HAMPTON, VA :: Outsiders have won the last two installments of the Hampton Heat 200 at Langley Speedway.  Dillon Bassett could be poised to extend that streak on Saturday night.  Bassett, who has seven wins at four different tracks this season, will be making his first ever start at Langley Speedway and, after testing on Thursday, he feels he’s already got a handle on the track.

“I felt like we adapted to the track pretty quick,” Bassett said.  “I think we have some work to do but I feel like we’ll be able to contend for a win no doubt.”

Bassett knows his main competition could come from Matt Waltz.  Bassett and Waltz are no strangers.  Both drivers were part of an epic three-way battle for the lead in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 last October.

“Last year at Martinsville, he had a left rear flat and he felt like I caused it and was mad at me but we’ve raced a little at Myrtle Beach and didn’t have any problems,” Bassett said about racing with Bassett.  “He and I racing this weekend won’t be too big an issue.  He’s a competitor like me.  It’ll be hard racing trying to win $10k.”

Bassett, who won the 2013 UARA-STARS Championship, has been on a tear in 2014 in his part-time effort.  He has scored seven wins at four different racetracks (Caraway, East Carolina, Hickory and Motor Mile).  His most recent wins came at Motor Mile in his first ever start at the Late Model mecca and at Hickory the following day.

“Our year so far has been really good,” Bassett remarked.  “We’ve only had one finish outside the top 10 due to a wreck.  National title wise, we didn’t even plan on running for it because we weren’t running every weekend.  We wanted to take some breaks to make sure our stuff is right while Lee Pulliama nd Anthony Anders run every weekend and run twins while we only run one race at Hickory.  We’re doing the best we can but not we’re going for a national title.”

When asked if his older brother, Ronnie, who competes in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, gave him any notes for getting around Langley, Bassett explained that he has elected to figure out the track for himself.

“I haven’t talked to Ronnie about Langley,” the younger Bassett explained.  “When I showed up Thursday morning, it was the first time I seen it and I tried to figure it out.  We drive totally different so it’s hard to go off of what he does plus the K&N cars are different weight and motor wise.  Neither of us thought it would be a close comparison so we went our own ways.”

When Bassett says it’s the first time he’s seen the track, he means it.  Bassett said he didn’t even run at Langley on iRacing before unloading on Thursday.

“No iRacing for this race,” Bassett stated.  “I’ve played a little bit but I haven’t played at Langley so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I was just banking on figuring it out.  And I feel like we’re really close with what we have.”

If he wins on Saturday night, and there’s a very strong possibility that he could, he would join Nick Smith, Woody Howard, CE Falk, Matt Bowling and Peyton Sellers as Hampton Heat winners.

RACE22.com will have Five Star Race Car Bodies Interactive Race Coverage of the Hampton Heat 200 on Saturday beginning at 11:30am EST.