Hampton, VA (7-20-19)The race week fans at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway have been waiting for, it’s the 11thAnnual Hampton Heat. The ten thousand dollars to win event would also serve as the second race event known as The Virginia Triple Crown which has become quite prestigious in the NWAAS Late Model division here in the Mid Atlantic. With the first feature already in the books at South Boston Speedway, then the stop at Langley Speedway. The series wraps up at Martinsville Speedway in October with seven thousand dollars going to the winner determined by the three finishes in the series. Headlines going into the evenings race program was the heat with air temps hovering near the century mark. Track temps were reported around one thirty, Late Models were not the only show on this race date. The Cycle City Bandoleros and Legends series were on the schedule with the Legends participating in a National qualifier. The always entertaining Pepsi Grand Stocks were in action as was the Harris Truck Shops Super Trucks. Here’s the exciting recap of the all the race action.
Cycle City Bandoleros 15 Laps: Wyatt Philyaw started the evenings racing by placing his Bando on the pole. His lap at 21.653 seconds took the spot with Ryley Music starting second just twenty seven thousandths off from the pole time. With the green waving in the air, pole sitter Wyatt Philyaw was the early race leader with Connor Weddell picking up a spot to second when the race was halted by an early caution. Back to the green, Philyaw would continue to lead but coming through the field would be Cody Bryant Jr to second after starting the feature from the rear. Laps later, the route used to get the front by Bryant which was from the outside was used in the same manner by Bryant to get side by side with the leader but could not complete the pass. At the halfway, the battle for lead between the two continued when this time, Bryant tried the leader low but couldn’t maintain the momentum to complete the pass. After another quickie caution, race leader Wyatt Philyaw would once again have a mirror full of Cody Bryant Jr. But a determined Wyatt Philyaw would not allow Bryant to make another move, Philyaw goes to Victory Lane by a .079 second margin at the stripe. Philyaw had this to say from Victory Lane, “Just been working at this all year, we got the pole and I just kept hoping and hoping. Gotta thank all my sponsors, gotta thank my mom and dad for helping me out with the car. So glad to finally make it back to Victory Lane after all year”.
Race Results:
- #22 Wyatt Philyaw; 15
- #00 Cody Bryant Jr: 15
- #47 Ryley Music; 15
- #14 Aaliyah Paynter; 15
- #8W Connor Weddell; 15
Pepsi Grand Stocks 40 Laps: Tim Wilson continued his qualifying tear by notching another series pole with a lap set at 18.217 seconds. Jimmy Adkins would collect the second starting position with his lap as Paul Lubno, Michael Waters and Dale Nichols were the five best in qualifying. Green flag was shown and Tim Wilson gets the whole shot out of turn one as the race leader. Paul Lubno had one of his own picking up a spot to second. Adkins settled in third with Waters fourth and Chris Roberts to fifth. With Wilson jumping out to a three car length lead, second spot Lubno would keep pace before the first caution period for Michael Waters going around. With the green flag once again over the speedway, Wilson wins the restart and continues to lead but the race would soon experience its second caution just laps before the halfway. With the green back in the air, business at the front picked up when Jimmy Adkins got the restart of the race forcing Wilson from his race line. Wilson would maintain but seeing an opening underneath came Paul Lubno in a three wide pass for the race lead. After another quick stop to the racing action, another thrilling restart would be on the way. With the green waving, Lubno would quickly jump out into the lead leaving Adkins and Wilson to settle second. After a three lap battle, Wilson finally got by Adkins for the spot. Meanwhile, Lubno created a ten car length lead and looking as if he was in cruise control as the leader. Late stages in the feature, race leader Paul Lubno would go unchallenged and on to win the Grand Stock feature by 1.538 seconds. Lubno had these words to say from Victory Lane, “We hung right in there, Tim Wilson and Jimmy Adkins are good drivers and they have some fast cars. Like I said, its whoever get the numbers right on the tires”.
