“That was my first full season in professional baseball, and there were a lot of 0-for-4 nights with a couple of errors,” said Relaford, who played for the Class A Peninsula Pilots, a Seattle Mariners farm team, in 1992, the last season minor league baseball was played at War Memorial.

Fast forward 32 years and the experience has been quite different for his son, Jevin Relaford, who plays for the Peninsula Pilots of the college summer baseball Coastal Plain League. Like his dad, Jevin, 22, and a graduate student at Florida Southern University, mans shortstop at War Memorial.

“I’m having a blast,” Jevin said. “It’s pretty cool coming here to play where he used to play, and I love the Pilots’ emphasis on winning and on family.”

Father and son might soon have something in common from their experiences at War Memorial: league championship rings.

Jevin and the Pilots won both halves of the CPL’s East Division this summer. To win the league title, they must win two best-of-three series, the first of which begins at 7 p.m. Sunday with Game 1 against the Wilmington Sharks at War Memorial Stadium.

Jevin Relaford fields a ground ball during a Peninsula Pilots game at War Memorial Stadium in Hampton, Virginia, on July 5, 2024. Relaford plays during the regular season with Florida Southern College. (Billy Schuerman / The Virginian-Pilot)Desi Relaford not only helped send the minor league version of Peninsula Pilots baseball into history with a Carolina League title, he scored the winning run in the championship game in the top of the ninth inning at Lynchburg. It was a great ending to a season of painful growth.

Desi would go on to debut in the major leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies less than four years later, and play 11 years for seven teams. It was something he could hardly imagine that season in Hampton.

For starters, the field at War Memorial in 1992 shattered all of his illusions about the glamor of pro baseball.

“The first time I saw it, I was mortified,” he said. “It was hard, there were rocks everywhere and you could pick up clumps of sod from the infield.”

Just 18 and small for his age (5-foot-6, 150 pounds) Desi phoned his father often, sometimes in tears, lamenting his decision not to go to college rather than straight to the pros. He realizes now others probably saw him as better than he saw himself.

“I was the youngest player in the league, but somehow I made the (Carolina League) All-Star team, so I couldn’t have been too bad,” he said. “I just didn’t understand development, that I wasn’t going to be the same guy a year from then.”

Desi said one of the most important lessons he has imparted to his son is to “expect failure, but realize the most important thing is how you react to that failure and remain positive. Jevin is much better at that than I was.”

Jevin — who is batting .355 with 23 runs and 11 stolen bases through 19 games for the Pilots after going 6 for 9 in a doubleheader sweep Friday — has inherited much from his dad. That starts with his love of the game, which began with following him into the locker room of the Colorado Rockies and Texas Rangers as a little kid.

“I remember going into the clubhouse, the batting cage and the family room,” Jevin said. “All of that had a big impact on me because it gave me something to strive for.

“I’d seen it, so now there’s the expectation of getting there.”

At 5-foot-4, 145 pounds coming out of high school, Jevin faced an even bigger challenge than his father. So, although he’s an honor student who has solved a Rubik’s Cube without looking (“I just remembered the patterns”), he started his post-high school career in junior college.

He’s enjoyed a growth spurt the past four years, and his hitting has improved. He’s batted .295 in 100 games the past two seasons with Florida Southern, with 90 runs, five home runs, 50 RBIs and, most impressively, 31 of 33 stolen bases in 2024.

But, like his father, defense is his calling card. Not surprisingly, he’s learned much from his dad about it.

“We’re both defensive-oriented,” Jevin said. “He’s big about having a strong arm and attacking the ball because if you don’t attack the ball, it will attack you.

“He also talks about having soft hands because if you have soft hands, you can react quicker to bad hops.”

Pilots manager Hank Morgan saw Desi play for the ’92 Pilots and says he mimicked him in his career after meeting him at a Little League clinic. He said Desi had a slightly better arm, but that Jevin is more accurate.

“Jevin’s ball shows up in the center of the chest and he throws from all different arm angles,” Morgan said. “He’s a really fun defensive player to watch.

“He really fits into our style of play offensively because he hits well with two strikes, can bunt and he runs really well. If someone gives him a chance (in pro baseball), they’ll be getting a guy who’s dedicated to getting better every day.

“If he gets with the right organization, who knows, because he’s a really good ballplayer.”

Jevin will cross that bridge following the CPL playoffs and one more season at Florida Southern. Desi’s advice is it took him a couple of years to learn after turning pro.

“Just enjoy yourself,” Desi tells Jevin. “Hopefully, someone (professionally) gives him a shot.

“If not, we’ve always talked about just doing what you can and getting out of (baseball) what you can. If he’s gone in and put everything into it he could, and this is his ceiling, that’s OK.

“He has a degree in sports psychology, is going back this year and getting his master’s, so there are lots of positives.”

Marty O’Brien, mjobrien@dailypress.com

“The Olympic Village is like a college campus for the best athletes of the world,” said Crouse, a graduate of Cox High in Virginia Beach and a defender on the U.S. Olympic women’s field hockey team. “My teammates told me I walked by (seven-time swimming gold medalist) Katie Ledecky without noticing her.

