Motorsports legends Brent Kaeding and Gary Schroeder named co-grand marshals of the 84th Turkey Nigh
Motorsports legends Brent Kaeding and Gary Schroeder have been named co-grand marshals of the 84th running of the ARP Turkey Night Grand Prix Presented by the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame at California’s Ventura Raceway on Saturday night, November 29.
BRENT KAEDING
Brent Kaeding came into racing naturally, watching his father, Howard, tear up the California tracks while winning numerous championships. The first of many wins for Brent came at the age of 20 at Santa Maria Speedway where he was named Rookie of the Year. His first win at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway with NARC in 1981 was also significant. He went on to become the leading feature winner not only in Chico, but in Tulare, Watsonville, Antioch and Hanford as well.
In 1981, at the age of 25, he captured the first of 13 NARC titles, which ranks as the most all-time. In 1985, he showed his diversity by winning the Turkey Night Grand Prix USAC National Midget race at the legendary Ascot Park.
He scored three Dirt Cup titles at Skagit Speedway in Washington. He also had wins in Australia and New Zealand as well as Arizona, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin. He beat the World of Outlaws for the first time in 1989 in San Jose. Overall, he finished the 1989 season with 28 wins.
Thirteen Golden State Challenge titles belong to Kaeding as well as four Trophy Cups. Track championships have come at Calistoga, Hanford and Watsonville and tallied five NARC California Speedweek titles.
Brent, who is still known to get behind the wheel on occasion, was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2008 and owns and operates Kaeding Performance in California. His sons, Tim and Brandon “Bud” Kaeding, are still winning as well.
GARY SCHROEDER
Gary Schroeder was born into a racing family in Burbank, California in 1954. Soon, Gary was at the shop after school and during the summers. After graduating from Hollywood High School in 1972, Gary became a full-time worker at the shop doing machine work and building Schroeder steering boxes.
In time, Schroeder decided to get involved in TQ Midget, and with the help of Bill Floyd and Jim Naylor, was able to organize enough parts to build a car and go racing. Schroeder was successful, winning a pair of Ventura championships as well as with the NMRA and Civil War series. He was invited to race in New Zealand where he captured the 1993-1994 TQ Midget World Derby at Ruapuna Park Speedway in Christchurch.
In 1981, when he was helping Bob Meli build a TQ, it was noted that, due to the narrower track of a TQ, a shorter front torsion bar was needed. In time, the bar was raised, and soon enough, Schroeder Torsion Bars were being used by USAC champions, Knoxville Nationals winners, World of Outlaws winners. Schroeder Sway Bars even won the Daytona 500 and NASCAR Winston Cup championships.
With USAC’s TQ Midget division, Schroeder collected 17 career series victories between 1987-1995, third most in series history. Four of 17 career victories came at Ventura Raceway. He finished as the runner-up in the series standings in both 1988 and 1991.
RACE DETAILS
Agajanian Promotions presents the 2025 Turkey Night Grand Prix at California’s Ventura Raceway, which begins on Friday, November 28, with midget practice, plus USCS Sprint Car racing.
On Saturday, November 29, the Turkey Night Grand Prix final night consists of midget hot laps, qualifying, last chance qualifiers, semis and the 98-lap feature, plus sprint car semis and main events.
Advance tickets can be purchased at www.venturaraceway.com. Additional information is available at 805-648-7223.
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