Accord’s Getting Ready For Final Northeast Outdoor Dirt Race Of ’19…The Gobbler

Story By: TOM BOGGIE / ACCORD SPEEDWAY – ACCORD, NY – A Thanksgiving holiday tradition will return for the sixth time on Saturday, Nov. 30 when Accord Speedway promoters Gary and Donna Palmer once again stage “The Gobbler.”

The 50-lap “Gobbler,” for big block and small block modifieds, is presented by Insinger Performance, a major distributor of Sunoco Fuel. Many of the top modified drivers in the Northeast will be racing for a top prize of $5,000, and “The Gobbler” will pay $300 to take the green flag.

“This is an exciting way for us to end the season,” said Gary Palmer.

Weather took the excitement out of the “The Gobbler” in 2018, when the event had to be canceled because of wet and snowy weather that saturated the Ulster County track.

Headlining the field for this year’s “Gobbler” will be Anthony Perrego, the only two-time winner of the event. Perrego, who won the small block modified championship at Orange County Speedway in 2019, won the inaugural “Gobbler” in 2013, and also was first under the checkered flag in 2016.

One of the most popular wins came in the spring of 2015, when Jackie Brown Jr., “The Hurley Hurricane,” won “The Gobbler” and took home $7,800 in purse money, lap money and cash bonuses after the November classic had been postponed by bad weather in 2014.

Danny Johnson won the November 2015 edition of “The Gobbler” and Andy Bachetti was victorious in 2017, the last time the event was run.

The post-Thanksgiving tradition at Accord actually began in 2002, when Robbie Green won the 100-lap “Turkey Chase,” which was run in four 25-lap segments.

In addition to the 50-lap main for modifieds, the racing card on Nov. 30 will also include a 30-lap 602 crate sportsman feature, which will pay $1,500 to win; a 50-lap Street Stock Shootout, with the winner taking home $500; and a 100-lap enduro for four-cylinder cars.

Pit gates will open at 9 a.m., spectator gates will open at 10 and a drivers’ meeting will be held at 11:30, followed by hot laps.

General admission is $25 for adults, $23 for seniors and $5 for children 11 and under. Outdoor reserved seating in the top two rows of the grandstand is $27. Indoor seating will also be available for $35.

In the event of bad weather, “The Gobbler” and all of the support races will be run on Saturday, Dec. 7.