“There’s so much happening in the village, you’ve got to keep a lookout.”

Crouse’s focus will turn to the field on Saturday at Yves du Manoir Stadium. It is one of the most famous of all athletic venues, known during the 1924 Olympics as the Stade Colombes.

It was there that British sprinters Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell won their gold medals at the Olympics, made famous by the 1981 movie “Chariots of Fire.” It is there that Crouse will realize her Olympic dream when Team USA opens against Argentina at 1:45 p.m. (Eastern) in pool play.

“Our field is where the opening ceremony was held 100 years ago (with the future King Edward VIII of England in attendance) and it is just beautiful,” Crouse said. “Being an Olympian is something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little kid, so finally being here is an incredible feeling.”

The feeling is not hers alone.

Her cheering section of about a dozen in Paris will include parents Brad and Laurie Crouse, brother Grayson Crouse, Julie Swain, her first coach at Cox, and former club coach Sandy Szilassy. Taylor Rountree, her second coach at Cox, will watch on TV.

Each has shared in the Olympic dream Crouse has harbored since she was 10, riding with her dad past Cox High, where the field hockey practices captivated her. Swain recalls the many summer evenings she spotted Crouse and her dad working alone on her field hockey skills.

“Leah had a tremendous work ethic from a very young age,” Swain said. “The technical skills she possesses were the result of all that hard work.

“She had the speed and athleticism, so (with her technique) she made everything look effortless and was beautiful to watch on the field. She was tiny, but mighty, and had no problem evading (larger) opponents.

“From the very beginning, I thought she had tremendous potential.”

Crouse began to realize it in helping Cox win state championships in her freshman and junior seasons. Rountree succeeded Swain — who retired after 15 seasons and six state titles — in Crouse’s senior year.

“I remember coaching against her (with Cox’s rival, First Colonial) and we had to change our entire defense because of her,” Rountree said. “When I came to Cox, it felt like I had won the lottery with Leah.

“We were very young, but she put the team on her shoulders (with 46 goals and 31 assists) and we made it to the first round of states.”

Crouse said, “Cox field hockey has a tradition of success, and I feel like I developed my work ethic there. I was encouraged to work hard for my teammates and develop good habits to make me more resilient.”

The road from Cox led to four seasons at Duke, where she played in the Final Four once, and a graduate season at Maryland. Selected to the U.S. Women’s National Team 13 months ago, she followed Stefanie Fee (a 2016 Olympian) as the second Cox player named to an Olympic team.

“This has been a lifetime dream of hers since she was 10 and here we are,” said Brad Crouse, who hugged his daughter and screamed “Leah’s going to Paris!” when she got the call on June 10.

Although she’s played forward or center-midfielder much of her career, Crouse, like Fee, is a defender for the Olympic team. Swain guesses that is because her ball skills allow Crouse to lead the counterattack out of the back.

Regardless of her role, Crouse is ecstatic to realize her Olympic dream-come-true Saturday.

“I moved to defender last September and it was a lot to learn a new position,” she said, noting that Team USA is “a bit of an underdog” to win a medal in the 12-team field, but is determined to do just that. “I took it as a challenge and went for it.

“That mindset definitely helped me get where I am today. What started as a faraway hopeful dream is now a reality.”

Marty O’Brien, mjobrien@dailypress.com

By any measure, Bronson Yoder is one of the most productive William & Mary football skill players of recent vintage. He ran for 408 yards in four games last year, 163 of them by the fourth quarter against Maine, making it no coincidence the Tribe was on its way to a 28-3 victory and 4-0 start to the season.

Which makes it no coincidence that the shoulder injury he sustained on an 8-yard gain against Maine, sidelining him for the rest of the season, was a huge factor in the Tribe’s 2-5 finish to the season. Fortunately for the Tribe, Yoder is back and healthy as camp opens Monday ahead of the Tribe’s Aug. 29 opener at home against VMI.

“I’m doing great,” Yoder, a 5-11, 205-pound senior, said during CAA Media Days on Thursday. “Our great training staff got me back to where I want to be, 100% and better, so I’m happy with the progress I’ve made.

“It was tough. For anyone who’s played football for a long time, having a season-ending injury is never something that you’re happy about.

“Losing football for that period of time definitely allows you to be more grateful for the time that you are able to play, and to be with your teammates and compete with them.”

Sixth-year coach Mike London, who guided the Tribe to an 11-2 season and No. 8 national ranking in 2022, does not deny Yoder’s absence had a negative affect on a season that finished a disappointing 6-5.

“We’re all ruled by the psychology of the results and things that happen to us,” London said. “Bronson was one of our best players, a great person, he’s a captain this year.

“The physicality of a football team and football game is what it is. Missing him, obviously that hurt, but then you’ve got to go on, you’ve got to pick up, you’ve got to play. It’s like a next-man-up mentality.”

