2021-22 Round 6
Turkey Trot - Infield Road Course at South Shore Superspeedway - Saint Francis, WI
November 18, 2021
Round 6 of 16
Lack Trots Off With Turkey And Point Lead
St. Francis, WI – Mike Lack captured the Turkey again, winning the 29th annual Turkey Trot at the South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course. Lack now has won the prestigious event for the third time in his career.
The Turkey Trot is one of the toughest races of the season as it is run under De-Slot rules, meaning that a driver is only allowed to come out of the slot twice in a heat race and if a de-slot happens a third time, the driver’s race is done at that point. For the final, the rules generously give the drivers one more de-slot, so if a driver accumulates four, they are done.
Starting off the night strong, Lack captured the pole position with a 3.276 second lap. The pole run was the 45th of his career and has him within three of second place all-time, currently held by Hall of Famer Phil Cianciola with 48. Joe Hietz was close, just 78 thousandths of a second slower than Lack for second. Ev Kamikawa, Mike Kristof and Dan Margetta rounded out the top five in qualifying.
With thirteen drivers in attendance, the Last Chance Qualifier To Get In The Field Race Which Has Yet To Be Named had Matt Hayek, Pete Dorn, Brad Core and Steve Rist fighting for the final three heat race positions. All four finished the first half of the race within a lap from first to fourth. In the second half, Core struggled to maintain pace and fell back four laps at the finish to take thirteenth on the night.
The three heat races were set randomly, putting Rist and Dorn back on track right away to race against Bill Black and Kristof. Rist struggled early with the De-Slot format and fell back seven laps from the other three drivers that were all on the same lap. But the second half was trouble for some of them as Dorn and Kristof succumbed to the de-slot rule. Black took the victory and Rist moved into second and set the provisional transfer spot laps at 130.
The second heat featured point leader Dean Strom facing off against a hoard of Angry Squirrels comprising of Lack, Matt Hayek and fan favorite Amy Butler. All drivers survived the heat race without tallying a third de-slot, but Lack did it best by running clean the entire race and holding off Strom by three laps at the finish, Strom was on thin ice with two de-slots for much of the race. Butler outdistanced teammate Hayek to take third in the race. Strom, with 140 laps, took over the provisional transfer spot to the final from his Squirrel Shagged Enterprises teammate Rist.
The final heat race was a typical de-slot race with drivers dropping like flies and a boring finish. Kamikawa is arguably the best ever Turkey Trot driver with six victories and has been the runner-up finisher in the last five Trots. So, it was no surprise that he jumped out to an early lead. Heitz, the second place qualifier, was too quick to handle and racked up three de-slots and joining his Michael Shank-It Racing teammate Kristof with a DNF. The unthinkable happened just seventeen laps into the second half as Kamikawa scored his third de-slot and was done, turning the lead over to John Wiedemann. Wiedemann was also on thin ice with two de-slots and had to give the lead up to Margetta as he slowed his pace. Margetta took the win and Wiedemann was able to take the transfer spot away from Strom by just two laps at the finish.
That set the final with Lack, Black, Margetta and Wiedemann battling for the bird. Seven-time series champ Lack and CBD Racing's Black set the pace as they stormed away from Margetta and Wiedemann. Wiedemann continued to have handling issues and was tallying de-slots quickly, dropping him out of the battle. Lack held the lead at the halfway break by just a lap over Black. Margetta was another eight laps behind in third. Pitstops to open the second half were good for all drivers and Lack, still with no de-slots, kept the top spot. Black was able to keep pace with the leader for a while, but two de-slots kept him from challenging for the lead. Lack cruised to the finish and a second win of the season. Black finished second for the second race in a row. Margetta captured third for his first podium finish of the season.
With his victory, Lack took over the series points lead by ten over Strom with six races in the books. Wiedemann, with his fifth final of the season holds on to third place in the standings, eleven points behind Strom. Black, with two runner-up finishes in a row, has inserted himself in the championship battle now nine points behind third place.
Up next is the classic Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix at the Road Course at Badger Raceway in Muskego, WI. Hometown hero Strom won the earlier race this season at Badger Raceway and is the defending champion of this event beating Lack by two laps last season. That victory at last years Memorial ended a five race “Open Class” winning streak for Lack. You can bet there will be fireworks between those two rivals as one wants to keep his streak going at Badger and the other wants to restart his own. It’s “Open Class” rules so the action will be fast and crazy.
