Monthly Archives: September 2014

Langley Speedway Crowns Six More Track Champions

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Hampton, VA – Langley Speedway officially closed out the 2014 season this past weekend with another eight division night. Champions were crowned in each division including the Enduro division which we did not cover. I have split these recaps again due to the fact there was so much going on throughout the day. It was a bitter-sweet moment when the final checkered flag waved knowing the season is official over.

Karts:

Just like that the final 20 laps of the season for the Rhonda Clairborne Pro Wing Karts. Matt Leach was able to jump into the lead spot off of turn four coming to the checkered flag with a big push from Ryan Hudgins. The race would go caution free but not incident free as we had just one solo spin, his kart would remain under power and able to pull away.

It was very surprising how calm this race was given the fact these karts rely on the draft much like a super speedway in the cup series. The top nine cars ended up pulling away from Amanda Frye who was stuck in limbo pretty much – can’t catch the lead pack and has to wait for the karts behind her.

It was pretty much “smooth” sailing for the rest of the way, minus the one kart spin and the mix up in the back of the pack.

Even though Charlie-Ray Lorah came across the stripe in the third position it was enough to lock up his second Pro Wing champ kart title here at Langley Speedway.

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LIVE: Langley Speedway

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It is that time race fans! We have made it to Langley Speedway for tonight’s races. We are in the middle of Qualifying for all of the support divisions. I will work on getting at least top fives for you.

We will be providing both laps this evening for the Modified’s on our Twitter account.

Speaking of which, head over to The Weekly Racer for LIVE updates from the Grandstock, Pro Six, UCAR, and Modified divisions tonight.

BREAKING: Langley Speedway Modified Points Leader To Pilot Different Car

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Hampton, VA – BREAKING NEWS!  Just got word that Langley Speedway points leader, Shawn Balluzzo will be driving a completely different car this evening in hopes of a record tying seventh division title at the speedway. We were at open practice Thursday evening when the motor on the 48 machine decided it was done for the season, just two days prior to literally and figuratively the biggest race of Balluzzo’s season. The modifieds are set to take the track this evening in a 75 lap “Main Event” so to speak as only 18 points separate Balluzzo from Danny Harrell. It has already been confirmed that 20 modifieds have signed in earlier this morning so the start and park, or present and park idea is well out of the question. Balluzzo has 18 spots on the track as a cushion tonight (Langley awards 26 points for the winner and subtracts one point per position under the leader), but not running the race would be to risky if Harrell were able to pull off a win.

Maryland native and newcomer to the speedway this year (well maybe not to the speedway but new to me) Wayne Hartley has offered his ride to Balluzzo for the evening. Hartley who has been on a steady rise this season, and I honestly mean that, each week the guy gets better and better, befriended Balluzzo earlier this season. Balluzzo being the type of guy he is, has helped Hartley over the season with tips and tricks so to say to help with the car. Maybe this action tonight is his way of saying thank you! The Mods will run second to last tonight so it will give both crews plenty of time to get the car where it needs to be.

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We will be on scene and providing LIVE coverage beginning at 4:30 PM this afternoon. Don’t forget race fans to help get through tonight’s eight race card, the green flag has been moved up to 6:00 PM tonight. Make sure you get to the track early, eight champions will be crowned tonight and you will not want to miss this.

Modified Driver Matt Carter Enters His Final Race Of 2014 Feeling Good

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ProfileDOB: May 05, 1981
Hometown: Newport News, VA
Home track: Langley Speedway
Occupation: Paint dept. Team Leader at Liebherr Mining Equipment

Sponsors: Performance Wraps, The Jagged Edge hair salon

 

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Everyone has that one moment in their life where the light bulb goes off and you know you want to get behind the wheel of a car. Back in the late 80’s to early 90’s my dad raced out there [Langley Speedway],” Carter said. “He raced the all American division as well as the Grandstocks, that was what done it in for me!”  Matt got bit by the bug so hard even you could catch him in the garage working on the car as much as he could even before school started. It was inevitable, Carter loved everything there was about racing, he knew that one day he would be racing something.

In 2006 you could find Matt working with along side Paul DeBolt on his #34 Late Model. Carter spent a lot of time learning the ends and outs of how different set ups worked on the cars. “Paul taught me a great amount about setups on a race car,” explained Carter. “Back in that time the big bar soft spring setups were pretty new to everyone. Working with Paul helped me understand and have some knowledge on how these setups worked.” It was the following year when Matt finally got to scratch the itch. Langley Speedway introduced what would end up being called the Wolfpack trucks, very limited rules on what you were allowed to run, their main focus was safety.