London mentioned that the Tribe still had Malachi Imoh, who rushed for 855 yards and a 6.9 yards-per-carry average that ranked him sixth nationally. W&M was solid overall running the ball in ’23, averaging 196.9 yards per game to finish 13th nationally.

But Yoder’s absence denied the Tribe a physical presence on an offense not able to control the ball as well without him, and bedeviled by a passing attack often mediocre until the final three games. Despite the injury, Yoder will not depart from the “rugged” running style he is known for.

“I don’t think that’s my style of play,” he said of easing up even a fraction. “Maybe there’s a desire from coaches and other people for that, but that’s just not the way I play. That’s not the way God made me.

“I’m going to run tough the entire way, and I’m going to get up quick and go back and do it again. So I don’t think my style of play will change much at all.

“Hopefully, it improves … but I don’t think the toughness will change.”

London believes an offense returning Yoder and Imoh, spearheaded by All-American offensive lineman Charles Grant, and with fourth-year starting quarterback Darius Wilson featuring his deepest receiving corps, to approach the ’22 team’s offensive prodigious output (33.5 ppg). The defense that kept the Tribe afloat by allowing just 18.5 points per game a year ago has some holes to fill, but figures to be the reliable staple it has become under London.

With Yoder back, the Tribe, picked fourth of 16 teams in the preseason by conference head coaches, looks to contend for the CAA title it shared with New Hampshire two years ago.

“It was really difficult going into every game and talking to your teammates, just wishing you could go out there with them,” Yoder said. “I’m ecstatic to be back in the locker room with them, starting this season off, and to compete next to them and to go chase a championship.”

Marty O’Brien, mjobrien@dailypress.com

The Tribe, 6-5 in 2023, was picked by head coaches to finish fourth in the 16-team league, while the Pirates, 5-6 last season, were picked 12th.

William & Mary’s three selections on the All-CAA team are led by Churchland High grad Charles Grant, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound offensive lineman. He was selected to five All-America teams in 2023, when he helped the Tribe rank 13th nationally with a 196.9-yard rushing average.

The Tribe’s Bronson Yoder, who netted 1,255 rushing yards in 2022, was named at running back. He ran for 408 yards and four touchdowns in four games last year before being sidelined for the rest of the season by an injury.

W&M’s Trey McDonald, who had 10 receptions for 123 yards out of the backfield a year ago, was picked at fullback.

Hampton’s Elijah Burris, who ran for 803 yards a year ago — eclipsing 100 yards in five of the seven games he played in — was selected at running back.

Villanova was picked by head coaches to win the conference title, and its quarterback, Connor Watkins, was selected the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Elon safety Caleb Curtain was named the CAA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

CAA PRESEASON POLL

(Selected by a vote of head coaches)

1. Villanova (9 first-place votes)                   217

2. Richmond (1 first-place vote)                   189

3. UAlbany (3 first-place votes)                     179

4. William & Mary                                            175

5. Delaware (3 first-place votes)                     163

6. Elon                                                              157

7. New Hampshire                                            150

8. Rhode Island                                                 142

9. Towson                                                           114

10. Monmouth                                                      95

11. Campbell                                                        83

12. Hampton                                                         62

13. Maine                                                              57

14. North Carolina A&T                                         49

15. Bryant                                                              46

16. Stony Brook                                                     42

PRESEASON ALL-CAA TEAM

(Selected by a vote of head coaches)

OFFENSE

Name, School                                              Cl.         Pos.       Ht.         Wt.        Hometown

Connor Watkins, Villanova                       Gr.         QB         6-3         225        Williamsport, Pa.

Elijah Burris, Hampton                               Sr.          RB          5-10      205        Gastonia, N.C.

Griffin Woodell, UAlbany                           So.         RB          5-10      194        Glens Falls, N.Y.

Marcus Yarns, Delaware                            Gr.         RB          5-11      183        Salisbury, Md.

Bronson Yoder, William & Mary               Sr.          RB          5-11      210        Nappanee, Ind.

Trey McDonald, William & Mary              Jr.           FB/HB   6-6         230        Kinnelon, N.J.

Carter Runyon, Towson                              Sr.          TE          6-6         235        Fairfax, Va.

Chandler Brayboy, Elon                             Sr.          WR        6-1         199        Pembroke, N.C.

Nick DeGennaro, Richmond                     Sr.          WR        6-1         190        Old Bridge, N.J.

Anthony Johnson, Stony Brook                So.         WR        5-11      190        Burlington, N.J.

Temi Ajirotutu, Villanova                           Gr.         OL          6-5         320        Queens, N.Y.

Fintan Brose, Delaware                              Gr.         OL          6-2         304        Irwin, Pa.

Charles Grant, William & Mary                Sr.          OL          6-4         300        Portsmouth, Va.

Ozzie Hutchinson, UAlbany                      Gr.         OL          6-4         305        Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Will Marotta, UAlbany                                Gr.         OL          6-5         325        Collegeville, Pa.

Ralph Paige, Jr., Towson                             Sr.          OL          6-3         305        Washington, D.C.

DEFENSE

Name, School                                              Cl.         Pos.       Ht.         Wt.        Hometown

Jeremiah Grant, Richmond                       Sr.          DL          6-2         245        South Orange, N.J.

