Late Model veteran Peyton Sellers picked up from where he left off at the Thunder Road-Harley Davidson 200 by posting the fastest time of 31 cars in practice for the Hampton Heat 200 at Langley Speedway on Saturday afternoon.
The strong showing in practice for the former Whelen All-American Series champion comes only a few weeks after he rebounded from a flat tire at South Boston and held off a late charge from Philip Morris to pick up the victory in the first of three races in the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown. Sellers has had success in the Hampton Heat during his career, which includes a win in 2013, and will be looking for another strong performance to increase his lead over Morris in the Triple Crown standings.
Morris was one of a few drivers who elected not to run a significant amount of laps in the afternoon practice session, and was only able to post the 17th fastest time by the time the red and black flags were displayed. However, Morris has won all but one of the eight races he has entered at Langley this season, and will take the green flag later this evening as one of the favorites to pick up the victory.
Colin Garrett, who is Sellers’ teammate, also posted consistently fast laps throughout practice with his best time of 15.981 being the second quickest lap of the session. Garrett has been splitting time between Late Models and the K&N Pro Series East driving for Hunt-Sellers Racing, and will be looking to back up his speed in practice with a strong finish in the Hampton Heat.
Current CARS Response Energy LMSC Tour points leader Bobby McCarty posted the third fastest lap of the session, while Langley regular Connor Hall came in 4th. Brandon Pierce rounded out the Top 5, while 2016 Whelen All-American Series champion Matt Bowling was scored 7th after being fastest during the opening minutes of practice.
Duragloss Late Model Practice Speeds:
1. 26s Peyton Sellers- 15.830
2. 24 Colin Garrett- 15.981
3. 22m Bobby McCarty- 15.999
4. 77 Connor Hall- 16.003
5. 2 Brandon Pierce- 16.019
6. 41 Woody Howard- 16.032
7. 83 Matt Bowling- 16.043
8. 55 Mark Wertz- 16.060
9. 03 Brenden Queen- 16.069
10. 12s Nick Smith- 16.079
11. 7 Justin T. Carroll- 16.113
12. 02 CE Falk III- 16.132
13. 92 Casey Wyatt- 16.139
14. 97 Greg Edwards- 16.152
15. 8 Tyler Hughes- 16.221
16. 36 Chris Johnson- 16.234
17. 01 Philip Morris- 16.238
18. 90 Terry Carroll- 16.242
19. 91 Justin S. Carroll- 16.270
20. 22c Grayson Cullather- 16.302
21. 8s Thomas Scott- 16.368
22. 19 Cameron Bowen- 16.388
23. 26e Danny Edwards- 16.393
24. 50 Garrett Bunch- 16.402
25. 88 Thomas Marks- 16.417
26. 12t Austin Thaxton- 16.429
27. 25 Craig Eastep- 16.431
28. 9 Rodney Boyd- 16.550
29. 4 Tim Phipps- 16.560
30. 4s Duane Shreeves- 16.566
31. 10 Maddy Ryan Mulligan- 16.933
