MOBERLY, Mo. (Dec. 11) — There’s a new sheriff in town in Moberly, Mo., and a new home for a quartet of USRA-sanctioned divisions at the new Randolph County Raceway.
Weekly Saturday night racing will begin in early May at the former 24 Raceway, with USRA Modifieds, USRA Stock Cars, USRA B-Mods and USRA Hobby Stocks highlighting the action.
On Sept. 27, David and Janelle Claypoole received the deed and keys to the former 24 Raceway in Moberly, Mo., and immediately laid out their plans for some welcome improvements to the 4/10-mile high-banked dirt oval.
“My wife and I are very excited about this new business adventure. We really enjoy the racing circuit and what it has to offer and want to keep this sport going and alive here in central Missouri,” said David Claypoole, who also is involved in a construction business in Macon, Mo., and has competed in truck & tractor pull events nationwide for the past 20 years.
“This will be a huge learning process for us because we have never been directly involved in a racing business like this before. My wife and I have learned so much since we first began negotiations in early June with the previous owners. We’re learning a lot every day.”
Plans include new board seating and some paint to give the facility a fresh appearance, but the biggest undertaking will be the task of removing the asphalt below what remains of the dirt surface, and then grading and packing the entire track surface before winter sets in.
“The Moberly facility is still in pretty decent shape and has a nice history to it. We’ve already begun working on the property, fixing and repairing a number of things that needs to be done,” he added. “My tentative plan is to have everything ready to reopen the dirt track next May by having a monster truck show and a truck & tractor pull first, and then begin having the kind of races that Moberly has been use to having in previous years.”
After opening as an asphalt track named Moberly Motorsports Complex in 1989, the track was covered with dirt shortly thereafter and renamed 24 Raceway. The facility remained in continuous operation through 2011, but the owners decided not to lease or re-open in 2012.
It is the hope for the racetrack to be a successful racing venture once more with these new owners, and that is going to take the support of the racing community in the mid-state area.
Claypoole said he plans to maintain a similar weekly racing schedule used in recent years, and that means races will be held every Saturday evening, weather permitting, starting sometime in May of 2013 through October.
Drivers in the USRA Modified division will compete for a points fund worth up to $1,500 at season’s end to the track champion plus multiple contingency awards for several drivers in the class. A $10,000 cash award awaits the USRA Modified national champion in the USRA Weekly Racing Series.
For USRA Stock Cars there is a top prize of $600 posted for the track champion and $1,500 for the national champion while USRA B-Mod competitors will see a track points fund that pays the champion $500 with $2,000 earmarked for the national champion.
The USRA Hobby Stock track champion could earn up to $500 and the national champion $1,500.
National points are awarded to each licensed driver based on his/her best twenty (20) points nights within their division from Feb. 21 through Oct. 20, 2013.
ULMA Late Models and 4-Cylinders will also be part of the weekly racing program.
The Randolph County Raceway is located 3.5 miles east of US 63 on US 24, about 5 miles south of Moberly. For more information call 660-651-8599 or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RandolphCountyRaceway.
To learn more about the USRA, visit www.usraracing.com or call 515-832-6000. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usraracing or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usraracing.
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