Race Results:
- #14 Paul Lubno; 40
- #17 Tim Wilson; 40
- #29 Jimmy Adkins; 40
- #1 Kevin Morgan; 40
- #2 Michael Waters; 40
- #8 Dale Nichols; 40
- #51 Amanda Satterly; 39
- #71R Chris Roberts; 13
Harris Truck Shop Super Trucks 25 Laps: Chase McAdams would earn the pole in Super Truck division qualifying. The lap that took the pole was clocked in at 19.332 seconds with Rick Poust in a share of the front row. Ryan Huff, Keith Wheeler and Shannon Lester were the top five in qualifying. With the green in full display, the grid drove off into turn one and emerging as the early leader would be Rick Poust by a nose. Interesting how lap two saw the same thing as Poust once again lead lap two by a nose. On lap three, getting to the throttle first would be the pole sitter Chase McAdams who became the new race leader. Making some early moves would be Keith Wheeler to second as Rick Poust then occupied third. Suddenly, Wheeler began to close in on the leader but at the halfway point, a truck length was the best he could do. With the rest of the field all single file and spots going uncontested, eyes were on the leaders and could Wheeler get to McAdams? Late in the race feature, a brief slow down to the race action would bunch back up the field when Wayne Lyons came to a stop in turn four. With the green back in the air, six laps were left to decide the Super Truck series feature. With help from a few bumps from Wheeler’s front bumper, McAdams would secure the point by turn two. But back comes Wheeler who then slides up the hill and lost considerable ground to the leader. From there, McAdams would go on to win by a margin of 1.625 seconds. McAdams had this to say in Victory Lane, “Keith Wheeler had me sweating, if it wasn’t the heat it was Keith. Good race, great truck, can’t thank Jimmy enough, thank Langley Speedway enough. My dad, girlfriend, Taylor, Shannon Lester for helping me out in the pits. This is a great division, everybody helps each other, just glad to be back in Victory Lane.”
Race Results:
- #18 Chase McAdams; 25
- #27 Keith Wheeler; 25
- #9 Rick Poust; 25
- #65 Shannon Lester; 25
- #3 Ryan Huff; 25
- #38 Paige Cain; 25
- #16 John Babey; 25
- #66 Wayne Lyons; DQ
Cycle City Legends 25 Laps: Spencer Saunders collected the Legends series pole posting an 18.229 second effort. Ryan Matthews would start second just missing the pole by seven thousandths of a second. Connor Jones, Tyler Lester and Chris Hammett were the fastest in the afternoon time trials. Green flag was given to the grid and coming around from the outside would be Ryan Matthews to lead lap one of the Legends series national qualifier. But back would come the pole sitter Spencer Saunders to retake the lead. Not exactly convinced that Saunders was faster, Matthews would not be content with second as the battle for the lead continued. After a couple of taps to the rear of the leader, finally a car length’s separation would be achieved by the race leader Saunders. On back, Connor Jones, Tyler Lester and Ryan Center had a front row seat to watch the battle in third through fifth. Just before the halfway, Ryan Matthews would sneak underneath Saunders for the races third lead change but just when you thought it was settled back comes Saunders. With a bump to the rear, Saunders would once again become the race leader. Closing laps, Saunders managed to get away from Matthews by two car lengths. Nipping away at that lead would be Matthews but better through the lap traffic and going on to win, Spencer Saunders wins by a margin of .359 seconds. Saunders from Victory Lane, “It was all about patience that race, especially early in the race, I was kinda surprise how much pressure he was putting on me. But hey, you burn your stuff up you burn your stuff up, luckily, I had some left in the tank. How about that baby, we won again finally!”
Race Results:
- #7 Spencer Saunders; 25
- #51 Ryan Matthews; 25
- #14 Connor Jones; 25
- #01L Tyler Lester; 25
- #88 Ryan Center; 25
- #6 Chris Hammett; 25
- #14J Tucker Jones; 25
- #11 Ernie Strouse; 25
- #51W Bradley Wilson; 25
- #27 David Steele; 24
- #4 Chris Hayes; 24
Taylor Waste Services Late Models, “Hampton Heat”, 200 Laps: Mike Looney, a previous race winner at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway in the 2019 race season would lead the field of twenty three Late Models to the green. Earning the race pole from the earlier afternoon time trials, Looney’s lap of 15.858 seconds bettered Nick Smith’s lap but certainly worthy of his place in second on the front row. Greg Edwards, CE Falk and Timothy Peters were the series five best in qualifying. With the green waving from the hand of flagman Shane Synder would begin the 2019, 11thrunning of the Hampton Heat. Pole sitter Mike Looney would slip in turn two and on around comes Nick Smith to lead followed by CE Falk. Then its Looney, Greg Edwards and Timothy Peters as the early leaders. Greg Edwards would make his way to third in the early laps but back up front, Nick Smith continued to lead. Lap twenty five with Smith still out front, Greg Edwards would put the pressure on Falk for second as Looney would catch back up with Greg Edwards to put a bit of pressure on for third. Danny Edwards soon joined the fray in fifth as second place changed hands when Falk let Greg Edwards go for the spot. Soon after, Edwards turned his focus on the leader who laps later passed Nick Smith for the race lead. With that pass, Edwards brought along Falk, brother