Things are heating up in Virginia.
The southeastern stars of Late Model Stock Car racing will gather at Langley Speedway this Saturday (July 20) for the 16th Annual Hampton Heat. The 200-lap test around one of the toughest tracks in the region serves as the second leg of the Virginia Triple Crown.
June’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway gave us an early look at the battle for the Triple Crown in 2024. While some big names are in prime position, others are left with a hole to dig out of at Langley before the Triple Crown wraps up at Martinsville Speedway in September.
With a tickets already sold out and 38 cars on the entry list, including some big names, this is officially the biggest installment of the Late Model crown jewel to date.
Here are the names you should be watching during ‘America’s Hottest Race.’
The Hometown Superstars
The two odds-on favorites to win Hampton Heat just happen to be two of Langley’s own, Connor Hall and Brenden Queen. The two have dominated Langley over the past few years, winning nearly everything there is to win at the Hampton oval.
Hailing from Chesapeake, Va., Queen is a two-time and defending winner of the 200-lap showcase event, having scored his first victory in 2020 and triumphing again in 2023.
In addition to Hampton Heat success, Queen picked up his first career zMAX CARS Tour win in his second series start at Langley back in 2022. He also claimed three-consecutive track championships from 2020-2022.
Hall also has a Hampton Heat trophy to his name, having won the event back in 2019. The CARS Tour points leader ran second to Queen a year ago. He’ll look to even the score in 2024.
Hall has enjoyed great amounts of success outside of Hampton Heat at Langley, much like Queen above. He’s won the past two CARS Tour races at Langley and is the defending track champion.
Hall won a whopping 14 races at the track in 2023 on his way to the NASCAR Advanced Auto Parts Weekly Series National Championship.
After winning at South Boston, Hall sits atop the Triple Crown Standings with an average finish of 1.0, while Queen struggled and now sits with an 8.0 and work to do this Saturday night.
Both drivers grew up in the area and call Langley their home track, but the pair receive vastly different reactions from the Langley crowd. Queen serves as the hero and is given adulation, while Hall is the villain and could be subject to a…
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