Westley Neal, Jr., Rhode Island               Sr.          DL          6-0         315        Miami, Fla.

Michael Otty, Bryant                                   Sr.          DL          6-2         260        Brooklyn, N.Y.

Dylan Ruiz, New Hampshire                     Sr.          DL          6-1         256        Orlando, Fla.

Josiah Silver, New Hampshire                  Sr.          DL          6-2         243        Hampton, Va.

Brendan Bell, Villanova                             Gr.         LB          6-2         230        Basking Ridge, N.J.

Shane Hartzell, Villanova                          Jr.           LB          6-0         230        Perkasie, Pa.

A.J. Pena, Rhode Island                             Jr.           LB          6-2         235        Branchburg, N.J.

CJ Tillman, Campbell                                  Sr.          LB          6-0         235        Rockingham, N.C.

Karon Prunty, North Carolina A&T          Jr.           CB         6-2         180        Portsmouth, Va.

Isas Waxter, Villanova                                Gr.         CB         6-2         215        Newark, N.J.

Caleb Curtain, Elon                                     Jr.           S             6-1         196        Greensboro, N.C.

Ty Trinh, Villanova                                        Gr.         S             6-0         205        Owings Mills, Md.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Name, School                                              Cl.         Pos.       Ht.         Wt.        Hometown

Chandler Brayboy, Elon                             Sr.          KR          6-1         199        Pembroke, N.C.

Gabe Sloat, Rhode Island                         Sr.          PR          6-0         190        North Kingstown, R.I.

Keegan Vaughan, Towson                          Sr.          PK          5-11      165        Richmond, Va.

Aaron Trusler, Richmond                           Gr.         P             5-8         168        Melbourne, Australia

Jabril Hayes, Richmond                              Sr.          SPEC     5-11      170        Stephens City, Va.

PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Connor Watkins, QB, Villanova

PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Caleb Curtain, S, Elon

Earnhardt fared well, better than the average first-timer at Langley, in finishing fifth in the 36-car field. But even Earnhardt had to express admiration at the door-banging three-way duel that ended in Chesapeake’s Brenden “Butterbean” Queen becoming the second driver to win the Hampton Heat for a third time.

He outlasted a pair of NASCAR Weekly Series national champions, second-place Connor Hall and third-place Peyton Sellers, to defend his Hampton Heat crown. Queen took the lead with six laps to go with a bump-and-run on Hall, and held it to the checkered flag.

“It was a lot of fun watching those guys duke it out up there,” said Earnhardt, who started 11th but finished just behind fourth-place Ryan Pembleton. “We just didn’t have enough car to get up there.

“Congratulations to Butterbean, (car owner) Lee (Pulliam) and his team. They represent Late Model Stock racing really good.”

Queen handed a rare Langley Speedway defeat to Hall, a Hampton native who had eight victories in nine races this season, including a win in an exciting three-way finish June 1 in the CARS Tour, a series co-owned by Earnhardt. Queen felt Hall cost him at least a second-place finish in that race by ramming him, so he considered the Heat win payback.

“We all know what happened in the CARS Tour race and we weren’t going to let it happen again,” Queen said in Victory Lane. “When he ran me in the third groove, it was on after that.

“I gave him the bumpers the way he gave them to me and didn’t spin him. I allowed him to run me up and cost us second there.

“I wasn’t going to lose the race this week. Lee Pulliam and all those boys worked too damn hard. They pulled an all-nighter to get this car ready to be here Friday.”

But while Queen and Hall ran side-by-side most of the final 33 laps, and Queen bumped his foe several times, Sellers capitalized on their feud. He dove to the inside in Turn 1 of the 189th lap to nab the lead, but Hall needed just three laps to pass him.

Queen executed his winning bump-and-run on a lap 194 restart following a caution. His victory tied him with former Langley star C.E. Falk, also a three-time Heat winner.

“C.E. Falk, I sent a message to him this week and said I was honored to have a chance to tie him,” Queen said. “Great race for the fans.”

Hall and Queen will continue their duel on the CARS Tour. Hall leads the series standings, with Brent Crews five points behind and Queen nine points back in third.

“I don’t know what’s going to be going on going forward, but I’m sure there will be some good racing to watch,” Hall said.

The Late Model points race at Langley Speedway, which resumes Aug. 3, will be interesting as well. Mark Wertz won the pole for the Hampton Heat and led most of the first 130 laps before Queen and then Hall passed him.

Wertz, who finished eighth, is 12 points behind Greg Edwards, who is vying for a track-record-tying seventh Late Model crown. Wertz has won the Late Model championship twice.

The Late Model drivers need a break after a long Saturday. A lengthy downpour postponed qualifying until almost 10 p.m., and the Hampton Heat did not start until 11:15.

The infield and corners were effectively flooded by the rain, but track staff impressively dried the track by using the jet blower from Richmond Raceway, a City of Hampton fire truck and a cadre of a half-dozen wreckers. Earnhardt indicated the wait was well worth it, saying he was “proud” of his fifth-place finish and lauding the “community support” for the event.

