Inductees

In the 1960s, with chores completed on their parents’ dairy farm outside Republic, they would find their way to nearby dirt race tracks – pulled in by the hum of engines, the characters behind the wheel and folks from across the Ozarks cheering from the bleachers.

Talk about meant to be. The so-called motor sports gods made sure Darrell, Terry, Glen and Randy Mooneyham would be very much part of its history.

“My brother, Glen Ray, and I built my first dirt track car together in 1970,” said Darrell, the oldest brother. “It was a ‘57 Chevy. We had so much fun that, a few weeks later, we built Glen Ray one. Not long after that my brother, Terry, built one. We had a blast and I’m still doing it!”

They certainly carved out a legacy, leading the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted the Mooneyham Racing Family with the Class of 2026.

Overall, it’s now a baker’s dozen racers in the family, led by the brothers – Darrell competing for 63 years, Glen for 20 years, Terry 11 and Randy having ran Monett Speedway for 38 of his 47 years in the sport.

Other racers are Darrell’s son, Dustin; Glen’s sons, Brett, his son-in-law Burl Woods, and grandson Wyatt Woods; and Randy’s son, Lake, son-in-law Brad Looney, grandson Payton Looney, nephews Ron Mitchell and Casey Mooneyham, and late brother-in-law Bob Childress.

And it all started on dirt roads and paved two-laners in Greene County, where Darrell and Terry raced tractors, unbeknownst to their parents, Clyde and Faye.

Darrell raced on drag strips in the 1960s but turned his attention to Late Models. Overall, he raced at 89 tracks, earned 39 Sportsmanship Awards and won over 200 races. Eddie Carter was his longtime crew chief.

Terry climbed into the ’57 Chevy in 1970.

“Darrell called and said I was the only one who could weld and wanted me to weld his car,” Terry said.

“Winning the Sportsman feature at the first race Randy promoted was the one that meant the most to me,” said Terry, who placed fourth in Branson in the Late Model class in his Sportsman car.

Glen placed second in the street stock class in his first race, at Monett Speedway. In 1984, he won 23 consecutive A features there and at I-44 Speedway in Lebanon. He won every special that year in the sportsman class, including the KTTS 4 State Championship and the Fina Mo. Dirt Track Championship. Larry Caldwell was his crew chief for years.

Randy promoted more than 2,500 shows covering 54 tracks in 10 states. In 1980, he bought Monett Speedway, a 3/8-mile oval that opened in 1970. Known as the Grand Ol’ Lady, it is believed to be the longest-running, continuous weekly racing dirt track in Missouri.

Monett long hosted MLRA, MARS and other regional late model series and has been home to the Four-State Dirt Track Championship since 1971. Randy sold it in 2017. He also promoted tracks at Bolivar and Lebanon and was the original promoter of the Midwest Latemodel Racing Association (MLRA) when it formed in 1989, and later promoted MARS.

Monett races were Sunday nights, so there was an emphasis on 2 ½-hour shows.

“Our area has always had a lot of racing talent, so providing them a dependable place to compete was important to me,” Randy said. “I also had great help on race day — most of it coming from family and close friends — and that made a big difference in keeping everything running smoothly.”

The brothers inspired the younger generations. Dustin started in 1998 and has 70 career wins, with two track championships. Darrell and Dustin founded and promoted Cash Money Racing Series from 2018-2023.

Brett raced in the bomber class (2002-2005), and Wyatt started racing B-Mods in 2024. Burl competes in Super stock and has over 100 wins since 2000, including the Batesville 10K Schoenfeld Headers Championship and the Bad Boy Mower Championship.

Lake raced in three divisions and had 20-plus wins in the factory stock division. Brad had 400 career wins in Late Models and won the 2011 Mars Championship.

Payton often won in Open Late Models, including the Show Me 100 in 2020, joining Terry Phillips as the only Missourians to win it. He won six MLRA features, three Comp Cams, MARS and was the Rookie of the Year in MLRA and MARS.

Casey raced bomber and modified. Childress raced late models in the 70s and 80s. Mitchell was a racing photographer for 20 years.

Overall, what a run it’s been.