Brenden Queen is the king of Langley Speedway again, at least for a night.
Queen, the Late Model champion at Langley Speedway the past three seasons, defeated Connor Hall at the track for the first time in 2023 Saturday in winning the 15th annual Hampton Heat 200. Queen joins three-time winner C.E. Falk as only the second driver to win the Heat more than once.
In doing so, the Chesapeake driver broke an 11-race victory streak this season by Hall, who has won 10 consecutive Langley 50-lap Late Models. Hall also beat Queen in June in the CARS Tour race, arguably the second-biggest race at the track after the Heat.
But, for once in 2023, Queen had the better machine. Taking advantage of an unexpected 59-lap green-flag run to finish the 200-lapper, Queen passed Bobby McCarty for the lead on on lap 148.
Hall passed McCarty for second place a lap later and moved up to the bumper of Queen. But Queen, driving a Lee Pulliam Performance Toyota, fought back a couple of pass attempts, assumed complete control by lap 170 and won by almost 9/10ths-of-a second.
“It’s funny how the world works (because) this is the car I knocked out of the way to win (the Hampton Heat) in 2020,” said Queen, who nudged Pulliam driver Corey Heim out of the way to win that race. “To come back and drive it for Lee and get the win he was close to getting that year is a story you can’t make up.”
Pulliam said, “All week Brenden has been telling me, ‘I owe you a Hampton Heat and I’m going to win it for you.’ “
McCarty, who won the Heat in 2017, finished third, with Brandon Pierce fourth and Sam Yarbrough fifth, followed by Nick Smith. McCarty won the pole, but other than showing his speed, it didn’t mean much.
Because drivers were required (barring a flat) to finish on the tires they started with, McCarty — like all of the top contenders — rode the first 100 laps to save his tires for the second 100. Lap times, even among the leaders, were routinely more than two seconds slower than their qualifying laps.
Nick Smith, who won the inaugural Heat in 2008, was an exception to the coasting as he led the final 77 laps to the halfway point. Fellow Langley Speedway veterans Matt Waltz, Woody Howard (the 2009 winner) and Casey Wyatt were in the 2-3-4 spots at the break.
The favorites were close behind, with McCarty fifth, Carson Kvapil seventh, Hall ninth, Queen 10th and Greg Edwards 13th. Kvapil made the most impressive move, from his 21st starting position, but faded to a 12th-place finish after developing power-steering problems early in the second 100 laps.
Waltz moved quickly into the lead to start the second half, but McCarty, then Queen and then Hall soon displayed their superiority. Hall said his car got too loose and did not have the right motor package to carry him to a second Heat victory.
“We’ll just put this one in the notebook and go after ’em next time,” Hall said.
Other races
Tyler Hughes won the Legends 25 for his first victory of the season as Cody Carlton finished second and division points leader Tommy Jackson was third.
Landon Abbott’s victory in the Super Street 40 was his third of the season, a total that ties him with Sammy Gaita, who finished second to move into the division points lead. Jimmy Adkins, previous points leader Gordon Weeks and Danny Harrell rounded out the top five.
Hayden Sheldon won the UCAR 25, his third victory of the season, to remain on top of the division points standings. Christian Keller was second and Charlie Bryant, second to Sheldon in the points, was third.
Saturday’s leaders in Hampton (car numbers in parentheses).
Late Model-Hampton Heat 200: (30 starters); 1. (03) Brenden Queen; 2. (77) Connor Hall; 3. (6) Bobby McCarty; 4. (2p) Brandon Pierce; 5. (95) Sam Yarbrough.
Legends 25: (16 starters); 1. (8h) Tyler Hughes; 2. (11) Cody Carlton; 3. (87) Tommy Jackson; 4. (4) Alek Andrecs; 5. (17) Devon Courtney.
Super Street 40: (17 starters); 1. (70) Landon Abbott; 2. (21) Sammy Gaita; 3. (71) Jimmy Adkins; 4. (20) Gordon Weeks III; 5. (95) Danny Harrell.
UCAR 25: (10 starters); 1. (13) Hayden Sheldon; 2. (6) Christian Keller; 3. (88) Charlie Bryant; 4. (36) Tyler Borden; 5. (99) Crystal West.