“Thanks to all the fans that showed up,” Earnhardt said to the fans. “You guys are awesome.

“Langley is special, I had a blast and I’ll be coming back.”

Also

Landon Abbott (Super Street), Bill Wallace (Super Truck) and Travis Wall (Pro Six) won the other three races that followed the Heat, the last of which concluded at 3:20 a.m.

Marty O’Brien, mjobrien@dailypress.com

Leaders from Saturday night/Sunday morning in Hampton (car numbers in parentheses):

Hampton Heat 200 Late Model race: (35 starters); 1. (03) Brenden Queen; 2. (22) Connor Hall; 3. (26) Peyton Sellers; 4. (0) Landon Pembleton; 5. (3) Dale Earnhardt Jr.; 6. (41) Woody Howard; 7. (17) Kaden Honeycutt; 8. (00) Chase Burrow; 9. (55) Mark Wertz; 10. (2) Matt Waltz.

Pro Six 25: (9 starters); 1. (44) Travis Wall; 2. (55) Trey New; 3. (07) Matt Dail; 4. (39) Jaxon Bone; 5. (67) Chris Bechtel.

Super Street 40: (15 starters); 1. (70) Landon Abbott; 2. (8) Dale Nichols; 3. (28) Jacob Wood; 4. (20) Gordon Weeks; 5. (16) Joe Stuck.

Super Truck 25: (13 starters); 1. (19) Bill Wallace; 2. (62) Chase McAdams; 3. (05) Donald Brown; 4. (38) Paige Cain; 5. (57) Chris Bechtel.

Johnson, a grandmother-to-be, moved the baby shower she was hosting in her Chesapeake home for daughter Katelyn from 3 p.m. to 11 a.m. That ensured Johnson would be at Langley in time to see Earnhardt run in qualifying at 4:15 p.m.

“Katelyn understands,” she said, standing next to husband Shawn Johnson in front of a 28-foot pup trailer selling Dale Earnhardt Jr. merchandise. “When we learned (on June 24) Junior would be coming here to race, she knew we’d have to be here.”

The trailer offering Dale Earnhardt Jr. merchandise, parked in front of the spectator entrance to Langley Speedway, was one of the busiest places at the facility before the race. Trevor Reynolds, who manages the trailer for E2 Apparel — a company based in suddenly famous Butler, Pennsylvania — said nearing 4 p.m. that the lines of fans had been non-stop since he opened at noon.

That is typical for Reynolds when he, wife Grace and 7-year-old daughter Josey transport the trailer to the three to six Late Model races the wildly popular Earnhardt Jr. competes in annually.

“Junior is a household name that is never going away,” said Reynolds, who sold Dale Earnhardt Jr. merchandise for many of the 15 consecutive years he was the most popular driver in the NASCAR Cup Series. “People came up through the circuit watching his dad, the late, great Dale Earnhardt, and they like Junior because he’s a laid-back, regular guy loved by kids and (adult) fans.

“He likes to have fun and let it run, but he turns wrenches on his cars like everybody else here.”

That popularity enabled Reynolds to sell out of the autographed Sun Drop die-cast cars ($175), large Bass Pro Shops helmets ($175) and the Hampton Heat race-specific gray T-shirts ($30) before 3 p.m.

Nonetheless, Reynolds offered a plethora of other merchandise, including 10 different shirt styles, 20 different hat styles, hoodies, jackets, baseball helmets, numerous die-cast cars, seat cushions, stuffed ducks and flags. All, of course, featured the name Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kim from Portsmouth plunked down $30 for the gray T-shirt because she had forgotten to wear one of the many other shirts she’s collected in her 20 years as a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan.

“He’s young, sexy-looking and he’s done a good job driving all of his cars,” Kim said of her allegiance. “I figured I’d get one here, a souvenir I can wear while he’s out there racing.”

The Johnsons spent $76 on a Earnhardt Jr. hat, T-shirt and drink Koozie.

“I told Shawn when we were driving here, ‘I hope they’re selling some kind of Junior merchandise,’ ” Jennifer Johnson said. “I was really excited when I saw they were.”

Shawn Johnson added, “We like that he’s Dale Earnhardt’s son and we like his style of racing.”

As he talked, Shawn Johnson stood next to a near-clone (although shorter) of the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. named Mike Lowrie. Lowrie accentuates his physical similarity to Dale Earnhardt Sr. by wearing the outfit of his sponsor, GM Goodwrench Service Plus.

Looking like the seven-time champion has vaulted Lowrie to minor celebrity status.

“Everybody said I looked so much like him, I figured I should dress like him,” said Lowrie, who has worn Dale Earnhardt Sr. clothing to races since 1984. “I love doing it and have a blast, but so many people love taking my picture that after a race, I’m exhausted.”

All were having more fun Saturday afternoon than Earnhardt Jr. He enjoyed a promising first-ever run at Langley in practice Thursday, but was mid-pack — 18th of 36 — in practice Saturday.

