HAMPTON, VA :: There is no question that Langley Speedway had one banner season of racing last year hosting eleven different divisions of racing with their premier division featuring the NASCAR Whelen All American Late Models. Langley also played host to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and the always exciting NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour. This year is all but guaranteed to be much of the same as track president Bill Mullis and track promoter Chuck Hall have once again brought back what was so successful for Langley Speedway in 2013. With what Chuck Hall claims is some of the most dedicated and skilled employees, Langley Speedway is set for race action which begins this Saturday evening April 5th, starting at 7pm.
It’s hard to make much of an argument how competitive the Late Model division was last year. The race season showcased five different drivers holding up hardware in Dale Lemonds Victory Lane and a new Late Model qualifying track record was broken as well thanks to a fresh new layer of asphalt for the .396 mile oval. With other numerous projects, upgrades and facility improvements, Langley Speedway has made its case for being one of the best Saturday Night local short tracks around. The proof has been the fans in the stands and the wide range of media outlets like your friends at RACE22.com covering the weekly racing action.
While the expectations for yet another eventful and successful race season draws near, track promoter Chuck Hall has been in the business a long time. Who better to talk to about the upcoming race season at Langley Speedway and what’s all in store? In a one on one interview with Chuck Hall, we discuss it all and what race fans can feel really excited about. Before I even asked my first question, Chuck Hall had this to say.
“It’s a team effort here, I’ve have everybody from maintenance to administrative office personnel and Bill Mullis giving me the opportunity but realistically, all I do is set the playing field,” Hall said. “These guys and girls come out here, whether they’re in a support division, in a Late Model or whatever and if it wasn’t for them, Langley Speedway is nothing.”
Next, we talked about if anyone knew that by the end of the 2013 season that Langley Speedway had one of the best Late Model programs in the Mid Atlantic.
“I’m going to answer that by saying I’m biased, we’ve always had the best late Model show. The Hampton Heat to me was the perfect scenario,” Hall elaborated. “We had great sponsorship, great weather, a great crowd, a large car count and most importantly, we had a great race. I mean, everything came together; it was just a perfect night. Nobody even complained about the hot dogs or a clogged toilet and that’s just something a promoter can only dream of.”
Then we talked about the suppport from the race fans and the city of Hampton Virginia has for the Speedway along with the fact of being one of the premier short tracks in the state.
“Well you just touched on it, having that great relationship with the city where you’re located and all the working members behind that. A lot of tracks unfortunately cannot find that common goal to work together,” Hall stated. “But our city appreciates how this will be our 64th year and it stands true that we have done everything that we said we would do when Bill Mullis took over and that is to truly make Langley Speedway fan friendly, most importantly, to make it family friendly and the city of Hampton Virginia recognizes that.”
We then had a conversation about the challenges that lies ahead going into 2014 and as the NWAAS Late Model division continues to grow.
“Well certainly, NASCAR has graciously stepped up, announced that three tracks in the country were going to debut FansChoice.TV at Langley Speedway and will be broadcasting that on a weekly basis,” Hall explained. “We get the opportunity to showcase, what the people have only heard about and to me it’s a great move on NASCAR’s part to really step up to support one of their NASCAR tracks and were really proud to be one of the inaugural three selected to do that on a weekly basis.”
The next topic discussed was the competition in the Late Model division; just what makes the .396 mile oval attractive to some and what others are missing out on.
“You know, Langley Speedway is in its 64th year, we’ve been around a long time,” Hall remarked. “The reputation that Langley has is that we are a tough track to get around and I don’t know if that’s something that concerns drivers that may not come visit our track. The last three or four years the guys that compete here certainly hasn’t done to bad and I really believe if you can master this race track, you can go to a lot of other race tracks and do very well.”
Finally, we talked about where Chuck Hall see’s Langley Speedway 20 years from now, how can the track continue its current direction and plan for future success.
“One thing I got to point out is that we never sit back and say, boy we had a good year, let’s see how it goes this year,” Hall expressed. “Bill Mullis and I have made a tradition and I think we have proven it, things that bring more and more excitement, every year we have something new for the fans and for the competitors. You just can’t say we had a good year and sit on that, it’s always a challenge and the thinking cap should always be on and say how do we make it better.”
Langley Speedway is sure to be one hot ticket for race fans and its competitors alike. Track Promoter Chuck Hall stresses his personal achievements are credited to surrounding yourself with great people and a relentless staff of track professionals, on and off the track, dedicated to providing the best show, the absolute best race possible. The gates of Langley Speedway opens this Saturday Night, April 5th, hosting the NWAAS Late Models in a 100 lap shootout that nobody could guess who is going to win. Race action is set to begin at 7pm and if you can’t make the race trackside, RACE22.com will bring it all to you live and direct as it happens updates of the days practice, qualifying and race action on our Twitter feed @race22 .
