Tyler Hughes fought his way through the field and passed Greg Edwards late in the second of two Late Model features at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia to score the victory – his second career Late Model Stock Car victory.
Hughes’ win was special for his entire team after the adversity they fought through to get there after being involved in an accident three weeks earlier, having to rebuild the car and making contact with the wall again in the first of the two races. Hughes raced his way from the 11th starting position, taking the lead from Edwards on lap 45 on the outside lane and holding him off for the final 20 circuts.
“Greg’s a tough guy to beat,” Hughes said after the race. “He is so fast. To be able to beat him tonight was just incredible. I knew we had a strong car on the top side from running through the back. I had to try. I knew I wasn’t going to beat him on the bottom. I knew I wasn’t going to pass him. I knew it was going to be really tough so we got up on the top side and ran as hard as we could.
“I got a good restart and we were able to clear him. I just kept giving him the bottom. I kept feeling nudges. I just kept running and we ended up with a victory and I couldn’t be more proud of this crew.”
Mark Wertz won the first of the two races but he also played a role in Hughes’ victory. After Hughes’ track bar broke in the first race, Wertz allowed the G2 Racing team to use a track bar so Hughes could compete in the second race.
“Can’t thank Mark Wertz enough to lend us a track bar and get back out on the racetrack and get after it again,” Hughes remarked. “When they got the rear steering right, I had enough faith in my crew that they got the car right to drive through the field and win the thing and it was just an awesome race overall.”
While this is the second of what is likely to be many more Late Model Stock Car wins to come, Hughes is no stranger to victory lane. He won 17 INEX Legends races at four different tracks with the bulk of those wins occurring at Old Dominion Speedway (Virginia), where he also scored his first Late Model win, and Shenandoah Speedway (Virginia).
The victory was, however, a first for car owner Paul Green. Green is a racer himself who raced at Old Dominion Speedway for several years prior to that track’s closure. Green was ecstatic about seeing Hughes score a victory driving in one of his Late Models and was even more satisfied when considering the adversity the G2 Racing team has fought over the past few weeks.
“I’m absolutely thrilled,” Green said about winning as a car owner. “I could not be happier … I’m super proud of Tyler and the entire time. We had to overcome a lot of adversity from when we lost the front clip there three weeks ago. I think Tyler is truly one of those guys that is a phenom. He is a true talent and I think this is one of the first times that people are going to have the chance to see just how good he is.”
RACE22.com’s Mark Rogers, Jr. contributed to this report.