“The best we were was off of the trailer (Thursday),” Earnhardt Jr. said prior to the prerace drivers’ meeting. “We’ve kind of got what we got.”

Marty O’Brien, mjobrien@dailypress.com

Standing on pit road at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway on Thursday, he quickly dismissed that notion in between practice runs on the track’s 4/10ths-of-a-mile asphalt oval.

“I don’t get the itch to drive even one Cup race,” said Earnhardt, who retired from Cup racing after the 2017 season. “People just don’t really appreciate how hard it is to get into one of those cars and compete with those drivers on a one-off deal.

“It is impossible to go in there and be anywhere near competitive. When you’ve raced as much as I have and you don’t have much of a chance to be competitive, you’re not going to be really interested in doing that.”

What Earnhardt is really interested in doing these days is racing the Late Model stock cars he began in as a teenager. He’ll do that on Saturday night, when he competes in the 16th annual Hampton Heat 200 in front of the 6,500 fans who gobbled up the available tickets weeks ago in just four days to see the NASCAR legend voted the Cup Series’ Most Popular Driver 15 consecutive seasons.

Earnhardt runs up to six Late Model races a year, working them in around his myriad commitments as a racing broadcaster, podcaster, stock car team and (CARS Tour) series owner and businessman. Above all, he prioritizes time with wife Amy and daughters Isla, 6, and Nicole, 3.

“If I had my way, I’d be running 25 times a year in these (Late Model) cars,” he said. “I’d be running like crazy, but with everything going on, I can’t fit in more than three-to-six a year.

“I do a ton of traveling and my family is my priority — being with them and having experiences with them.”

This year’s Hampton Heat crowd is reckoned to be one of the largest at the track since the memorial gathering for his father, seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt. That took place days after he was killed in a crash on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

The reverence in which Earnhardt Jr. — a two-time Daytona 500 winner — holds Langley Speedway might surprise some.

His late mother, Brenda Jackson, lived in Hampton Roads for about 25 years, and he would visit her twice a year. Earnhardt Jr. fondly remembers those summer Saturday nights as a kid when stepfather Willie Jackson, who competed for a time at the track, would bring him to Langley.

Memories include watching Elton Sawyer, a three-time Late Model champ at Langley in the early 1980s, now NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition. He got to know his stepdad’s friend Wayne Hanbury, a popular Late Model driver at Langley in the 1970s and ’80s.

“I’ve always had this really cool admiration for the track,” he said. “I loved coming here.

“I’ve never even run a lap here, so I was anxious to check that box off at some point.”

During practice Thursday, Earnhardt learned what countless other first-timers before him have learned: that the flat Langley oval is not easy to get around. Speed wasn’t a problem.

“That’s a great thing,” Earnhardt said. “Usually when I go somewhere to test, that first run is nowhere near where we need to be speed-wise.”

Handling in tricky Turns 1 and 2 was another matter. So, after several practice laps, Earnhardt turned to another Langley Speedway driver he’s known for decades: record-setting seven-time Late Model champion Phil Warren.

“I have a bunch of trust in him,” Earnhardt said of Warren. “He was racing back in the ’90s when I was racing these cars, and he was the hot shoe back then, so I knew I could trust him for some information.”

Warren was on hand Thursday to help his grandson, 16-year-old rising star Ryley Music, prepare for the Hampton Heat. During one break in practice, Warren’s daughter (Music’s mom) Amy Music gave Earnhardt a No. 47 Phil Warren t-shirt.

“That’s freaking bad-ass,” Earnhardt said, genuinely pleased. “Willie (Jackson) taught me all about Phil and why Phil’s great.

“Then I got to be at the same racetrack with him, but I never really got to race with him because he was always in front.”

Amy Music related a story about Earnhardt running into the rear bumper of Warren under caution during a race at Myrtle Beach in the 1990s. She added, “My mom wanted to beat you up.”

Earnhardt laughed and said, “I probably deserved it,” and Amy countered, “But you called and apologized (for the incident) and she was like ‘OK.’ ”

Such moments underscore how much fun Earnhardt is having getting back to his weekly racing roots. It’s no wonder he’s so excited to race in the Hampton Heat and would race in 25 more Late Model races like it if he had the time.

“There’s a lesson I’ve learned that I can share with people who are younger that might read this,” he said, referring to his return in middle age to Late Model racing. “I put off, hesitated and (dragged) my feet on reconnecting with this chapter of my life.

“I raced these cars, fell in love with them years ago, and then I moved on and did what I did in the Cup Series. I should have done that a decade ago.

“I regret that.”

Langley Speedway is one of those places he most regretted not racing at.

“I’m finally getting (to race) here for the first time,” he said. “It’s a box I wanted to check because of my respect, not only for the racetrack itself and how critical it is for Late Model Stock racing, but for the drivers — Wayne (Hanbury), Phil (Warren) and Elton (Sawyer) — who cut their teeth here.

“It’s just got so much history.”

___

16th annual Hampton Heat 200

What: 200-lap stock car race featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr. and 37 other local and regional racing standouts.

