NO TIME FOR NAPS; Strong racers-and a strong Toyota engine-run Turkey Night Grand Prix.(competitions of automobile racing)

Byline: STEVEN COLE SMITH

In Southern California-a region not particularly keen on decades-long traditions-one event has thrived since 1934: the Turkey Night Grand Prix, which gathers and pits against one another the best USAC midget and sprint-car drivers from across the country. The Thanksgiving tradition continued for the 67th annual race this year, before a crowd of 6500 fans at chilly Irwindale Speedway, the pristine oval in a less-than-pristine neighborhood east of downtown Los Angeles.

Turkey Night has run at Irwindale since 1999, but it's only the latest of multiple speedways to host the event. Gilmore Stadium in Hollywood was home to the first Turkey Night GP in 1934, won by Bob Swanson. More than a half-dozen other tracks have been involved with organizing the race, which did not run from 1942 to 1944 or from 1951 to 1954, which is why this was the 67th annual race instead of the 73rd.

Past Turkey Night midget-race headline winners include Bill Vukovich, Johnnie Parsons, Tony Bettenhausen, A.J. Foyt, Mel Kenyon, Gary Bettenhausen, Stan Fox, Jason Leffler, Tony Stewart, Dave Steele, Bobby East and, in 2006, Billy Wease. Ron Shuman won eight times, first in 1979, last in 1993.

There was no shortage of cars this year, with 66 midgets, 35 sprint cars and 25 Ford Focus midgets entered-all slightly down from '06. The sprinters and Focus midgets raced in their own 40-lap features, but it took a pair of last-chance heat races to pare the USAC midget field to 35 cars for the 98-lap feature.

Why 98? The late J.C. Agajanian, the legendary promoter whose family backed Turkey Night since the start, used that number for quite a few of his own cars, including a pair of Indianapolis 500 winners. One of them was driven by Parnelli Jones, who was on hand this year to celebrate his own Turkey Night wins in 1964 and 1966.

The biggest star competing this year was NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Kasey Kahne, who had not run Turkey Night since 2002. He was pleased to return, competing in both the sprint and midget features. Perhaps the biggest star on the premises was fellow NASCAR driver Stewart, who kept a low profile since he was there not to race but to support his three-car midget team with drivers Levi Jones, Tracy Hines and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The mere presence of Hines, badly hurt earlier this year in a dirt-bike crash ("Recovering and on the Road,'' AW, Nov. 19), was a victory for the veteran, who continues to undergo therapy for leg injuries. Other notables in the field were Davey Hamilton, Randy Hannagan, Dave Steele, Brad Noffsinger, Josh Wise and Snake Livernash, who is not famous but, with that name, should be.