WTS prepares for 30th annual Turkey Derby

The best that Wall Township Speedway’s Busch Beer Modified division has to offer will square off against an expected host of "invaders" when the shore speedway presents the 30th annual Turkey Derby on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28 and 29.

Racing on each day will be held during the daylight hours, with Friday competition beginning at noon and Saturday racing starting at 9:45 a.m. Practice will precede racing on both days.

Speedway officials have announced that they are returning to the "Triple 50" lap format for the Modifieds and are opening up the Modified rules for the event to allow cars from New England’s SK Modified divisions and two-barrel carburetor Modified cars from other areas to compete. Interested race teams are urged to call the speedway office at (732) 681-6400 to see if their cars are eligible or what minor changes need to be made.

Due to a large number of requests to the speedway office, Wall Township Speedway officials have announced that "invading drivers" from other area speedways will be welcome to compete in Pro Stock, Street Stock, Truck Series and Legend Cars events during the 30th annual Turkey Derby. To be eligible to compete in each division, "invaders" will have to meet engine, weight and tire rules for the specific class, plus New Jersey safety rules.

Current plans call for qualifying and feature race line-ups for the four divisions to be determined by a blind draw. Invading competitors are also reminded that if they use the AMB transponders for scoring that they should bring them to the event since the speedway uses that computerized scoring system.

Officials at Wall Township Speedway have announced that the third-mile high banked paved oval will be open for a paid practice session on Saturday, Nov. 22, in preparation for the 30th running of the Turkey Derby the following weekend. The Saturday practice session will start at 10 a.m. and run until 2 p.m. and will be open to cars from all divisions that will be competing in the Turkey Derby.

Turkey Derby XXX will be two days of auto racing action with a total of eight divisions in 14 main events. In addition to triple 50-lap races for the Modified stock cars, the Pro Stock will race in twin 25-lappers, the Street Stocks will compete in twin 25-lap main events, the Truck Series racers will battle in two 20-lappers, and the Legend Cars will compete in a pair of 20-lappers.

The open cockpit TQ Midgets and the ARTS Trucks will compete in one main event each on Friday, while the Bandolero Cars will also see action in a feature race on Saturday.

Turkey Derby XXX Modified qualifying will see time trials taking place on Friday, with the eight quickest cars advancing directly into the first main event. Modified heat races, which will qualify a total of 12 cars, and consolations, which will qualify a total of three cars, will take place on Saturday.

Pro Stock, Street Stock, Truck Series, Legend Cars, ARTS Trucks and TQ Midget qualifying is set for Friday afternoon, with the first of two Pro Stock, Street Stock, Legend Cars and Truck Series mains and the TQ Midget and ARTS Trucks features also set for the first day of Turkey Derby. The vintage race cars of the Garden State Vintage Stock Car Club will run an exhibition race on Friday and will be on display in the grandstands on both days.

Along with the Modified heats and consolations, the Modified "Triple 50’s" will be contested on Saturday, along with the second Pro Stock, Street Stock, Truck Series and Legend Cars features. In addition, the Bandolero Car main event will be contested on Saturday.