Matt told himself he was going to get an old Craftsman Truck, build her up, and run her at Langley so thats what he did. Practically buying himself a race ready truck he took it back to the shop and worked some magic on the motor and took it to the track. “Basically my first ever race car was a 700 HP craftsmen truck at Langley Speedway,” Said Carter. “I learned a lot of throttle control from the experience. At the end of the year the motor blew up and just didn’t have the money to fix it at the time so I ended up selling it.

During our conversation I had to ask Matt his thoughts on why he decided to go race in the modified division, was it a cheaper car, better racing, what drove him into that series and this is what he had to say.

“It was the rules. I’m a diehard ford guy. Ford doesn’t really make a good car for the Super Streets or the grandstocks so I decided to go Mod racing. Went out and found an older mod that had some potential, Got a ford motor built for it and go to stick it in and realized why you didn’t see any fords out there, Ford motors are wide up top and require more room for the headers. I had to change quite a bit to the car to make it work. Only ran the car twice the first year I had it because of the lack of money and sponsors.”

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Langley Speedway Set To Wrap Up A Stellar Year

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Newport News, VA –Even though the Late Models have wrapped their season up at Langley, that does not mean we are finished. Eight divisions (Modifieds, Grandstocks, Super Trucks, Super Street, UCAR, Karts, Pro Six, Enduro) are lined up and ready to go, remember though racing is scheduled to get under way at 6:00 PM to help the night flow. The speedway will be crowing champions in all of these divisions as they complete their final race of the season. Some title races are locked up, other not so much. Some are set to make history, while some will be their first!

There are a few names that stick out, and linger around the grounds of Langley Speedways rich history in the Hampton Roads area, one of those names is Phil Warren. Warren was a Late Model stock guru pretty much at Langley Speedway winning 7 track championship, the most by any one driver in the tracks 65 year history. Well folks, it is with great honor to tell you, this record could be tied Saturday night.

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Weekend Sweeps Lands Greg Edwards Fourth Late Model Title

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Hampton, VA – I will tell you one thing, if you are a race fan and were not at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia this weekend you better have one damn good reason. There were so many divisions running (8 divisions), I felt the need to split up the recaps to help with the reading (Eight Divisions Invade Langley Speedway For Two Part Championship Weekend). Among those divisions were a slightly altered Late Model division who originally was set to close the season out on a 125-lap feature was split into two 75-lap events. Maybe it was done to help spice up the points race, maybe it was to provide the Langley drivers with a little bit additional national points before NASCAR closed up, well actually it was more so to make up the twin race that was cancelled the weekend before hand.

Greg Edwards came into the weekend holding onto a sixteen-point lead. A lead that Matt Waltz had been aggressively hacking away at since running into issues during the annual Hampton Heat 200. Edwards and his crew had already known what needed to be done to wrap up that fourth championship; finishes six place or better in a race where Matt Waltz wins and the championship is ours by one point. When we talked to Edwards last week after the ran out he said, “I’m going for the wins but at the same time just try not to get myself into any bad situations,” and for the win he went. Edwards piloted that 97.3 The Eagle machine onto the pole in qualifying with a time of 16.034, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen would start to his outside with the best qualifying run of his career so far.

Once the field had received the green from flagman Shane Snyder it did not take long for Edwards to clear Queen as well as for Matt Waltz to start working the high line. Things started t get warm quickly for that second through fourth spot on the track, Waltz had worked to the outside of Nick Smith who was all but hood deep into the bumper of Queen. Things would settle down and these guys would start racing and by lap thirteen the leader had already built a ten-car advantage of second place.

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The Weekly Racer Partnering Up With Race22 For The MDCU 300

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Newport News, VA – Today marks the day Late Model teams around the area are able to hit the pavement in Martinsville in preparation for the MDCU 300 that will be run October 5th, 2014. For the second time this year, Race22.com & The Weekly Racer will be teaming up to help bring you the best coverage within the Five Star Bodies RACEDAY LIVE presented by MPM application.

If you guys remember the two websites partnered up back in July to bring you fans some of the best LIVE coverage of Langley Speedway’s most prized race of the year, the Hampton Heat 200. Race22.com a website created in 2007 to bring some of the best Late Model racing to light from the South East region has reached out to me again to help with coverage of the largest Late Model race in the region.

Again I am extremely excited to be partnering with Race22 in a situation like this. Race22 will be your home for all things MDCU related from coverage of todays test session, to practice and qualifying all day Saturday, and all the way into the evening of the race. I will be up in the media booth all day Sunday bringing you LIVE coverage throughout the race.

I will also work on providing important information on our Twitter feed (@theweeklyracer).  Make sure to tune into Race22’s Martinsville Coverage to keep updated on testing, driver interviews, and other important information leading up to the day of the event

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