Turkey Trot Fast Facts
Race date: Thursday, Nov 18
Track: South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course, 2.4 mile Temporary Road Course in St. Francis, WI
Race distance: 20 minutes
Twitter: @indyslotcar
IndySlotCar Website: indyslotcar.com
2020 race winner: Dan Margetta, (No. 88 Margetta Hardly Steinbrenner Autosport Dallara-Honda)
2020 Firestone P1 Award winner: Dan Margetta (No. 88 Hardly Steinbrenner-Margetta Racing Dallara-Honda)
One-lap qualifying record: Mark Walczak, 2.852 seconds, 2008
Race record: Ev Kamikawa, 323 laps, 2015
YouTube Broadcast: IndySlotCar Channel
At-track schedule (all times local):
6:00 – Gates Open
6:30 – Driver introductions
7:00 – Drivers’ meeting/Chassis distribution
7:05 – IndySlotCar Series Practice
7:30 – Qualifying for the Firestone P1 Award (group qualifying/ fastest single lap)
8:00 – Heat races
8:45 – Turkey Trot (20 minutes)
Race Notes:
· Dan Margetta is the defending Turkey Trot winner, 2020 was his third turkey. Seven drivers account for 23 of the 28 wins at this event, Matt Hayek is the last first time winner in 2019, before that you have to go back to Mike Fitzalff in 2007.
· Ev Kamikawa has taken home the most turkeys with six wins, but he also has been the runner-up the last five years in a row and a total of seven times in his 23 starts in this event.
· Dean Strom holds a 12 point lead over Mike Lack in the Husarsbilt Cup championship, John Wiedemann is just one behind Lack.
· STATS WATCH: Matt Hayek’s win at the Jackson 500 is his 18th career win, moving into 9th on the all-time victory list. With a heat win at Heat Win at the Black Track Pete Dorn has moved to 19th on the all-time standings with 16 and his 19th final four appearance moved him into a tie with Tony Perkins for 20th on that list. Brad Core’s first final four appearance makes him the 40th driver to make a final, Core also leapt from 38th to 36th in laps turned and up to 35th in career starts with 10. Dean Strom is now 12th in laps turned with 32,084. Bill Black is now 22nd on that tally. The Jackson 500 was Mike Lack’s 200 career start (No cake). Steve Rist moved to 29th on the starts list with his 29th drive.
TURKEY TROT HISTORY (28 events, 1993 - Present)
Date Race Winner Event Title Track
11/18/93 Phil Cianciola Texaco Turkey Trot Shrine Road Course
11/17/94 Dave Austin Hobby Town Turkey Trot Inside Edge
11/30/95 John Shea Hobby Town Turkey Trot Inside Edge
11/14/96 Ev Kamikawa Hobby Town Turkey Trot Inside Edge
11/20/97 Ev Kamikawa Hobby Town Turkey Trot Inside Edge
11/12/98 Jim Kaehny Hobby Town Turkey Trot Inside Edge
11/18/99 Ev Kamikawa Hobby Town Turkey Trot Inside Edge
11/16/00 Ev Kamikawa Turkey Trot presented by Model Empire Inside Edge
11/15/01 Larry Rotter Turkey Trot presented by Model Empire Inside Edge
11/14/02 Jim Iverson Model Empire Turkey Trot Inside Edge
11/20/03 Jim Iverson Model Empire Turkey Trot Inside Edge
11/18/04 Phil Cianciola Model Empire Turkey Trot Inside Edge
11/10/05 Mark Walczak Model Empire Turkey Troy South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/9/06 Jim Iverson Model Empire Turkey Troy South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/8/07 Mike Fitzlaff Model Empire Turkey Troy South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/20/08 Mark Walczak Turkey Trot South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/12/09 Mark Walczak Turkey Trot South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/11/10 Mark Walczak Turkey Trot South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/10/11 Mark Walczak Turkey Trot South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/8/12 Dan Margetta Turkey Trot South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/6/13 Mike Fitzlaff Turkey Trot South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/20/14 Ev Kamikawa Turkey Trot South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/12/15 Ev Kamikawa Turkey Trot South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/12/16 Dan Margetta Turkey Trot South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/9/17 Mike Lack Turkey Trot South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/8/18 Mike Lack Turkey Trot presented by Firehouse Subs “ “ “ “ “
11/7/19 Matt Hayek Turkey Trot South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
11/19/20 Dan Margetta Turkey Trot South Shore Superspeedway Infield Road Course
Most Wins: 6 – Ev Kamikawa; 5 – Mark Walczak; 3 – Dan Margetta, Jim Iverson; 2 – Mike Lack, Mike Fitzlaff, Phil Cianciola