Republic’s Mooneyhams, Woods tapped for Missouri Sports Hall of Fame

The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame will celebrate hunting, fishing, motorsports and a new category – competitive barbecue – at its upcoming Outdoor Sports Luncheon presented by Bass Pro Shops.
The Class of 2026 features: Mooneyham Racing Family – Motorsports; Brad Leighninger – Barbecue Champion; Richard Clark – Cross Country & Track Coach; Steve Leivan – Dirt Bike Racer; Dr. Grant Woods – Deer Hunting; Lost Creek Bass Club; Missouri State University Equestrian Team; Bill Davenport – Fisherman; Jason Farley – Pro Rodeo Clown & Barrelman; Willow Springs High School Boys & Girls Cross Country Era of 1994-1999; Mark Stahlman – Ace Award
President & CEO Rob Marsh on Monday announced the luncheon, set for 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 12, at the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center in Springfield. It marks the fifth such ceremony since 2020 celebrating sports whose roots date to the state’s rich history of conservation, dirt-track racing on rural ovals and more.
Additionally, Mark Stahlman of Highland Springs Country Club will be bestowed the Ace Award.
“This should be a fun group to welcome into our Class of 2026,” Marsh said. “Each one has made a tremendous contribution to sports in Missouri.”

Mooneyham Racing Family
If there was ever a book written about southwest Missouri’s rich tradition of race car driving, a thick chapter would need to be devoted to the Mooneyham Racing Family of Republic. Specifically, Randy Mooneyham spent more than 47 years in auto racing, including 38 years operating the Monett Speedway. Overall, he promoted more than 2,500 shows covering 54 tracks in 10 states. Monett Speedway, a 3/8-mile oval built in 1970, became known as the Grand Ol’ Lady, with Mooneyham purchasing it in 1980. It 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. Monett Speedway has long hosted MLRA, MARS and other regional late model series. Additionally, it has been home to the Four-State Dirt Track Championship since 1971. Mooneyham operated Monett for all but three seasons since purchasing the track in 1980. He then sold it in 2017. He also promoted tracks at Bolivar and Lebanon over the years and was the original promoter of the Midwest Latemodel Racing Association (MLRA) when it formed in 1989, and promoted MARS from 2008 to 2017.
The family of racers includes his brothers Darrell, Terry and Glen, as well as a brother-in-law, Bob Childress. Terry’s son, Lake, and son-in-law, Brad, and grandson, Payton Looney, also race. Darrell and Glen won several late model championships, and Terry ran in the sportsman’s class. Payton won the Show Me 100 in 2000, becoming only the second Missourian to achieve the feat (the other was Terry Phillips).

Dr. Grant Woods – Deer Hunting
A 1979 graduate of Republic High School, Dr. Grant Woods is a wildlife biologist specializing in deer management and research, with his work centered on increasing deer herds. He earned degrees at Missouri State University, the University of Georgia, and received his doctorate from Clemson University.
His success at conducting wildlife research, educating hunters about advanced hunting and management techniques, and designing site-specific management plans to improve deer herd quality is well known throughout the whitetail world. In 2001, he and his wife bought an abandoned cattle ranch, a 1,500-acre spread known as the “Proving Grounds,” and transformed it into a lush habitat for wildlife. He eradicated invasive species and used controlled burns to stimulate the germination of native seeds, ultimately adding food plots to provide forage and cover. He has since moved on to “Proving Grounds 2.0.”
Additionally, he shares his passion on a weekly web show called GrowingDeer.tv and through events at Bass Pro Shops stores as part of the RedHead Pro Hunting Team. He has earned numerous awards, including two notables honors from the Missouri Department of Conservation – the 2019 Master Conservationist and the 2023 Pat Jones/York Spirit of the Wilderness National Conservation Award.

Brad Leighninger – Barbecue Champion
The world’s No. 1-ranked barbecue smoking champion can be found in southwest Missouri. The title was bestowed by the Kansas City Barbecue Society two years ago on Brad Leighninger, whose success has punctuated that barbecue competition is its own sport. He has won the KCBS national championship four times (2018, 2020, 2021, 2025) and last year appeared on the Food Network’s BBQ Brawl. He owns Gettin’ Basted, a restaurant in Branson and Nixa, and has won more than 80 Grand Championships. That includes winning Grand Champion at the 2021 Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational BBQ. He also won the 2002 Memphis in May World Championship BBX Grand Champion with Blues Hog, the 2018 King of the Smoker Invitational and the 2025 Grand American BBQ Witld Championship Open.
Along the way, he has wins in 30-plus states and multiple countries. Leighninger also is the co-founder of The BBQ League, an online platform offering barbecue education and insider access. He has taught more than 1,000 aspiring pitmasters around the globe about his competition methods, leading to hundreds of grand championships. Overall, he is known for popularizing the “hot & fast” method on the competition barbecue circuit. He is originally from Stanberry in northwest Missouri and graduated from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, later playing football at Washington University. His degree is from Missouri Southern State University.

Steve Leivan – Dirt Bike Racer
With a professional career spanning nearly 30 years, Leivan is a Missouri boy turned motorcycle racing legend.  He has amassed 36 regional overall championships, won 18 amateur national titles, earned a ranking in the World Enduro Championship (38th in 2007) and finished on the podium in 16 of 19 Endurocross rounds (Vet class 2008-2010).
Additionally, he brought home a silver medal at the International Six Days Enduro in New Zealand (2006), finished Red Bull Last Man Standing (2005), earned top five and podium finishes in National Hare Scrambles, National Enduro, OMA National, and WORCS competitions, and finished the famous Blackwater 100.
He also was selected as one of the top 100 off-road riders by Dirt Bike magazine. The Golden City resident, 54, also gives back as a promoter through the MORE series (Midwest Off Road Events), which hosts seven races throughout Missouri yearly, along with the Off-Road Cup, a nine-hour, three-man team race held annually. All this from a 1989 graduate of Eldon High School.