th lap before Kofoid struck back to regain the lead. While the two battled it out at the top, Denney continually crawled along the inland berm. After Thorson slammed the two-tire turn with his right rear tire on lap 50 and dropped to fourth, Denney disposed of Thorson and then surpassed Kofoid to regain the number one spot.
When Kofoid immediately bounced off the back wall on lap 55, Day took advantage of his fellow competitor’s bad luck on the white wall to take second place. He then turned his attention to Denney, who was leading the way patrolling the low line with 43 to go. As the rubber began to become a prominent line around the inside edge, Day chased Denney from just one car length behind him.
“Unfortunately I knew the rubber was going to come in,” Day explained. “With so many laps in this place you just can’t stay away from it. I knew it was coming in; it was just a matter of when it was. I tried the bottom and then I went up, and then I kept trying the bottom, just to see. I saw Denney pass some cars down there, so I knew he was in. I knew I had to go there and get my tires worked in.”
On lap 82, Denney drifted slightly off the bottom line and opened the door for Day to strike. Day pulled even as Denney exited turn two and immediately down the back, slipping past for the lead entering turn three before crossing the line, with Denney just behind him, to complete the lap just as Cannon McIntosh as seventh, slowed down with a flat right rear tire. necessitating a yellow flag, ending any shred of title hopes he held on to.
From the restart on lap 83, Day was untouchable as he almost immediately took a full second lead. At this point, Denney began to fade as Kofoid (lap 84) and Pursley (lap 87) followed him into second and third place respectively. Still, the field came together for the last time on lap 90, after Rookie Broedy Graham (18th) came to a stop in the first corner. During the caution period, Thorson (5th) slowed with a torn right rear tire.
Despite seeing his one-second lead evaporate with the yellow, Day got back on the horse and rode it to the finish over the final nine laps to score a winning margin of 1.009 seconds over Kofoid and Pursley, while Denney finished fourth and Seavey completed the top. five.
It was also a big night for Pursley’s CBI teammate Zach Wigal, who doubled the honors on Saturday night. His 11th-place finish made him the 2024 Don Basile Rookie of the Race. To add to the accolades, Wigal also ended the year with the Max Papis Innovations USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year award.
Tanner Carrick’s return to Turkey Night after a three-year hiatus was solid. After starting 19th, Carrick moved +9 to finish 10th, earning him hard charger honors that evening.
On Friday, Dalten Gabbard found himself upside down on the track exit after a somersault during practice. After scrambling to get the car repaired overnight, he transitioned to his first career USAC National Midget start Saturday evening in Ventura. That earned him the Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night.
RESULTS:
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST QUALIFYING RACE: (12 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Zach Wigal, 2. Jake Swanson, 3. Dalten Gabbard, 4. Emerson Axsom, 5. Cade Lewis, 6. Ronnie Gardner, 7 . Austin Torgerson, 8. Kyle Busch, 9. Randi Pankratz, 10. Stevie Sussex, 11. Drake Edwards, 12. Abby Hohlbein, 13. Bryan Drollinger, 14. Peter Paulson. NT
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND QUALIFYING RACE: (12 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Justin Grant, 3. Kaylee Bryson, 4. CJ Leary, 5. Chase McDermand, 6. Caden Sarale, 7 Broedy Graham, 8. TJ Smith, 9. CJ Sarna, 10. Dane Culver, 11. Ty. Gibbs, 12. Mathew Radisch, 13. Todd Hawse, 14. Barrie Valentino. 2:35.259
TJ FORGED/CAR IQ THIRD QUALIFYING RACE: (12 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Logan Seavey, 2. Ryan Timms, 3. Tanner Carrick, 4. Zach Daum, 5. Jake Andreotti, 6. Carson Macedo , 7. Brody Fuson, 8. Alex Karpowicz, 9. Cale Coons, 10. Michael Faccinto, 11. JJ Yeley, 12. Kyle Hawse, 13. Jim Vanzant. 2:40.057
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (15 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Chase McDermand, 2. Cade Lewis, 3. Ronnie Gardner, 4. Broedy Graham, 5. Caden Sarale, 6. Austin Torgerson, 7 Dane Culver, 8. TJ Smith, 9. Brody Fuson, 10. Michael Faccinto,. 11. CJ Sarna, 12. Randi Pankratz, 13. Stevie Sussex, 14. Cale Coons, 15. Alex Karpowicz, 16. Kyle Busch, 17. Jake Andreotti. NT
FEATURE: (98 laps, starting positions in brackets) 1. Corey Day (8), 2. Buddy Kofoid (3), 3. Daison Pursley (2), 4. Jacob Denney (1), 5. Logan Seavey (13), 6. Gavin Miller (9), 7. Justin Grant (15), 8. Kale Drake (7), 9. Jake Swanson (14), 10. Tanner Carrick (19), 11. Zach Wigal (11), 12. Cannon McIntosh (6), 13. Tyler Courtney (12), 14. Tanner Thorson (4), 15. Zach Daum (21), 16. Cade Lewis (23), 17. CJ Leary (20), 18. Dalten Gabbard (17), 19. Broedy Graham (25), 20. Kyle Larson (10), 21. Emerson Axsom (26), 22. Kevin Thomas Jr. (5), 23. Ronnie Gardner (24), 24. Chase McDermand (22), 25. Kaylee Bryson (18), 26. Ryan Timms (16). NT
GUIDED FUNCTION: Laps 1-25 Jacob Denney, laps 26-49 Buddy Kofoid, laps 50-81 Jacob Denney, laps 82-98 Corey Day.
