This is the 2nd in a 26-part series of weekly stories about the history of Langley Speedway as it goes through its 75th season by Al Pearce & Marty O’Brien. Unfortunately, Al passed away unexpectedly just before this series could be shared. In honor of his memory, we will be releasing his final stories over the next few weeks that we received to publish before his passing.
By Al Pearce
There were times in the 1960s and into the early 1970s when Langley Speedway – called Langley Field Speedway back then – was an annual stop on NASCAR’s top-level Grand National schedule. Those nine Cup Series races went for as few as 200 laps and as many as 375 on dirt and asphalt.
Five different drivers went to Victory Lane in those races. Impressively, all five are in the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte and all five became former Cup Series champions. It’s likely no other track can say all its major winners are Hall of Fame champions.
The first of those nine was on a Friday night in May 1964. Ned Jarrett in a Bondy Long-owned Ford started fourth and led the final 227 laps in the Tidewater 250, trailing only David Pearson for the first 23 laps. Marvin Panch finished second, followed by Buddy Baker, Wendell Scott, and Curtis Crider. After running well, Pearson finished 12th with an ailing issue.
Almost exactly a year later Jarrett and his Long-owned Ford won again. He started second this time and led 149 of the 250 laps in the Tidewater 250. Runner-up and pole-sitter Dick Hutcherson led the other 101 laps on the dirt track. Elmo Langley was third, Buddy Arrington fourth, and Neil Castles fifth.
Richard Petty (who else?) broke the Jarrett string in May 1966. In a family-owned Plymouth the future superstar led the final 177 laps in the Tidewater 250. (Second-starting John Sears led the other 73). James Hylton finished second, then Castles, Langley, and “Tiger” Tom Pistone rounded out the top-five in the 100-mile race.
Petty repeated in May 1967, his victory the fourth of the season on the way to an incredible 27. He started on the pole in his own Plymouth and led 223 of the 250 laps. Dodge driver Bobby Allison led nine in finishing second, ahead of Hylton, Langley, and Donnie Allison. Third-starting John Sears led the other 18 laps before falling to ninth at the end, sidelined by a broken ball joint.
Just as Petty had ended Jarrett’s streak in 1966, Pearson broke Petty’s streak in May 1968. In a Holman-Moody Ford, the “Silver Fox” started second and led 125 of the 250 laps in beating Bobby Isaac, Baker, Hylton, and Pete Hamilton. Baker led 19 laps and pole-sitter Petty led 106 before late-race engine issues ended his hopes for yet another victory in the Tidewater 250. The race was unusually competitive as Petty, Pearson, and Baker swapped the lead seven times on the newly paved track.
The track landed a second Grand National date in 1968, this one in August. After winning the May race, Ford driver Pearson for Holman-Moody started on pole and led every lap of the Crabber 250. Petty started third and finished second, ahead of future Hall of Fame drivers Bobby Issac and Bobby Allison. Fifth-place in the 100-miler went to some Richmond-area hotshot named Ray Hendrick … himself a potential NASCAR Hall of Famer.
Pearson extended his two-race Langley winning streak to three with a victory in May 1969. Still in a Holman-Moody Ford, he led 115 laps as the race went from 200 laps/100 miles to 375 laps/150 miles. Hylton was second, Dave Marcis third, Isaac fourth, and Castles fifth. Second-starting Isaac led 260 laps of the race and was leading when he ran out of gas toward the end. Petty, in his first (and only) year racing a Ford, chose to skip four starts that year, including this one.
Isaac became the first Langley winner not named Jarrett, Petty, or Pearson when he won in May 1970. Driving a K&K Dodge with leadership from crew chief Harry Hyde, the future series champion and Hall of Fame star started first and led 263 of the 300 laps in the Tidewater 300. Bobby Allison led 12 laps in finishing second and Castles led 25 laps enroute a third-place finish ahead of Hylton and Benny Parsons. For the second time in two years, Petty wasn’t on the grid. This time he was recovering from injuries suffered in his famous Darlington frontstretch crash just two weeks earlier.
The late-November 1970 race was the last of Langley’s nine Grand National events and the 48th and last on NASCAR’s 1970 schedule. After being close several other times, Bobby Allison finally won in his own team’s Dodge after started first. He led 254 of the 300 laps in the Tidewater 300. Parsons led 46 laps in finishing second ahead of Hamilton, Sears, and Hylton. With 18 victories already in the books and fourth in final points ensured, Petty again didn’t make the trip up to Langley.
For reasons never fully explained, Langley didn’t get a 1971 Grand National date. The last of NASCAR’s grueling “long” seasons featured another 48 races, mostly of them on weekly short tracks like Langley. Almost certainly, money (or lack of it, or not enough) was among the reasons for not taking a 1971 Grand National date.
Even so, the track’s history with what is now the Cup Series is strong: five different winners in nine races, all of them Hall of Famers and series champions at some point. Not bad for a weekly short track across from a famous wind tunnel.