Danny Edwards, Looney and now showing in the top five, Brenden Queen. With a quarter of the race in the books, navigating race traffic would be a chore for the race leaders as Greg Edwards along with Falk tip toed through. Several cars already had experienced major fall off and creating the races first caution would be the spin of Mark Wertz. First restart to the race saw Greg Edwards continue to lead with brother Danny Edwards in tow. Falk was third followed by Looney and now Connor Hall. Late stages in the first segment and for the most part, the drivers seemed content on their positions. But at the front, Greg Edwards would enjoy his five car length lead when the race had reached the century mark break period which gave race teams the option for two new tires and adjustments. With no inverts to the grid and from this point on, caution laps would not count and Greg Edwards remained as the leader. With the green once again over the track, Greg Edwards like a rocket ship takes off with the lead as Danny Edwards held second. CE Falk soon would take that spot as Danny Edwards then acquired third, Connor Hall to fourth and finally making his way to the top five club would be Lee Pulliam. Laps later, with the attention back at the front, Greg Edwards would mount up a three car length lead as Falk looked poised in chasing the leader down. Best battle on the track at this point was for fourth as Pulliam was seen sizing up Hall for the spot. With one hundred and twenty five laps on the board, Greg Edwards lead had grown to six lengths and in full command on the race. Laps later in the green flag run, the lead had continued to grow to near a half a straightaway length. After a brief caution, Greg Edwards continued to show the way but this time, Connor Hall would get the second spot and mirroring the leader’s line. Falk would stay in third, Danny Edwards fourth and Layne Riggs now in fifth. Not long did the battle for third ensued as CE Falk managed to hold down the spot but on the move was Lee Pulliam back in the top five. Just as the pass was completed, the fourth caution period occurred when Brandon Pierce’s engine expired. Once cleanup was completed, racing resumed on lap one forty nine when from the outside and on a tear came Connor Hall for the race lead. Greg Edwards would fall in line in second with Lee Puliam to third, Danny Edwards fourth and CE Falk fifth. But as it always tends to happen, cautions bred cautions and the spin of Layne Riggs yielded another halt to the race action. Back to the green, Connor Hall would keep the top spot as Lee Pulliam got in line to race the leader. After a brief battle, Pulliam soon became the new race leader negating Hall to second when laps later, Mark Wertz comes to a stop to bring out another race caution. Soon came the lap one sixty six restart as Lee Pulliam would maintain the point. Danny Edwards would show second as entering the fray would be Peyton Sellers in third and on the move. Lee Pulliam had driven off, mounting up a huge race lead when the caution flag waved once again for the rides of Thomas Scott and Layne Riggs who came to a stop in turn one. Restart to the feature as all but twenty three laps remained, Pulliam continued to lead with Sellers on hot on his trail. Then its Hall, Smith and Danny Edwards the top five. Nick Smith soon took third from Connor Hall but back up front, Lee Pulliam began to pull away. Once again, mounting a sizable lead and once again, another caution, Peyton Sellers would get one last shot at Pulliam. Green flag racing was back on the track and a shot did Sellers give to the leader Lee Pulliam. The shot off Seller’s front bumper sent Pulliam around in turn four for yet another race caution. With just four circuits to go, Sellers is black flagged for his part in the caution. Would there be more of the same? As the green flag waved, trouble for the leaders as Danny Edwards crashes hard on the front stretch. Woody Howard, along with Timothy Peters were involved as reports said that somebody did not get going on the restart. Still with four laps to go, the race drama continues when the caution flag waves for the spin of Peyton Sellers courtesy of the front bumper of Lee Pulliam in obvious retaliation from the earlier incident. Still stuck on four laps to go, the green would wave and the battle for the lead ensued. Nick Smith had it, Connor Hall wanted it and on the white flag, Hall made the pass. From there, Connor Hall goes on to win the Hampton Heat by a margin of victory was .137 seconds. Hall from Victory Lane, “I know it might not look like it but around lap one fifty my front end pretty much had nothing. I knew it was going to come down for me and Nick to rough house but I really didn’t mean to slide up into him. Once it happened, I had to go with it. Like to thank all my sponsors, mom, dad, my sister, Mark Wertz, if I didn’t say that, I’m pretty speechless”.
Race Results:
- #77 Connor Hall; 200
- #12 Nick Smith; 200
- #21 Greg Edwards; 200
- #26S Peyton Sellers; 200
- #03 Brenden Queen; 200
- #5 Lee Pulliam; 200
- #41 Woody Howard; 200
- #12P Timothy Peters; 200
- #90 Terry Carroll; 200
- #91 Justin Carroll; 200
- #26 Danny Edwards: 196
- #87 Mike Looney; 193
- #89 Craig Eastep; 181
- #8 Tyler Hughes; 177
- #8S Thomas Scott; 177
- #99 Layne Riggs; 177
- #40 CE Falk; 177
- #9 Trey Crews; 168
- #55 Mark Wertz; 165
- #2 Brandon Pierce; 149
- #92 Casey Wyatt; 149
- #7 Michael Hardin; 98
- #10 Maddy Mulligan; 97