HAMPTON — Many of the 6,500 on hand at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway on Saturday probably wanted to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. win the 16th Annual Hampton Heat 200. What they got was arguably better.
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.
