Thanksgiving, a time for family, food, and football, holds a special meaning for us NASCAR fans. It’s a pit stop to refuel, regroup, and recollect for the next season, a chance to be grateful for all our blessings before the green flag drops again in only a few months. However, not everything is merry within the NASCAR nation.

On one hand, you’ve got guys like Kyle Busch, who is taking his family to California for a well-deserved holiday getaway. On the other, Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan are working tirelessly to finalize their third charter for 23XI Racing in the federal court of Western North Carolina. As per bearings, NASCAR will respond to those demands as late as December 9th, but 23XI has already announced Riley Herbst as their third driver for 2025. Circumstances like this bring forth plenty of questions.

Well, Thanksgiving is not a time for such rainy-day conversations. Although, Riley Herbst has a “hot take” that could add a spicy twist to all your dinner tables.

Riley Herbst skips turkey and brings Domino’s & Tacos to Thanksgiving

What’s your favorite dish for Thanksgiving dinner? Do you swing the traditional route with a generous helping of that stuffed turkey? Or do you race straight towards the pumpkin pie, stacking up twice the normal portion? No matter where you land, nothing compares to sharing Thanksgiving night with your loved ones and exchanging stories across the dinner table. It’s an emotion; it’s tradition. But from the sounds of things, Riley Herbst is not a traditionalist.

In a recent video shared by the Charlotte Motor Speedway Instagram handle, Herbst and his Xfinity Series colleagues answer a wholesome question: “What is the must-have Thanksgiving side?” Retiring Parker Kligerman kick-started the Q&A session with a swift yet hearty answer, “mashed potatoes.” 2024 Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year, Jesse Love followed that up with “a really good mac and cheese… one with a good crust on it.” Chandler Smith opted for the same. 

But Riley Herbst’s answer was the most awe-inspiring of everyone else. 23XI Racing’s confirmed #35 Camry XSE driver bluntly told the host, “Hot take: I don’t like Thanksgiving food… Last year, I ordered Domino’s.” Does that mean the 25-year-old is not soaking up the holiday spirit? Well, he’s eating tacos in Los Cabos this year, so we wouldn’t be quick to judge. Only a week ago, Herbst won the SCORE Trophy Truck Spec Class in the Baja 1000 with his family race team, Herbst Motorsports. And come next season, he has plenty to look forward to with 23XI Racing. But as for now, Herbst is enjoying some much-needed downtime.

As the conversations rolled on, other drivers like Austin Hill raved about his grandmother’s green bean casserole, while Sammy Smith, “a simple guy” in his own words, is a big fan of mashed potatoes and corn. However, 2024 Xfinity Series champ, Justin Allgaier had the most heartwarming answer to the question. “My go-to side for Thanksgiving dinner is Chicken Noodles that my aunt used to make,” he remembered with a hint of emotion. “She’s no longer with us, so part of the family still has to make the recipe. But there is nothing like those noodles.”

Here’s to hoping all our drivers and their families had a lovely Thanksgiving, regardless of their culinary preferences. But on that note, let us also look back at the times that Turkey Day crossed paths with the high-speed world of stock car racing and blessed it with a NASCAR race.

NASCAR and Turkey Day: Three iconic, but rare races

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The NASCAR Cup Series has raced on Thanksgiving three times in the past. Normally, the NASCAR season ends in early November. Historically, Thanksgiving has been taking place on the fourth Thursday at the tail end of November. That doesn’t leave us the chance for many Thanksgiving Day races. Nevertheless, it has happened before.

NASCAR’s first race on Thanksgiving dates back to its Grand National days in 1959. On November 26th, Ned Jarrett beat Jack Smith, and Joe Lee Johnson to win a 200-lap race at South Carolina’s Columbia Speedway. It was race number two of the 1960 NASCAR Grand National season, but the history books will forever know it as the sport’s first Thanksgiving Day race.

Then a few years later, in 1962, a lesser-known Petty Enterprises driver named Jim Paschal won another 200-mile race on Thanksgiving at the defunct quarter-mile Tar Heel Speedway in North Carolina. Surprisingly, that event was titled the Turkey Day 200, and Paschal capitalized on Glen Wood’s engine troubles with less than 30 to go, making him NASCAR’s second Thanksgiving Day winner. For decades, the sport wouldn’t host any more races on the holiday, until 2001.

That year, the New Hampshire 300 would’ve gone green on September 16th. But in the wake of the devastating 9/11 attacks, NASCAR and other sporting organizations paused their seasons as a mark of respect. Stock car racing returned to TV screens almost two weeks later at Dover. This meant the season would get postponed by an additional two weeks. Hence, a day after Thanksgiving, Loudon hosted what is today known as the ‘Black Friday’ race. The emotions were rife that day, as 98,000 turned up to the track, with a reported number of 6 million watching from home.

Jeff Gordon had won the championship only a few days prior in Atlanta. But that day belonged to someone he ironically shared his last name with, Robby Gordon. The latter would bump Jeff Gordon late in the race to snatch the win from under his nose, leaving a range of frustrations in his wake. Regardless, history will remember Robby as the race-winner, and Jeff Gordon as the 2001 Winston Cup champion. That wouldn’t be enough for the pair to settle their tempers at the dinner table.