Langley Speedway has long been a staple of Late Model racing in the state of Virginia, alongside other historic short tracks such as South Boston Speedway, Motor Mile Speedway, and Old Dominion Speedway. After briefly closing in 2016 due to financial struggles, the track roared back to life in 2017, which brought several talented Late Model drivers back to the historic facility, and revived the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown Series in the process.
The 2018 season will feature an expanded schedule for Langley, as the track will once again host its prestigious Hampton Heat 200 in July, but it will also serve as the host track for the return of the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown on April 19th after a two-year hiatus. The track will kick off its busy 2018 season with the Pomco Auto Group Opening Night on Saturday, which will include feature races for grand stocks and super trucks, as well as twin races for its Late Model division.
Among the drivers who will participate in the Late Model opener at Langley will be Fredericksburg, Virginia native Logan Jones, who will collaborate with former South Boston Late Model track champion Peyton Sellers for the 2018 season. Jones’ admitted that Sellers has provided a significant amount of help towards building his Late Model program, and is confident that he can be among the frontrunners at Langley this year.
“We raced with Sellers at Dominion Raceway last season, and we did really well,” Jones said. “We exceeded our expectations of what we thought we could do, and we wanted to team back up with them. We’re looking forward to going to Langley and running as well as we did at Dominion.”
Jones discovered his love for racing by regularly traveling with his father Joey, who was a competitor in both the X-1R Pro Cup Series, as well as the ISCARS Dash Series, where he picked up three victories over the course of his career. The younger Jones was able to convince his father to purchase him a car for the Allison Legacy Series, and began competing in that division during the 2013 season.
After putting together two solid seasons in the Allison Legacy Series that included five Top 5 finishes, Jones began to branch out into Late Models during the 2015 season, where he made starts in both the Southeast Limited Late Model Series and the PASS Pro Late Model Series. Jones continued to gain more experience in Late Models over the 2016 season, and moved up to Dominion Raceway’s Late Model division full-time in 2017, earning eight Top 5 finishes and finishing seventh in points.
Despite showing consistency at Dominion, Jones will be transitioning over to Langley Speedway to compete full-time in the track’s Late Model division. Although Jones has only made select appearances at Langley, he stated that the track possesses many qualities that separate it from other tracks in the state like South Boston Speedway.
“Langley is definitely a driver’s track,” Jones said. “At a place like Dominion, it all depends on how fast your car is, while Langley is very flat and tough to get around. It’s a lot heavier on braking, and it’s not just full throttle all the way around. You also have to save your equipment there as well.”
Jones is entering the second season of his partnership with Peyton Sellers, whose success at Langley includes a victory in the Hampton Heat 200 back in 2013. Over the past several years, Sellers has developed his company, Sellers Racing Inc., into one of the strongest Late Model programs along the east coast, and has assisted several drivers during that time, including Bruce Anderson and 2016 Whelen All-American Series champion Matt Bowling.
Jones’ goals for his first season at Langley include consistently running inside the Top 5 every week, but he also aims to find victory lane for the first time in his Late Model career after coming close to winning several times during the 2017 season. However, Jones understands that track position and equipment conservation will be important in order to have a chance at victory on Saturday evening and throughout the year.
“We’re going to do our best to try and qualify up front,” Jones said. “There are going to be a lot of fast cars there, and there’s going to be a lot of beating and banging, so keeping the car together and staying out of trouble is going to be the big thing to accomplish on Saturday.”
As with several other major Late Model events in Virginia, Sellers Racing Inc. will be bringing multiple cars to Langley for the Pomco Auto Group Opening Night twin Late Model features. Jones will be teamed with Colin Garrett, who will also run select races for Sellers’ K&N Pro Series East program, as well as former JR Motorsports development driver Anthony Alfredo, who will drive a car fielded in collaboration between Sellers and part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Jeb Burton.
