Indeed, the World Famous Port-a-Potty Grand Prix is a real thing. It takes place Thursday, August 1, at Thunder Road Speedbowl in Barre, Vermont.
The late Ken Squier developed the annual race. Calkins Portable Toilets sponsors it. The annual event pits the point leaders of the track a week after the mid-season championships.
“The drivers leading in their divisions take real port-a-potties, cut them down, and usually put them on bicycle frames,” said Cale King, media director at Thunder Road Speedbowl. “There are no rules, except the drivers sit on the seat of a port-a-potty to steer. As many crew members as they want push the port-a-potty from the fourth turn starting line to the first turn finish line.”
Fans hoot and holler as the drivers race in front of the grandstands.
“Of course, rubbin’ is racin,’ even in the grand prix,” King said. “A few wheels have been known to fly off during competition.”
Kaiden Fisher (late models), Dean Switser Jr. (street stocks), Brandon Gray (flying tigers) and a to-be-announced driver from the road warriors will man the potties.
“Our road warrior division does not have points, so we will select a driver as the other racers in the division will help build and push the port-a-potty,” said King. “The teams will race for the golden toilet seat trophy. The team that gets the largest applause from the grandstand receives a golden toilet plunger.”
Gray’s been on a tear, currently on a 17-race win streak, with six victories at Claremont Motorsports Park in New Hampshire, seven at White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, New Hampshire, and four at Thunder Road. He hopes to extend that streak with a port-a-potty victory.
“We just finished last night, we built a nice port-a-potty buggy out of three bicycles and some one-by-one stock,” Gray, of Thetford, Vermont, said. “We built it to win. My toilet seat is basically on the ground — it’s that low for center of gravity. There will be four crew people pushing me.”
Despite his track record of success, Gray has never participated as a driver in the Port-a-Pott Grand Prix. He led the points at the time of the Port-a-Potty Grand Prix in 2020. The requirement for social distancing then unfortunately canceled the event.
“I’ve been racing for 16 years, and that was the only year I was leading in points until now,” Gray said. “The way you can look at this event is that it is either stupid or you can embrace it. For me, a win is a win. Who doesn’t want to put a golden toilet seat on their trophy rack?”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
