Like the intentional crash fest titled “The Day of Destruction,” the annual Hampton Heat 200 Late Model race all but fills up the grandstands at Langley Speedway.
Track promoter Chuck Hall remembers a time or two during the Hampton Heat’s 15-year run when he had to stop selling tickets on race night because Langley had filled to capacity.
But never in the 74-year history of the track has a stock car racing event sold out ahead of time to the capacity of approximately 6,000. Until now.
Just four days after Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced on June 24 that he will be competing in this year’s Hampton Heat 200, set for July 20, every ticket had been sold. That’s no coincidence.
“I think the (Dale Earnhardt) ‘Junior Effect’ helped that,” said defending NASCAR Weekly national champion Connor Hall, who is not related to Chuck Hall. “But I think there’s always a really, really good crowd at the Hampton Heat.
“I’m really excited. Energy is going to be really good in the building and a sellout crowd always helps.”
Al Pearce, who covered his first race for the local Times-Herald newspaper at Langley Speedway 55 years ago, can’t remember the track selling out an event so quickly. He recalls a match race more than 40 years ago involving NASCAR Cup legend Darrell Waltrip against Langley regional stars Ray Hendrick and Sonny Hutchins packing the stands.
Pearce said the memorial service held at the track in 2001 for Dale Earnhardt Sr. — days after he was killed in a crash in the Daytona 500 — drew as big a crowd as he can recall at the facility. That event, however, was free to the public.
The Earnhardt name — and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s long run as NASCAR’s most popular driver prior to his 2017 retirement — is as strong as ever at Langley.
Chuck Hall said, “There’s no denying Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a big reason for the sellout, but his coming shows you just how much this race has grown.
“The fact that it’s one of the crown jewels in the Virginia state ‘Triple Crown’ makes the race a big deal every year. It always draws big crowds because there’s always a high-quality field with some of America’s best Late Model drivers.”
Which brings us back to Connor Hall, who is hotter than last week’s temperatures. Hall, a former Hampton Heat winner, won a CARS Tour race a month ago at Langley in a three-wide finish that galvanized the stock car racing world — Dale Earnhardt Jr. included.
“That was one hell of a show @CARSTour,” Earnhardt Jr. posted on X.
Hall’s seven wins in his eight Late Model starts at Langley this season are two more than the other 29 drivers combined as he steamrolls toward another national championship with 17 wins in 21 Late Model features. In addition to leading the CARS Tour standings, he has a leg up on the Triple Crown after winning the South Boston 200 this past weekend.
The Triple Crown combines driver results from the annual marquee Late Model races at South Boston, Langley and Martinsville.
“To win a Triple Crown race is really a big deal in itself, but the SoBo 200 has been my weakest link,” Connor Hall said. “For us to have a good day there is really good for our chances to win the Triple Crown.
“I think I’m maturing as a driver and understanding what I need to produce a good race car. We had to start from the rear, but my crew chief (Matthew Eshleman) gave me a car that would be good being run really hard, rather than trying to lead and conserve.”
Hampton Heat 200
What: 200-lap stock car race featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr. and some of the country’s best Late Model drivers
When: July 20
Where: Langley Speedway, 11 Dale Lemonds Dr., Hampton
