Haley Moody’s sophomore season in Late Model racing has been defined by frustration – but the 20-year-old driver refuses to give up and remains as strong-willed as ever.
Last year, Moody was a consistent threat to win races and finish in the top-five. So far, four races into her 2015 season, Moody has not been competitive and has found herself struggling worse than she ever has so far in her young career. The frustrations peaked on Saturday night at East Carolina Motor Speedway.
As has been the case for every race this year, Moody found herself relegated to the rear of the field in the opening laps of both twin races and was never able to get herself in contention for a win or even a podium finish. Moody finished sixth and ninth in the two races – the ninth place finish coming as she was the last place car of the cars on the track for much of the race.
“We really got a lot of work to do,” Moody said after Saturday night’s race in Robersonville, North Carolina. “The car’s not handling like it should. Me and Jamey [Caudill] talked and we’re going to regroup. We’re not going to come back until it’s fixed. It was a tough night. I can’t give up, I mean, we’re out here to win just like everybody else. I think we can get back on our feet and keep going. I think we can win races this year.”
Moody’s best performance this season, so far, came in the Jerry Moody Memorial at Southern National Motorsports Park when she briefly cracked the top-five late in the race before getting put in the wall off of Jonathan Findley’s front bumper on a wacky, late race restart.
In that race, after that wreck, she kept on racing. It was the same story for Moody again on Saturday night … fall down, get back up, keep trying. Despite the frustrations, Moody shows the heart of a championship athlete and refuses to give up or back down.
“It’s frustrating but you can’t give up,” Moody commented. “I mean, nobody likes to run like, bad, so, I mean, you just got to take what you get and see what happens the next week. I think we’re going to do a lot of regrouping and we’ll see what happens when we come back.”
While the car had handling problems all race on Saturday, it was not the only problem. For the duration of the entire day, Moody’s engine sounded as though it was under power and not running well. Moody confirmed after the race that the team also has work to do with the motor.
“We’re going to have to get it fixed,” Moody remarked. “It’s messed up. We messed it up. I don’t know what’s wrong with it. It didn’t want to run so we’ll see what happens.”
Moody hopes to have the car and motor at 100 percent again when she returns to East Carolina on June 20th and/or Southern National on June 27th. Moody will race at Southern National and a handful of other tracks during the summer months as she prepares herself, physically and mentally, to be as sharp as a Samurai’s sword for the season’s marquee races later this fall.
“We’re probably going to run some big races at the end of the year,” Moody stated. “It just depends on sponsorship and if we can follow through with some of the things, I think we’ll be at some of the big events at the end of the year.”
While the ‘sophomore slump’ has Moody down, it does not have her out. Once again, the young woman who has endured so much in her personal and professional life is showing the heart of a warrior as she fights to get her season, and career, back on track.
