Moberly Motorsports Park just east of Moberly, Missouri has undergone many ownership and name changes since its construction as the state of the art Moberly Motorsports Complex late in the 1980s. Originally advertised as a high banked half mile dirt track, at one point pavement was laid down before being resurrected as a four tenths mile clay speed plant. After promoting a unique but highly successful "Wiener Nationals" late model event in 2021, Mid Missouri racer and businessman Reid Millard purchased the facility in 2022. Meanwhile, another area businessman, Galen Hassler, spent one season as a successful promoter of nearby Callaway Raceway in Fulton. But for 2023 Hassler, also a part time racer, has taken the reigns at Moberly, working with Millard. Rather than hosting traditional weekend racing and splitting cars and fans with nearby tracks Callaway Raceway and Lake Ozark Speedway, the management team elected to schedule specials throughout the season featuring both late model and open wheel races. Still there seemed to be "meat left on the bone," thus the development of the Trophy Tuesday series. The concept features ten nights of racing. Five classes will rotate throughout, with four in action each week making an eight race mini series for each of Late Models, A Mods, B Mods, Super Stocks, and Hornets. Making this an even more unique plan is that different rules packages will be allowed - if you are legal under your particular sanction, you will be legal here. There can be no mixing of rules, and certain allowances have been made to keep everyone competitive. In addition to good payouts there is a strong season points payout available to those racing a majority of events.
Tuesday, May 23 would be the inaugural Trophy Tuesday featuring Late Models, A and B Mods and Super Stocks. This first event seemed like a perfect week night diversion, giving this late model fan five different sanction (or lack thereof) shows in seven days.
The night definitely had a glass half full, half empty result. B Mods led the way with a solid nineteen car field, and the thirteen late models on hand was a good turnout for a track that does not race weekly. On the down side, only five Super Stocks and two A Mods signed in. Hopefully they will give these classes time to develop more of a following. The crowd looked to be a pretty good one for an opening night, and to me it seemed as though it tilted towards younger generations, something we don't often see at the local tracks!
Opening night gremlins, including a track that needed considerable packing resulted in a late start to the program, but Hassler had emphasized that 9:30 would be the target time for a complete show, and once begun things moved along at a quick pace with the final checkers waving at 9:25!
Hot lap sessions also served as qualifying times. Cody Agee topped the B Mods at 20.430 seconds while Trevor Gundaker topped the Late Models with a lap at 18.399. Derek Wiss led the Super Stocks at 22.952.
The initial plan was for just two of the four classes each night to run heats based on a draw before racing began. However the car count splits on this night made that an easy call. Agee, Kris Jackson, and Chris Spalding topped the three B Mod eight lappers - A Mod pilots Dylan Hoover and Charlie Baker tagged the tail in two of these races. Pole sitter Gundaker and third starting David Melloway captured heats for the Late Models.
Super Stocks would run the first fifteen lap feature. Josh Calvert started outside row one and jumped to the early lead, taking along third starting Agee. The only caution of the race came three laps in as Darek Wiss smacked the turn two outside concrete wall. Back to racing, Calvert and Agee pulled well ahead, running nose to tail around the top of the speedway. Agee threw everything he had at the leader, including a bump draft and a trio of slide jobs with Calvert crossing him back over each time. The final attempt came as the duo drove through turns three and four on the final lap, with Calvert first at the line. Curtis Barnes was the only other car on the track at the checkers, with Jason Rindom and Wiss scored behind them.
Gundaker and Melloway paced the Late Models, also lining up for fifteen laps. Gundaker charged to a flag to flag win, while there was plenty of action behind him. With Melloway trying to stay close, Matt Becker and Kyle Graves swapped the third position back and forth. A pair of yellow flags for Ashley Lancaster three laps in and Kayden Clatt three laps later only slowed Gundakers' road to victory. At the checkers it was Gundaker, Melloway, Becker and Graves with Clatt fighting back to a top five finish. Chase Breid ran sixth ahead of Curt Potter, Lancaster, Bill Vaughn, Dwane Vandelicht, Chad Walter, and Steve Potter. Jarred Ballard was unable to make the feature call.
B Mods would round out the night, also racing fifteen laps. Only Tyler Lewis failed to make the call, with the A Mods also taking the green at the tail of the pack. Agee and Jackson sat on row one, and those two along with fourth starting Kyler Girard soon put distance on the field. With Jackson running a middle line around the oval, Girard was able to pull even wheeling around the top of the track. Jackson then changed his line and opened some breathing room as Agee moved in, taking second from Girard ahead of the only caution. Back under green Dawson David entered the fray, moving to third behind Girard, then taking second at about the halfway mark. As Jackson checked out, a six car battle tightened up behind him. About lap ten, Agee rebounded to the runner up spot, while Dakota Girard climbed to third after lining up in eighth. Jackson cruised to the win followed by Agee, Dakota Girard, David, and Spalding. Kyler Girard, Jamie Aleshire, Chris Leathers, Preston Dawson and Kelly Smith would round out the top ten. Hoover would be declared the A Mod victor over Baker.
Congratulations to Hassler and Millard for some out of the box thinking and an entertaining Tuesday night. Now if they could find a sponsor for a scoreboard to go along with the improvements already made...
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