HAMPTON, VA :: Langley Speedway Owner Bill Mullis and Promoter Chuck Hall have led a resurgence of the historic facility located just outside Langley Air Force Base in Hampton. The track has undergone a facelift during the offseason. Drivers will arrive to the track on Saturday and meet a new track surface and record speeds.
“Having the new surface has driven a lot of attention our way,” Hall said. “We’re anticipating an increase in competition, especially in the Late Model division. I think we’ll have an average field of 23-25 cars. The speeds, up through today in most every division, every record’s almost been shattered though it’s not official until they qualify. The way you drove around Langley in 2012 is different than 2013. I think a lot of people were coming around late last season to make it more interesting. I think we have three or four drivers that could win it or even seven to nine drivers that could win a race here.”
Bill Mullis purchased the track in 2009 and Hall was named as the new promoter in 2010. Under Mullis and Hall, new traditions have been established. Langley Speedway now hosts NASCAR K&N Pro Series racing, NASCAR Southern Modified Tour racing and hosts the annual Drive for Diversity combine. The Hampton Heat 200 has emerged as one of the premier Late Model races in the region. And, in Mullis’ first year of ownership, he brought the USAR Pro Cup Series to Langley Speedway – a race that featured the most exciting finish in the history of the series as Clay Rogers, Lucas Ransone, Bobby Gill and Woody Howard came out of the final turn four-wide as Rogers scored the win in a photofinish.
“The Hampton Heat 200’s developed in to a big race,” Hall remarked. “A lot of drivers will participate in races leading up to that. We had an outside driver (Matt Bowling) win it for the first time last year. We have K&N drivers and racers who have never raced a Late Model wanting to participate. I think our car counts will be the best in 10-12 years. Our modified division is growing. It’s tough for any track to host 11 divisions but we’re able to do that.”
“Bill has an incredible connection with NASCAR. He sits on their board of appeals. We have a great relationship with NASCAR and we’re all about them and promoting them and their sponsors and our sponsors. When we put on a show, we make it an event for the entire family. Bill came with an attitude of what he wanted to do, he brought me in and we shared that attitude. We’re proud of Langley. We have great drivers, fans and sponsors. All those ingredients make the delicious cake you’re looking at. I think the K&N Series has brought a lot of attention to Langley as well as hosting the Drive for Diversity. Langley used to be an island and we built a bridge to civilization. The first K&N race was a great race as was the Modified race and the Hampton Heat 200 is always a great race. We put on a great weekly show. We were one of the first to implement the cone rule.”
Hall says the track has a responsibility to be a part of the community.
“Fixing the bathrooms here where we have first class bathrooms and doing things for the kids, it all adds up,” Hall explained. “We’re looking at even more things in the future such as a fan zone. We’re working with nonprofit groups, I mean, we’re a community partner. We had 120 vendors at our first Arts and Crafts Festival. Right now, as we speak, there are 40-50 kids here riding on go-karts less than 20 hours before we open up.”
Langley Speedway has unique amenities for children. Off the front stretch sits a playground for kids, an amenity usually seen at minor league baseball parks. Hall explained that he approaches promoting the track from a baseball mindset.
“My background was in baseball. My mentality is to run this like a baseball field. NASCAR has made great strides in changes to promote the sport. Baseball’s been here a long time. Dallas Green hired me when I was ten to be a bat boy. That led me to announcing and radio and eventually to Langley Speedway. We have playgrounds, popcorn and peanuts. The great thing for Langley is the Hampton Roads Kart Club. That’s the heart and soul of this place. CE Falk was a go kart driver as was Ricky Rudd.”
Hall is aiming to keep prices low at the concession stands and for general admission. He says the Hampton Roads area is expected to get hit hard by the automatic defense spending cuts known as sequestration. Hampton Roads, surrounded by Langley Air Force Base, Fort Eustis, the Newport News Shipyard and other nearby military bases, relies significantly on military-industrial spending.
“One of the things, the economy is something you have to look at and this is a highly affected area with the sequester so 30% of our crowds are military and there are people hurting. We have a $10 ticket price, only go up $5 for big races and get kids five and and under free. The most expensive seat is an empty seat. We had a family four pack where four can come for $20. People can bring in their own coolers to the track. It’s cheaper than going to a movie and it’s more exciting entertainment. Our average show is three and a half hours so people can go get a late bite to eat or go dancing or go home early so they can get up and go to church on Sunday. Obviously, with weather, that doesn’t always happen. We make every effort to get these races done and move on though.”
Hall spoke about some of the drivers he’s expecting to come to Langley this season as well as the positive relationship with the City of Hampton.
“I think we’re going to be one of the strongest Late Model tracks on the east coast. We have drivers that have moved up, Butterbean Queen won the legends championship at Southside last year, he’s moved up to LMSC. Aaron Adams, Bubba Adams’ son, he’s coming in to Late Models. Justin Carroll, Terry’s son. We have Brandon Brown, son of Jerry (Brown) who owns Southern National, he’s running the full season here. Wayne Atkinson will be here. We averaged 20 cars last year. With just those guys, that’ll give us 23-24.
“We’re doing some things with the Hampton Heat 200. We’ll have cooperation with South Boston and Martinsville. We’ll have an announcement coming out. We’re working on some projects to make that even better than last year. Last year, we had a promotion where we gave the City of Hampton 10 tress for every caution in the Hampton Heat 200. We had 10 cautions so we gave the them 100 trees for their green program last year. The thing is, you have to be part of the community. You can’t just say you will be, you have to be part of it. We’re all on the same page. With the special events, we do book hotel rooms and we sell food and gas. We’re not an area that’s not affecting a neighborhood encompassing us. We’re close to Langley AFB. We keep our facility clean, safe and staffed. We’re not an embarrassment for the city. We’re a good partner for the city.”
Hall also spoke of the men and women of the Armed Forces, saying Langley Speedway has the utmost respect for those who serve foreign and domestic. Of course, no sport has shown more support for the United States Armed Forces than NASCAR Racing on all levels.
“We’re going to do a lot of military promotional events. You cannot sit in Hampton Roads and not be proud of our men and women and we’re going to show that we appreciate what they do.”
Langley Speedway will live stream broadcasts of their races on the internet at their website at www.langley-speedway.com so people who are serving across the country and abroad in Afghanistan, South Korea and around the world can listen to the races. It will be run like a radio broadcast.
Langley Speedway’s season opener is on Saturday, April 6th. Greg Edwards is the defending champion. Before Edwards won the championship in 2012, CE Falk had won three consecutive track championships. RACE22.com will have coverage at Langley Speedway throughout the 2013 season.
