Outsiders Find Success Langley in Preparation for Hampton Heat 200

Langley Speedway has seen an invasion of outsiders this season as drivers such as Lee Pulliam, Tommy Lemons, Jr. and Josh Berry, among others, have come to the Hampton, Virginia track in preparation for the season’s first crowned jewel event – the Hampton Heat 200.

Over the years, the Hampton Heat 200 has grown in popularity.  For the first few years, it was won by local drivers.  Nick Smith, Woody Howard and CE Falk won the first four races with Falk winning two of those.  The following two years, the race grew in prestige.  In 2012, South Boston Speedway regular Matt Bowling won.  In 2013, the race grew even more and Peyton Sellers raced to victory.  2014 saw Falk win his third Hampton Heat.  2015, the race looks like it will be bigger and better than ever before.

Josh Berry, who has won championships at Hickory Motor Speedway and Motor Mile Speedway, and two-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion Lee Pulliam have both made their first ever appearances at the nearly-flat .396-mile oval and have both scored wins.  2013 Valley Star Credit Union 300 winner Tommy Lemons, Jr. has also raced at Langley Speedway this season – scoring a second place finish back in May.

The Hampton Heat 200 is the only crowned jewel event Pulliam has not raced in.  Pulliam has won at Martnisville twice and also won the UNOH Battle at the Beach (formerly known as the Myrtle Beach 400) in his first try back in 2013.  Pulliam has also raced in the Thanksgiving Classic at Southern National, but victory has eluded Pulliam in three tries in the season-ending race.

Lemons has been successful in all the crowned-jewel races he has competed in, scoring top-10 finishes in all three of the postseason headline events last year.  Like Pulliam, Lemons has never raced in the Hampton Heat 200.  He has had strong runs this year.  One race, he was battling for the win before slipping in another car’s oil, taking him out of the race.  He scored a podium finishes in both Langley Speedway races on May 16^th – his most recent appearance at Langley.

Berry’s first visit came on June 13^th.  That visit translated into a win for the JR Motorsports driver.  Like Pulliam and Lemons, Berry has also never attempted to race in the Hampton Heat 200.

The invasion of outsiders has created fits for Langley Speedway veteran Greg Edwards who has otherwise dominated the 2015 season.  The outsiders are not Edwards’ only threat though.  The veteran driver has never won the Hampton Heat 200 in spite of winning everything else there is to win at Langley.  He doesn’t just face competition from outside but also within from drivers such as Tyler Hughes, Danny Edwards, Jr. and Brenden Queen.

The upcoming weeks could also see Matt Waltz, who has one win this season, Nick Smith and CE Falk come back to Langley in preparation for the $10,000-to-win Hampton Heat 200 which will be run on July 25^th.

With names such as Pulliam, Lemons and Berry appearing destined to compete in the race, and a field of more than 40 cars expected, this year’s Hampton Heat 200 promises to be bigger than ever before.  Once the biggest race of the season for the track’s local drivers, the Hampton Heat 200 has exploded in popularity and prestige, becoming one of the season’s biggest races and one of Late Model Stock Car racing’s four crowned jewel events.