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Resurgent Langley Speedway Creating New “Good Old Days”

By Paul Schaefer, NASCAR
July 23, 2009 - 8:41am

The “good old days” for a new generation of drivers appears to be happening now at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va. The 59-year-old facility has seen the ebbs and flows of lean times and boom times, and managed to survive and flourish.

For 35 years, writer Al Pearce covered the .395-mile paved Langley Speedway for the Newport News, Va.-based Daily News until his retirement from the paper in recent years. He is now a correspondent for AutoWeek magazine and does freelance work.

“The first race I covered for the Daily Press was in July of 1969 and stayed with until a few years ago,” Pearce said. “The NASCAR Late Model Sportsman division brought great drivers and huge crowds to the track. You really have to put Langley in the league of tracks at Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) and Hickory (N.C.) Speedway so far as historic significance.

“Harry Gant, Morgan Shepherd, Butch Lindley, Paul Radford, Ray Hendrick, Sonny Hutchins, Bill Dennis, Tommy Ellis, Sam Ard, Jimmy Hensley… Geoffrey Bodine got his first win in a non-Modified car at Langley driving a Late Model for Emmanuel Zervakis.

“When Joe Carver promoted the track (1973-1983) he held big national championship races and brought in Darrell Waltrip, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough and Buddy Baker over the years, and he drew a lot of people."

Pearce said he found the track to be a lively place during a recent race night visit.

“They had a terrific night,” Pearce said. “They had a near-capacity crowd and more than 20 Late Models. For $10 at the front gate, that’s a great bargain.

“The community has always supported Langley Speedway, too. We’ve had other sports and other sports leagues come and go. Langley Speedway has been the only constant sport on the peninsula,” Pearce said.

The city recently sponsored the “Hampton Heat” 200 at Langley Speedway. The event, held in 2008, 2009, and again next year, is part of the city’s 400th anniversary celebration.

“The city sponsors the race, helps promote it and advertises it,” Pearce said. “It’s turned into one of the biggest events of the year.”

The civic involvement is a two-way street.

“We want to be involved with our community. We want to be known for more than racing,” said Lisa Kincaid, the track’s marketing and sales director. “We have a great relationship with the City of Hampton Roads, and the Convention and Visitors Bureau. The track has a long history. A lot of our community leaders tell us about coming to the track when they were kids. That’s very special to us.”

Molly Ward, Mayor of the City of Hampton, Va., with Langley Speedway company President Bill Mullis during the Hampton Heat 200 July 11. The City of Hampton sponsored the event as part of its multi-year 400th anniversary celebration. (Bruce Albin/PicYerPhoto.fotki.com)

Lou Gotti is the track’s facility manager while former driver Bill Mullis serves as President of the corporation that operates the track.

“We’re just one big family,” Kincaid said of the track operators and the folks who work there. “We have weekly team meetings to discuss our last race and our next race.” 

The track has had a long journey after falling on hard times in the early 1970s.

Joe Carver was promoting the State Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tenn. when he received a call from a NASCAR official.

“Pete Keller, who was the competition director for the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman division, called me and said that Langley needed someone to run it,” Carver said. “We went to take a look, and my wife and I fell in love with the Tidewater area. But the track? It was horrible. It had a cinder-block office building with one desk, no phone and Stay Dry stored in it. The whole facility was rough.

“We started in October 1973, and we started building our numbers up. By 1977 we were really good.” Carver said. “The media – people like Al Pearce – believed what I was saying and believed I knew what I was talking about.

“We made qualifying a show, and we never closed the track when the big series came to Richmond. My feeling was that certain people wouldn’t go to Richmond, and I wanted our fans to know we would be there every week.

“We’d bring in big name drivers to race … Darrell Waltrip, Butch Lindley, Jack Ingram and Sonny Hutchins. That’s the beauty of those events. We’d offer a big purse, bring in some big names and established a rivalry our fans could latch on to. Once that caught on, it was great,” Carver said.

Carver also subscribes to the opinion that track announcers are part of every racing event’s entertainment. He once replaced an announcer with a raw rookie who had never called a race in his life. That 1970s era rookie, Joe Moore, is now co-anchor with Barney Hall for MRN Radio broadcasts of NASCAR racing, and host of the nationally-syndicated Raceline television program.

“I saw Joe standing over by the gate so I went over and asked him if he had ever done any announcing.

“He told me he didn’t know anything about announcing races. I told him to just tell the people what they’re seeing on the track.”

Moore caught on.

“I was at Langley that night because the radio station I worked for was doing a promotion for a supermarket at the track. I hadn’t announced a race before, but Joe asked me if I liked racing and I told him I loved it. So he told me I’d like announcing too, and that it paid $150 a night. I told him ‘I’m there!’ and started the next week."

“He absolutely helped us promote the track and make it fan friendly,” Carver said of Moore.

Joe Weatherly had been a star in the Cup Series, and he was from Norfolk,” Carver said. “We had a big race and called it the Joe Weatherly 300. That type of promotion helped us establish big events. We got more fans and more drivers to come to the track.”

Carver operated the facility for 10 years before moving back to the fairgrounds track in Nashville.