Where: Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway, 11 Dale Lemonds Drive in Hampton.

When: Racing begins at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday with Super Street, Super Truck and Pro Six divisions, followed by the Hampton Heat at approximately 8:30.

Tickets: Sold out.

On the air: FloRacing.com

Marty O’Brien, mjobrien@dailypress.com

How does it get better than a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national championship, fueled in large part by 14 Late Model victories on the way to a first division title at Langley Speedway?

Here’s how. Hall is not only steamrolling toward a repeat national championship, he leads the standings on the CARS Tour — a prestigious NASCAR feeder series — and is on top of the Virginia Triple Crown standings after winning the SoBo 200 at South Boston Speedway.

Life is good again at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway. Hall has won seven of eight Late Model starts there — a big chunk in his national points lead — and his win in a thrilling three-way duel to the finish of the CARS Tour race in June created a national sensation.

“That was one hell of a show @CARSTour,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. posted on X.

Life can get even better should Hall win the Hampton Heat 200 Saturday at Langley. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is among 38 entrants for the Heat, the second leg of the Triple Crown (the fall Martinsville race is third) and a trophy Hall would dearly love to win following two second-places (2023 included) since his 2019 victory.

“C.E. Falk and (defending champion) Brenden Queen are the only drivers to win multiple Hampton Heats, so I’d like to add my name to that list,” Hall said. “Of course we’d like as close an effort as possible, so a first, second or third finish would position us well for the Triple Crown, but we’re there to win.”

Even with his winning percentage of 88 at Langley this season, a repeat division championship there is out because of his CARS Tour commitments. But his eight wins in nine tries (counting the CARS race) show he is still master of the 4/10ths-of-a-mile oval and perhaps the favorite Saturday.

“You definitely have to build a setup/foundation around a lot of stability, because Langley is very hot, greasy and loose,” he said. “So the tires slide, and the more they do, the harder you are on them.

“That makes throttle control, stability and tire management, all similar, the keys to success.”

Seeking those keeps him in the garage hour after hour when he’s not traveling the East Coast from Massachusetts to North Carolina for Blue Water Yacht Sales. So, while he says it would be cool to achieve the trifecta of a national championship, CARS Tour title and state Triple Crown, he rarely looks beyond the next turn of the wrench.

“The possibility is there, but I don’t think like that,” he said. “I’m just trying to stay dedicated to the day-to-day work and, if it happens, we can celebrate and talk about it later.”

Hall doesn’t mind discussing what has put him in position to nab a trio of titles no one else has won in a single season. He credits crew chief Matthew Eshleman and a strong team at Nelson Motorsports — amply funded by Barry Nelson Auto and Towne Bank — in addition to his continuing growth as a driver.

“We’re finally starting to put a lot of these puzzle pieces together I’ve struggled with throughout the years, and I’m probably maturing a little bit,” he said. “The opportunity Barry Nelson has given me is a great one, and I’m just trying to put everything together and come out with a bang.”

16th annual Hampton Heat 200

What: 200-lap stock car race featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr. and 37 other local and regional racing standouts.

Where: Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway, 11 Dale Lemonds Drive in Hampton.

When: Racing begins at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday with Super Street, Super Truck and Pro Six divisions, followed by the Hampton Heat at approximately 8:30.

Tickets: Sold out.

On the air: FloRacing.com

Marty O’Brien, mjobrien@dailypress.com

But, with a track-record-tying seventh Langley Late Model Division championship within his sights, Edwards has opted to sit out the Hampton Heat on Saturday for the first time. Instead, he’ll likely set up a large-screen TV in the backyard of his Poquoson home, 1-year-old grandson Wiley seated on his lap, and watch NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. go at it against 30-plus local and regional standouts.

Edwards said it was a “tough decision” to bypass the race, which will leave Langley regular Terry Carroll as the only driver to start all 16 Hampton Heats when the green flag drops in front of 6,500 fans at approximately 8:30 p.m. However, that other record, Phil Warren’s seven Late Model crowns, means a little more.

“This is probably the last time I’m going to run full-time for a championship,” said Edwards, who began racing go-karts at Langley in 1985 and has raced stock cars there since 1988. “I’ll be part-time at best after that.

“Our team decided there will be other Hampton Heats to run, but we have to do what’s best for our winning the championship. We have a little points lead right now, so we want to keep the momentum up and just try to finish this thing out and win one more championship.”

It’s a hard to argue with his decision. His lead of 281 points to 269 over two-time champion Mark Wertz — with fellow six-time champion Danny Edwards Jr., his brother, and Woody Howard next at 262 each — is significant, but less than a full-race cushion.

“This doesn’t guarantee we will win the championship,” Edwards said of skipping the Heat. “It decreases the chances that you’ll hurt your car.”

Indeed, Saturday’s field of more than 30 cars is significantly larger than the average weekly field of 15 to 20, increasing the possibility of fender-benders on the 4/10ths-of-a-mile oval. With an impressive win in his last outing, Edwards is moving closer to tying Warren’s mark of seven titles that has stood for almost 25 years.

