There was late drama at Butlin Road as Jack Concannon snatched victory deep into stoppage-time to end Valley's five league game winless run.
Concannon's first goal for the club settled what had been a relatively even contest between the two Warwickshire sides, and made it three Town wins from the three local derbies between them this season already.
With Teddy Rowe suspended and Nathan Kabeya ruled out of the squad through illness on the day of the match and both Harrison Nee and Callum Griffin relegated to the bench, there were returns to the starting line-up for Sam Tye, Trey Charles and Isaac Adegoke plus a debut in the heart of Town's defence for new signing Will Harris.
The visitors put in the first shot of the afternoon when Aaron Opoku's effort from the edge of the box was easily blocked, with Charles then seeing his delivery into the penalty area also blocked away for a corner after a neat Valley move. Rivel Mardenborough's header to the resulting Caine Elliott dead ball delivery lacked the power and direction to trouble Warwick keeper Tom Allsopp though.
Bleu McNeil then showed good strength to win possession by the right-hand corner flag, but Concannon was just unable to get a proper strike to McNeil's near post cross, and Rugby continued to probe after this - with Mardenborough's low angled effort blocked by Racing skipper Kyle Barnett and Elliott's shot from out wide gathered by Allsopp.
The best chance of the first-half fell to the away team though, when neat interchange play between Callum Coyle and James Harding following a McNeil error played in Jack Edwards, and his low cross picked out Opoku in front of a gaping goal, but somehow the ex-Valley man smashed the ball against the crossbar instead of finding the net.
Mardenborough sent one wide from distance after Concannon had done well to win possession by the halfway line, whilst at the other end an Edwards header from a central position was comfortably caught by Bald.
Elliott then cut-out a dangerous centre from Opoku, before another Mardenborough attempt on goal looped up off a defender and was punched away by Allsopp.
In the subsequent good period of play from the visitors, Harding curled one wide, Opoku's low strike was just the wrong side of the post, and Edwards also headed one off-target from James Hancocks's cross.
Rugby did end the half in encouraging fashion though, with Mardenborough sending in a teasing delivery just beyond a team-mate, Charles just unable to take advantage of a decent opportunity created by Tye's cross and Josh Thomas heading Elliott's corner wide.
However, the balance tipped back the other way after the restart and it was Racing that started the new period the more threatening outfit, with Coyle flashing his centre agonisingly across the face of the Town goalmouth, and then Bald plucked a rising strike from Harding, after the Valley keeper had initially failed to claim a high ball.
A Charles free-kick missed the target and Mardenborough was denied by Allsopp when the ball had bounced off the Rugby striker after Elliott's shot from the edge had been blocked.
Town sub Harrison Nee then almost played in Mardenborough, before Thomas's head got in the way of well-struck effort from Coyle.
As the game entered its final quarter of an hour, it was the hosts that increasingly looked the more likely to end the stalemate.
A Callum Griffin shot deflected away to safety and Dan Organ's cross was headed behind for a corner by Lathaniel Rowe-Turner, with Barnett also denying Organ with a decent tackle as the on-loan Mansfield youngster tried to get a cross-shot in from a wide position.
Concannon bundled one wide of the upright from twenty yards, before having another effort blocked after Organ had broken quickly.
The decisive moment came in the fourth minute of added time, when Geoffrey Lundoloki picked out Concannon's perfectly-timed run with a great pass, and the 25-year-old midfielder ran through before applying a composed finish past Allsopp to the delight of the majority of yet another sizeable Butlin Road crowd.
Valley
Line-up: Bald; McNeil, Lundoloki, Thomas, Harris; Adegoke, Elliott, Tye (Griffin 46'), Concannon; Charles (Nee 64'), Mardenborough (Organ 75'). Subs not used: Dulgheru, Stolowski. Booked: Lundoloki, Harris, Concannon.
