“I don‘t bring a lot of money to get some of these rides,” Moles said. “And Matt Wood honestly was my biggest blessing in racing early in my career. He let me drive his cars when he didn‘t know if I was going to wreck it or win it. He just gave me a shot and he did that for me every year.”
Wood paid attention to what Moles was doing in the micro world, but his affection for the young driver began long before he ever turned a wheel in one of his race cars.
“Mitchell was a micro standout and that was certainly a part of it. But more than anything, several years ago before any of this happened, we needed help and he went to Florida and the Knoxville Nationals with us,” Wood explained. “He was always the first one in the trailer every morning and the last one to leave, and he was running everywhere he went. Now I‘m from Iowa and my pops was a hard-working independent businessman who valued work. Mitchel‘s work ethic blew me away.
“I have never saw a kid work that hard and be that dedicated. He just amazed me. So at that point I thought I don‘t care if he drives it through a wall, I‘m going to give him a chance.”
Still Moles was frustrated by the fact more doors were not opening for him.
As Moles elaborates on his racing journey his story reveals how much things have changed in the sport. The idea that anyone would bring money to secure a sprint or midget ride would have been unfathomable in the not too distant past. Even more difficult to wrap one‘s mind around is a 22-year-old driver referring to his competitors as kids.
“It took me four years to get a semi-full-time ride between midget and sprint cars,” he said. “Some kids have ruined it for us. You can be horrible, but if you have 300 grand you can race. There are also some kids who are good, and it can be good if money comes in and there is still some on the side for other people.”
Because of these modern dynamics it makes the support offered by Wood noteworthy. Sure, he knew Moles had what it took to win, but he was truly trying to offer a helping hand.
Then Moles received a call from team owner Chad Boat.
“Chad reached out and asked about my plans,” Moles recalled. “I said honestly I have been trying to work on people, but don‘t have the funding to do it the way you need to do it. He messaged me back after a week and asked if I was interested in running some races.”
It was the opportunity Moles had been waiting for but he needed Wood‘s blessing.
“Probably the hardest phone call I have ever made was to tell Matt about Chad‘s deal,” Moles said. “It meant that I would be racing on the West Coast in some races with Chad and those were night‘s Matt had given me. That was a tough call to make, but he wants the best for me. He‘s a good dude. He just wants to see us go places.”
Wood remembers the call.
“It shouldn‘t have been that hard of a call honestly,” he said. “That‘s how this business works. If you get a chance to better yourself and you do it respectfully, that‘s what you should do. It‘s like I told Mitchel, ‘Why would I hold that against you if you are trying to better yourself? You got an opportunity. Don‘t screw it up.‘”
Boat wants to do big things, too, and the call to Moles reflects a slight change in direction for CB Industries. Originally the deal was for Moles to run 25 USAC races with Boat, but after the opening weekend of the season, Boat extended the agreement for the entire campaign.
What did he see in Moles to change his mind?
“The same things that have caught everyone‘s attention. He‘s been running for Matt Wood and he has done a really good job when he has raced,” Boat said. “Obviously, what he has done in the Ten-J micro stuff has been impressive. Winning the outlaw division at the Tulsa Shootout is no joke either. That‘s the one everyone goes there to win. And we saw the progression and how he ran at Ventura, so it kind of made sense for him to fill that spot in our team.”
Driver development is at the top of the agenda for CB Industries and Moles is a vital puzzle piece.
“What is interesting is that as we have gotten younger drivers and have moved into driver development in the last 16 months, I have kept a closer tab on the micro stuff,” Boat said. “When I had Andrew (Layser) and Chris (Windom) in 2020 I was probably more plugged in to just what was happening in midget racing.
“Now a lot of my drivers last year still raced micros quite a bit and I paid attention to what Jade (Avedisian) was doing in California. Jade was racing against Mitchel every week. Last season we started having conversations with Dominic (Gorden) and his family. He was Mitchel‘s teammate and won a lot of big races last year.”
In this context Moles is the older and more experienced racer. Thus, he understands that a part of his job at CB Industries is to mentor younger drivers. That said, he is quick to acknowledge that he only has a handful of midget races under his belt, too.
“Jade Avedisian is really good,” he says, “and I helped Dominic in micros last year, so I have a relationship with him. My main thing is that I don‘t want to be just good for myself, we need to make everybody good.”
It‘s a small sample size but Boat likes what he sees thus far.