If you’ve lived in Republic for any length of time, you know the Mooneyham name. On Thursday, the rest of Missouri got a formal introduction. The Mooneyham Racing Family was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame at its Outdoor Sports Luncheon in Springfield, honored for a legacy in dirt track racing that stretches back more than 60 years. Brothers Darrell, Glen, Terry, and Randy Mooneyham are at the center of a family that has racked up an estimated 450 racing wins across three generations, with sons, daughters, in-laws, and grandchildren all contributing to the family’s legacy at the track.
Randy Mooneyham, who delivered the acceptance speech for the family, spent 38 years operating Monett Speedway, a 3/8-mile oval built in 1970 that became known as the Grand Ol’ Lady. He purchased it in 1980 and ran it for all but three seasons before selling in 2017. Over the course of his career, he promoted more than 2,500 races at 54 tracks across 10 states.
Monett Speedway is believed to be the longest-running continuous weekly racing dirt track in Missouri and one of the longest-enduring weekly tracks in the country.
The racing started with Darrell, who began on tractors in fields before moving to drag racing in 1961. He won more than 200 races at 89 different tracks and earned 39 sportsmanship awards over the course of his career.
“I was probably dreaming,” Darrell said of his early days behind the wheel. “No, I never would have imagined that. It’s been a good run, though.”
Terry raced for more than a decade before transitioning to a longtime role as a mechanic and cage welder for other racers. He found that family eventually pulled him in a different direction.
“That was 1980, so I had kids playing baseball and all that,” Terry said. “You don’t think you’re gonna quit it, but all of a sudden you’re too old to go back.”
Glen followed his older brothers into racing, winning 23 consecutive features at Monett and I-44 Speedway in Lebanon at one point. The family logged many hours towing race cars across the region — including some “wild experiences,” according to Glen, who recalled one night when the tow vehicle broke down on the way home from a race in Rogers, Arkansas. He and Darrell hooked a log chain to the tow vehicle and dragged both it and the race car back to Aurora. With both vehicles in tow, they sped past brother Terry along the route home.
Glen said he has replaced the rush of racing with watching his children, and now grandchildren, play sports. “I got a lot of that watching them,” he said.
For Randy, the family aspect was central to the whole operation. His children all worked at the track, sometimes three nights a week at different facilities, often while holding full-time jobs. He estimated more than 50 members of the extended family worked at the speedway at one point or another.
“It really was a family deal,” Randy said. “We were just lucky. We had a good time in the ’80s and ’90s. The crowds were really good.”
His formula at Monett was straightforward: “Our motto was start at 7:30, be done at 10 o’clock, and don’t run late.”
The next generation has continued the family’s legacy on the track. Randy’s grandson, Payton Looney, won the Show Me 100 in 2020, becoming only the second Missourian to achieve the feat. Randy called it one of his proudest moments.
“He’s only one of two [Missouri] drivers to ever win that,” Randy said. “I thought that was pretty special.”
Several other younger family members have joined the racing community as well, and one conservative estimate puts the family’s combined racing wins at 450 or more.
Darrell, asked if he had anything else to add about the family’s six decades in racing, kept it simple.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “We’ve really enjoyed it and had a great time.”
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