This is the 3rd 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
Among former promoter Joe Carver’s crazy-like-a-fox ideas in the years he ran Langley Speedway was a $1,000 winner-take-all match race featuring up-and-coming Cup Series star Darrell Waltrip and Richmond-area Late Model Sportsman legends Sonny Hutchins and Ray Hendrick.
Of course, it wasn’t really a winner-take-all race. We’ll never know the accurate financial details, but it’s always been generally accepted that Waltrip, Hutchins, and Hendrick quietly agreed to split the purse evenly
It was July of 1974 and the drivers were near the height of their popularity. Waltrip was a long-time friend of Carver and his wife, Diana, from their days together in Nashville. ‘Ol’ DW” would go on to win three Cup championships and 84 races, and well-earned entry into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Hutchins and Hendrick were considered two of the area’s all-time greatest Late Model drivers with numerous victories at Langley and other weekly short tracks. They’d been racing Modifieds and Sportsman cars on Armistead Avenue since the 1950s and 1960s, and were still competitive when the Carvers showed up in Hampton.
Hendrick was in the famed “Flying No. 11” Chevrolet from the potent Clayton Mitchell-Jack Tant shop in North Carolina. Hutchins drove the always-competitive Emanuel Zervakis-owned No. 01 Chevrolet. Waltrip brought his Tennessee-based No. 84 Ford owned by R.C. Alexander. The race was heavily promoted and advertised in newspapers, television, and radio stations across the region.
As only he could, Carver made the 15-lap exhibition sound like the greatest race of all time. He proudly displayed the $1,000 in a briefcase dramatically handcuffed to a security guard. The drivers solemnly drew for starting positions and a rolling start.
Hendrick and Hutchins drew the front row, with Hendrick on the inside and Hutchins beside him. It seemed to thrill the huge pro-Hendrick/Hutchins crowd that Waltrip was relegated to the second row. The young Cup driver hadn’t reacted well when Virginia native and former Langley star Lennie Pond beat him for 1974 Rookie of the Year. Clearly, local fans still remembered that.
The show didn’t take long to settle itself. Hendrick took the lead going into Turn 1 and gently pulled away from Hutchins. Waltrip quickly fell back, then slowed on the 10th lap, his Ford engine cooked by a broken timing chain. Hendrick won easily and proudly took possession of his $1,000 payoff.
But what about that pre-race agreement that the three would divide the money evenly? “Maybe Ray and Darrell split it 50/50,” Hutchins said later that year, when news of the three-way split emerged. “I sure didn’t get my cut. Maybe I’d better drop by Ray’s place and see what’s up.”
Nice going, Carver.
