RANDY LYN SHIPP REMEMBERS FINAL MOMENT WITH MARK LYLE

by Kelly Wade    Fri, 2019-04-05 15:27

 

When NHRA Chief Starter Mark Lyle unexpectedly passed away on March 27, 2016, it shocked the drag racing community. Deeply respected by those he interacted with both on and off the racetrack, Lyle was honored following his death with a tremendous outpouring of love from racers, friends, family and fans following his death. It was a true testament to the positive impact he had made since becoming just the third Chief Starter in the history of the sanctioning body. 

The final national event over which he stood guard was the 2016 NHRA Arizona Nationals in Phoenix. 

For Randi Lyn Shipp, the memory of her final interaction with this gentle spirit at that event was powerfully revived two weeks ago at the 50th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.

"When I won Phoenix right before Mark Lyle passed away, it was still pretty early in Bo's Pro Stock career, and he hadn't won yet," stated the Floyds Knobs, Ind., native Shipp. "Mark was walking by after I won, and I said, come be in my pictures! He said, no, I'm gonna wait until you and Bo are both in the winner's circle."

 

 

In Gainesville, at the 2018 rendition of one of the biggest, most historic races on the Mello Yello tour, Shipp won a mighty battle in Stock Eliminator. A victory in the tough category stacked with heavy hitters is a tremendous accomplishment in and of itself, but what made that particular win really special was that she wasn't the only one in her household toting home a special edition gold-plated Wally on Monday. Her fiancé, 2017 NHRA Pro Stock champion Bo Butner, won the event as well.

"A lot of people have said, how cool would that be if you ever win together," said Shipp. "A lot of people were hoping for it to happen, but the first person who said that was Mark Lyle."

Shipp, a second-generation drag racer who got her start in NHRA's Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League, now has a total of six national event wins. Phoenix 2016 is right in the middle of that pack of victories, but it will likely always be one of the most memorable for the driver of the ultra-clean wheel-standing 1967 Firebird. 

"That was my last memory of him, waving and walking off as I was getting my pictures taken," recalled Shipp. "I thought of him when Alex [Laughlin, Butner's final-round opponent in Gainesville] couldn't stage and we were told it was going to be a single for Bo. Right away I thought, this was the winner's circle Mark Lyle was going to be in, and he's not here to share it with us. 

"I think he was there, though. Everything about that weekend in Gainesville, it felt like it was meant to be. It was bigger than us, like somebody way higher had made the decision that it was going to be that way. It was really special for a lot of reasons." 

 
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