HAMPTON, VA :: Peyton Sellers will be logging a lot of laps this weekend. Last year’s Hampton Heat 200 will compete in twin races at Motor Mile Speedway, where he leads the track championship standings, tonight and then head out to Langley Speedway on Saturday morning in defense of his Hampton Heat victory.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Sellers said in an interview with RACE22.com at South Boston Speedway last weekend. “We’ve got to run Motor Mile on Friday night so I’ve got to get through that hurdle first. We’ll be at Langley first thing on Saturday morning with bells on ready to get that thing because we learned a lot (on July 12th).”
While Sellers may be the defending winner of the race, he feels the track has changed a lot and feels this year’s race will be more challenging.
“It’s really grayed out a lot,” Sellers explained. “Last year, it was nice and black, had a lot of grip. This year, it doesn’t have any of that. We’ve got to go back to our notes from a couple years ago now more so than last year. We’ve just got to hit the track hard Saturday morning and figure it out.”
Despite the track changes, Sellers is looking forward to the challenge knowing there will be some tough competition gunning for him tomorrow night.
“There are going to be a ton of good cars there, no doubt about it,” Sellers remarked. “They don’t call it the Heat for nothing. I’m looking forward to it.”
In total, Sellers will log 350 laps this weekend assuming he finishes on the lead lap in each race.
K&N Stars Invade Langley
With this weekend being an off weekend for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, multiple drivers from the series will congregate on Langley Speedway for a chance to win $10,000.
One of those drivers is Kaz Grala, who finished fifth in a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Langley Speedway earlier this year. Grala, who scored a victory in a UARA-STARS race at Hickory Motor Speedway last year, told the Daily Press newspaper that the 200-lap race will play to his strengths.
Grala will be joined by fellow K&N drivers Gray Gaulding, Brandon Gdovic and Mackena Bell. Gaulding and Gdovic will both be racing for Richard Gdovic and Precision Performance Motorsports.
Homecoming for Rev Racing
Mackena Bell, who races for Rev Racing in K&N, will be joined by Rev Racing teammates Paige Decker and Devon Amos. Both Decker and Amos have logged laps at Langley Speedway this season and during the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine, which Langley Speedway hosts. Decker enters the race fresh off an appearance in the Slinger Nationals in Wisconsin.
“Any extra seat time helps a driver. Being in a different car and the ability to adapt will help me when jumping back in the late model,” Decker said. “I want to be a flexible driver.”
Rev Racing made a last-minute decision last year to compete in the Hampton Heat 200 when a race at Motor Mile Speedway was rained out. In that race, Annabeth Barnes worked her way up to a 12th place finish after starting the race back in the 27th position while Jack Madrid finished in 19th.
The seventh installment of the Hampton Heat 200 will be run on Saturday night, July 26th, and RACE22.com has you covered with live, flag-to-flag Five Star Race Car Bodies Interactive Race Coverage beginning at 11:30am EST on Saturday.