LOS ANGELES - Keith Kunz Motorsports entered eight midgets at Ventura for the USAC National Midget Series 82^nd running of the Turkey Night GP. The KKM all-time record was 11 midgets several years ago according to crew chief Ben Burden, who was in charge of three midgets—Nos. 25K (Taylor Reimer), No 67 (fastest qualifier Ryan Timms), and No. 67k (Buddy Kofoid). He said KKM towed directly from Merced's Wednesday, November 22 race from 11 pm to 4:45 am via highways 99, I-5, 126, and 101 and were the first arrivals at the Ventura pit gate. Eight haulers (each with two drivers) and two support trucks with tires and parts traveled as a convoy. As usual KKM had adjacent pit stalls just inside the pit gate.

Promoter Jim Naylor opened the pits at 10 am on Thanksgiving Day so teams could set up pits and work. KKM had 12 crewmen this year. Chuck Gurney, Jr. flew from Indiana to assist. The KKM team stayed at the Amanzi Hotel across the street from the 11-story Crown Plaza Hotel  just south of the speedway. T. Reimer, 23, traveled with her family in their motor-home and they had Thanksgiving dinner with friends in Ojai, near Ventura. KKM arranged meals for crewmembers. Drivers were on their own. Experienced crew chiefs prepped three cars and crewmen were available to work on cars as necessary. Jade Avedisian flipped in turn one on her second qualifying lap and rode back to the pits in the No. 71 cockpit on the back of a wrecker. Numerous team members worked on front end damage and soon had the car race ready. It made the feature.

KKM fielded a new chassis this season from Lynk, a chassis builder in North Vernon, Indiana. KKM sold its numerous Bullet chassis that it used for years. At Ventura's TNGP seven of eight cars were Lynks. As usual KKM affixes a chassis number to the roll cage or side bar of each midget. The No. 71e (Mariah Ede) was DM 95—the oldest and only non-Lynk chassis. New chassis for 2023 racing in USAC and the Outlaw Midget Series (won by first-time champion Avedisian) were: LK 06 – 25kYahoo (Reimer), KK 09 - 67 JBL (Timms), LK 10 – 97 Eibach (Miller), LK 12 – 68 Lynk (Axsom), LK 13 – Mobil 1 (Kofoid), LK 14 – 71 Peelz Citrus (Avedisian), and the newest chassis LK 22 – 71k Page KC.com (newcomer Kale Drake). The No. 97 that Gavin Miller flipped six times at Merced on November 21 on lap 2 of the feature while taking the lead was Lynk chassis 04 that was destroyed. Afterwards KKM crewmen disassembled it in the pits to salvage whatever parts possible at its shop in Indiana.

Entered midget driver “no-shows” were: AJ. Bender, Thomas Meseraull, Daniel Whitley, Marvin Mitchell, Tanner Thorson, Scott Orr and Troy Rutherford. NHRA drag racer Cruz Pedregon, a first-time TNGP entrant, had the No. 6a Spike/Stanton SR-11 for Ricky Lewis, from Camarillo, south of Ventura. Ricky won 18 sprint car features (top record during 2023) at numerous short tracks, primarily in Indiana. He had 18 feature winner stickers on the tail of his No. 41 sprinter that he also raced in Ventura.

Tom Malloy, the 2021 TNGP winning car owner with driver Logan Seavey, entered three No. 25 midgets for the 2022 TNGP. His three drivers—Jacob Denney, Emerson Axsom, and Tyler Courtney—all made the 98-lap main. Crew chief/past USAC Western Series driving champion, Jerome Rodela, an El Monte, Calif. resident had his daughters 13 and 7 in the pits. Jerome said Malloy only entered one car in 2023 for season-long driver Denney. It was the only other Lynk chassis in the field and used an Ed Pink Toyota engine.

The 2024 USAC National Midget Series (30 scheduled events) has increased from seven to eight California November dates. The western swing will have seven race dates. Placerville (two) will precede the new Tulare and Merced (two) events. Bakersfield and the 83^rd TNGP in Ventura (two days including Friday practice). The next TNGP winner will receive $15,000 instead of the $10,000 received by the last three TNGP winners.

Nine of the top ten drivers in 2023 USAC National Midget points raced in the 2023 TNGP. Only tenth place Meseraull was absent. He competed in earlier western swing races with his new No, 7x midget. However, “T.Mez” had a flip at Bakersfield and mechanical issues later so he missed Ventura this year after racing in the last TNGP. The USAC Western States Midgets had six of the top ten 2023 point drivers competing at Ventura.

The 2023 USAC Western Midget Series ran 11 events and experienced three rain-outs. Seven California dirt tracks (Antioch, Merced, Kern County Raceway-Bakersfield, Petaluma, Placerville, Santa Maria and Ventura) hosted the western series. Champion Brody Fuson beat runner-up Cade Lewis by 41 points (831-790). Feature winners were:Fuson (five), Andreotti (two), and one each by C. Lewis, Caden Sarale, T. J. Smith, and Ben Worth. Personable Worth was recuperating from a neck injury suffered at Placerville. He was restricted to helping the two-car Dean Alexander team as a crewman. The 2023 USAC West Coast 360 sprints had four of the top ten drivers (including four of the top five drivers) in 2023 final points in action at Ventura November 24-25.