Open Practice
‘Now we’re all in’: Monett Motor Speedway, Missouri’s ‘Grand Ol’ Lady,’ joins the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series
Steve Andrews has always been a fan of racing, and he hoped to one day be involved in the sport he loved so much.
That’s why Andrews couldn’t resist the opportunity to lease and later buy Missouri’s Monett Motor Speedway.
“I’ve just grown to love it,” he said. “My friends and I would leave a race, and we’d say, ‘The experience would be so much better if they just did this or they just did that.’ We joked one day we’d buy a track.
“Low and behold, a year ago, Monett Motor Speedway was available, so I decided to just take a leap of faith. These tracks are kind of dying, so it was an opportunity to keep a track alive. I leased it for a year with the option to buy it, and I executed that option in the last year, and now we’re all in.”
Andrews has managed operations at Monett since his lease began. He officially purchased the 3/8-mile red clay oval in January, just in time for the track to celebrate its 55th anniversary season.
The shift in ownership is one of many changes coming to Monett, known in Missouri as ‘The Grand Ol’ Lady.’ Another major development is the track joining the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series this year.
“We looked at what we were doing and what everybody else was doing, and the sanctions that were out there just didn’t seem to benefit the racers, let alone the track, as much as we felt the opportunities that NASCAR presented (did),” Andrews said. “We wanted something this year that was going to set us apart from everybody else, and we really felt NASCAR was the right direction.”
In advance of Monett’s first season under the NASCAR banner, plans are well underway to make several major improvements.
Among them are a new racing surface thanks to 150 loads of fresh clay, a concession stand remodel, a new announcer’s booth and scoring tower, an updated tech area and an updated pit entrance.
Andrews has also brought in some familiar faces to help whip the facility into shape.
Jesse Stovall, a veteran dirt racer and multi-time feature winner at Monett, has been named general manager. Dan Robinson, who previously worked at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, has been brought on as a transformation consultant.
Stovall will be directly involved in the day-to-day operations at the track, specifically preparing the racing surface for each night of racing. His goal is simple: Give racers and fans the best track possible to put on a good show.
“I went over there one day because I have a friend who races, and I went over to watch him,” said Stovall, who retired from full-time racing a few years ago after suffering a head injury. “The track was a little dusty, and they were having some issues trying to get the track right. Next thing you know, the guy that was doing the track work decided it was too much for him.
“Steve called me, and we worked out a deal to get the track ready each week, and it kind of morphed into … he learned that I was pretty knowledgeable about racing in all aspects and he leans on me pretty hard at this point.”
Andrews has already announced a handful of major events for Monett’s 2025 season, including the second running of the Larry Phillips Memorial on June 27-28.
The event is held in honor of the late five-time Weekly Series national champion from Springfield, Missouri. Phillips passed away in 2004 at age 62 after a battle with lung cancer.
“Larry was just such a big part of this community up here, and he’s so well known,” Andrews said. “The response we received from the community when we held the inaugural (race) last year was just overwhelming. We had Mark Martin there. It was just a spectacular event. It was an honor to be able to honor him.
“Unlike last year, this year, it is going to be a two-day event. I would liken that to the Super Bowl of our season.”
Monett will host Weekly Series racing on Friday nights throughout the season starting April 4. B Mods will serve as the track’s Division I class. Other NASCAR-sanctioned Weekly divisions will include Midwest modifieds, pure stocks and bombers.
A full 2025 schedule will be available on Monett Motor Speedway’s website soon.
Stovall has seen many promoters come and go from race tracks around the Midwest, but he believes Andrews is committed to making Monett one of the region’s premier dirt-racing facilities.
That commitment is what Stovall hopes will attract racers and fans to ‘The Grand Ol’ Lady’ in 2025.
“I used to tell everybody, if you could go win a race at Monett, you could pretty much go anywhere and win a race,” Stovall said. “It’s just unique in shape, and the shape of the race track is just absolutely wonderful.
“We’re doing everything we can to make this place like it once was and have the best quality shows that we can possibly have.”