Since winning his most recent crown in 2019, Edwards — who has finished at least second in all but one season since 2009 — has finished second in the standings three consecutive times.

“Just to be tied with Phil Warren would be awesome,” he said. “I’ve looked up to Phil a lot — he’s from a great racing family.

“I feel that would cement my name at Langley, and that’s what I want to do. I want people to remember me for accomplishing something that not many people have ever done.”

That would make it easier to ride off into the sunset and enjoy a break from racing. But Edwards, whose focused glare in the pits on Saturday nights would make George Foreman or Mike Tyson flinch, might not stay away forever.

“I’ve done this a long time and I’ve had a lot of fun and a lot of great memories,” he said. “I still enjoy racing, but it takes up so much of your time during the week and on weekends, I want to find other things to enjoy in my life.

“Then again, I may get out and not racing will drive me crazy. Right now I want to try and figure what life’s all about besides just racing.”

Marty O’Brien, mjobrien@dailypress.com

16th annual Hampton Heat 200

What: 200-lap stock car race featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr. and more than 30 other local and regional racing standouts.

Where: Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway, 11 Dale Lemonds Drive in Hampton.

When: Racing begins at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday with Super Street, Super Truck and Pro Six divisions, with the Hampton Heat set for approximately 8:30.

Tickets: Sold out.

Katz, 20, will work as an umpire at Nationals Park in Washington, when the Savannah Bananas play the Firefighters — one of two teams that tour with the Bananas — in front of a sellout crowd of more than 41,000. In June, he was the outfield umpire at a Bananas game in front of a sellout at Fenway Park in Boston.

“I got to sign the Green Monster at Fenway,” he said. “That was a big thrill.”

The Bananas and Katz are a perfect fit. The Bananas are selling out more than 80 games a year, many at Major League parks, because of their entertaining baseball high jinks made famous by viral TikTok videos. Savannah is scheduled to make appearances Aug. 16-18 at Harbor Park. All those games have already been listed as sellouts.

Katz has gained a foothold in the umpiring world, and is increasing employment as an umpire, because of the popularity of his online “Umpire Channel.” The Umpire Channel, which Katz founded the week of his graduation from Jamestown in June 2022, bills itself as “the  largest source for umpire related content in the world.”

In just two years, it has truly become so.

Katz — a marketing major about to enter his third year on a presidential scholarship at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts — has more than 200,000 followers across five platforms, including 118,000 on TikTok. His videos about all things umpire-related have generated more than 100 million views.

While those numbers are impressive, and attracting increasing sponsorship, they pale in comparison to the Bananas, who boast more than 6 million online followers. That’s more, Katz says, than any MLB team.

The reason is because of the zany brand of baseball the Bananas offer. They play genuinely competitive games against opponents Firefighters and Party Animals, but amid a far wackier atmosphere than when they were in the Coastal Plain League (2016-22), playing college summer ball against the likes of the Peninsula Pilots.

Now a professional team of mostly former minor leaguers, the Bananas offer off-the-charts entertainment along with real baseball. For instance, the players will often pause to do choreographed dance numbers together before and even during innings.

The Bananas specialize in trick plays, such as backflip and behind-the-back or through-the-leg catches and throws. While all the Bananas wear bright yellow uniforms, one player — a base-stealing specialist — supplements his with a purple and yellow cape, while a pitcher nicknamed “Cowboy” sports a cowboy hat.

The games are fast, with two-hour time limits, and it is not uncommon to see a pitcher wind up and throw in virtually the same motion as he gets the ball from the catcher. Among the different rules, a batter can “steal” first base on a passed ball or wild pitch, but is out if he fouls the ball into the stands and it is caught on the fly by a fan.

Players interact often with the fans and so do umpires. A home-plate umpire at a Bananas game will do a dance when a batter strikes out and it is considered part of the show.

“We are encouraged to have fun with the calls, interact with the fans and give autographs,” Katz said.

Katz was offered a tryout as an umpire with the Bananas prior to the 2023 season, when he filmed the team during spring training for the Umpire Channel. An umpire since he was 16, Katz began working college summer league games in Virginia when he was 18, so he was experienced enough to pass the Bananas tryout with flying colors.

In addition to Fenway Park, he also worked a game earlier this season at Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros.

“Roger Clemens was at the game at Minute Maid and he said it was louder than any Major League game he’d ever heard,” Katz said. “The fans are really into it.”

Katz is seemingly handling his chores umpiring in the big time without difficulty. Players in Bananas games are allowed to challenge calls, and Katz said when his “out” call on the bases was challenged at Fenway, it was not overturned by TV replay.

Katz doesn’t know whether or not he’ll call a Bananas game in Norfolk next month because he might be back at college. While he’d love to work a professional game close to Williamsburg, he is excited about being on the field this week at the home of the Washington Nationals

“Growing up in Williamsburg, Nationals Park is one of those places I would go to games and where I fell in love with baseball,” he said. “I never imagined I’d ever be on the field there.”

Marty O’Brien, mjobrien@dailypress.com