The Turkey Bowl

The Turkey Bowl

Riverside Park Speedway
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Race Information
Number of times held	6
First Race	1949
Most Wins (drivers)	Howard Joyce (2)
Most Wins (constructors)	Howard Joyce (2)
Most Wins (manufacturers)	Hudson (2)
Circuit Length	0.250 mi (0.402 km)
Race Length	100.0 mi (160.8 km)
Laps	400
Last Race (1951)
Pole Position
Howard Joyce · Howard Joyce ( Hudson) · 56.507mph
Podium
1. Howard Joyce · Howard Joyce ( Hudson)
2. Cameron Yost · Ted Hansen ( Studebaker)
3. Emmett Newton · Lucky Hornick ( Hudson)

The Turkey Bowl was an annual motorsport race held the Sunday before Thanksgiving at Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, Massachusetts, just over the Connecticut-Massachusetts border. The second running of the race was the season finale for the inaugural World Stock Car Championship season. Between 1950 and 1967, the race was sanctioned by the National Stock Car Series and was seen as the "traditional" season finale (despite there often being one or more races after it in the schedule). After the Reform Era changes dropped all tracks under 1/2 mile from the NSCS schedule, the Turkey Bowl became an independently sanctioned event. The final running of the race was in 1999 as the final race held at Riverside, which was demolished during the offseason to make way for an expansion of the amusement park the track sat in.

History

The first Turkey Bowl was run in 1949 to close out the inaugural racing season at Riverside. In 1950, it closed out the inaugural World Stock Car Championship season, which culminated in a three-way points battle between Peter Stafford, Will Gordon, and eventual series champion Cameron Yost. Howard Joyce made notable history by recording Hudson's first stock car racing victory. He would repeat as the winner in 1951.

The 1999 running was billed as The Final Turkey Bowl and was a celebration of the track's history and its legacy in stock car racing circles. Several drivers, including Cameron Yost and Will Gordon, attempted to qualify for this final event.

Pole Winners

Year	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Time	Average Speed
1949	73	Ollie Duncan	Mercury
1950	44	Peter Stafford	Oldsmobile
1951	9	Howard Joyce	Hudson

Race Winners

Year	Date	No.	Driver	Sponsor	Manufacturer	Distance
						Laps	Miles (km)
1949	November 20	34	Perry Dudley		Buick	400	100.0 (160.8)
National Stock Car Series Sanctioning
1950	November 12	9	Howard Joyce	FABULOUS Hudson Hornet	Hudson	400	100.0 (160.8)
1951	November 18	9	Howard Joyce	FABULOUS Hudson Hornet	Hudson	400	100.0 (160.8)
1952						400	100.0 (160.8)
1953						400	100.0 (160.8)
1954						400	100.0 (160.8)
1955						400	100.0 (160.8)
1956						400	100.0 (160.8)
1957						400	100.0 (160.8)
1958						400	100.0 (160.8)
1959						400	100.0 (160.8)
1960						400	100.0 (160.8)
1961						400	100.0 (160.8)
1962						400	100.0 (160.8)
1963						400	100.0 (160.8)
1964						400	100.0 (160.8)
1965						400	100.0 (160.8)
1966						400	100.0 (160.8)
1967						400	100.0 (160.8)
Independent Sanctioning
1968						400	100.0 (160.8)
1969						400	100.0 (160.8)
1970						400	100.0 (160.8)
1971						400	100.0 (160.8)
1972						400	100.0 (160.8)
1973						400	100.0 (160.8)
1974						400	100.0 (160.8)
1975						400	100.0 (160.8)
1976						400	100.0 (160.8)
1977						400	100.0 (160.8)
1978						400	100.0 (160.8)
1979						400	100.0 (160.8)
1980						400	100.0 (160.8)
1981						400	100.0 (160.8)
1982						400	100.0 (160.8)
1983						400	100.0 (160.8)
1984						400	100.0 (160.8)
1985						400	100.0 (160.8)
1986						400	100.0 (160.8)
1987						400	100.0 (160.8)
1988						400	100.0 (160.8)
1989						400	100.0 (160.8)
1990						400	100.0 (160.8)
1991						400	100.0 (160.8)
1992						400	100.0 (160.8)
1993						400	100.0 (160.8)
1994						400	100.0 (160.8)
1995						400	100.0 (160.8)
1996						400	100.0 (160.8)
1997						400	100.0 (160.8)
1998						400	100.0 (160.8)
North American Stock Car Tour Sanctioning
1999						400	100.0 (160.8)