Today, Carver is still in racing, at JKS Motorsports in Welcome, N.C. The company keeps 29 show-cars in circulation for Sprint, Nationwide, NAPA, UPS and many others.

Carver’s 10-year stand at Langley was a rescue and revitalization of the track, according to Pearce.

Years later, Wayne Wyatt promoted the track from 1995 through 2002, and then sold out his shares in 2005.

What Carver did for the atmosphere of Langley, Wyatt did for the facility. Wyatt had his work cut out for him. The track had again fallen into disrepair.

In 1995, Wyatt tore down the old track guard rail and erected a concrete wall. The following year, he repaved the track and improved the track lighting, sound system, concessions and restrooms. Finally, in 1997, Wyatt installed shiny new aluminum bleachers topped by skyboxes for corporate sponsors.

“I took over the track on January 1, 1995, and had 22 days to get ready fro our first event,” Wyatt said. “We scheduled an Enduro race on January 22,  just to prove we were there. Then we made a show out of tearing down the old guardrail so everyone knew change was coming to the facility.

“It was time to upgrade, and since then, Langley has been mentioned as one of the top five tracks in the country.”

The significant investments Wyatt made were backed by a solid business plan.

“By 1998, the track’s revenue had tripled and we have seven sellouts for regular shows.”

As a youngster, Wyatt actually worked for Carver, operating the track's then-manual scoreboard.

“I was sneaking into the races every week at the time and I asked about working on the scoreboard. I did the scoreboard for two years. I got a bird’s eye view of the races and got paid for it, too.

“Joe Carver is a legendary short track promoter,” Wyatt said. “Joe brought old time promotion back to Langley, and he loved promoting those rivalries. He kept the track in the public eye.”

Wyatt is now owner/operator of Wyatt Homes, Inc., which constructs homes and commercial structures. He also writes a column for Late Model Racer.

Wyatt said he learned more about promoting a race track after his time at Langley concluded.

“I think I should have delegated more and let good people do their jobs,” Wyatt confesses. “I wasn’t a micro-manager, but I had to be involved with everything going on at the track. There are always areas that can be improved. We learn from our mistakes.”

Driver CE Falk III has found success driving with Langley legend Phil Warren as his crew chief. (Bill Carr/MotorSports Photo News Service)

Phil Warren, Langley Speedway Synonymous

One can’t think of Langley Speedway without thinking of Phil Warren, and vice versa. The steady, soft spoken veteran has won seven Langley NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model division track championships and won a series regional championship in 1995. He has an estimated 100 Langley Late Model feature wins.

Warren, 51, of Norfolk, Va., points out that he is not retired from racing. In fact, he’s behind the wheel of a Late Model at Langley Speedway every week, just not on Saturday nights.

An ultimate compliment, Warren is referred to by fans and local media as “the Dale Earnhardt of Langley Speedway.” His seven championships are a reference point, and sometimes so is being a man of few words.

Warren joined E.F. Motorsports, Inc. in 2007 as crew chief/car chief for driver C.E. Falk III, 21, of Norfolk, Va. Warren joining the team to help mentor Falk created a potent combination. Falk won five of the first nine NASCAR Late Model feature races of the season at Langley, and is the track championship points leader.

“I haven’t raced in a while, but I haven’t quit,” Warren said. “Working with C.E. lets me do something I love, and I enjoy it,” Warren said. And with Falk attending the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Warren pilots the No. 40 Towne Bank/Horse Power Tee Shot Tour Chevy Impala SS in weekly practice sessions.

Warren isn’t taking Falk’s points lead for granted.

“It would be nice if we could make that happen,” Warren said when asked about Falk’s chances to compete for the title. “We have to stay competitive and stay out of wrecks. The competition level at Langley is pretty stiff. One bad week and it can all change.”

Warren said Langley’s flat configuration makes it difficult on drivers.

“People come here for the first time and struggle,” Warren said. “You have to have a slow entry into the corner and less throttle on the straightaway. And you have to have a good handling car. You have to drive the car with your foot and your brain, and make them work together.”

Warren’s expertise is always sought out. For a special race at a Richmond-area short track, guest drivers were Joey Logano, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Warren was asked to crew Logano’s car. Busch won the race and Logano finished sixth in the 28-car, 175-lap event.

Fans across the nation react to Busch, something Warren pays attention to.

“It was unbelievable for me to win the regional championship in 1995. I didn’t understand getting booed. I didn’t do anything wrong, but I won about every week. Getting booed was tough to deal with at first. But as long as they’re making noise for you, I think you’re OK.”

The rear quarter panel shows the detail of the graphics on Shawn Balluzzo's 25th anniversary race car. (Photo courtesy Bruce Albin/PicYerPhotos.fotki.com)

Silver Season Times Two

Two drivers are celebrating their silver anniversary season of racing at Langley Speedway this year. Shawn Balluzzo, 53, of Hampton, Va., and Danny Edwards Jr., 42, of Poquoson, Va. Both drivers began their careers at Langley 25 years ago in 1984.

Balluzzo, who operates Signs And Graphics To Go, created a special graphic scheme for his Late Model this year. The graphic “wrap” of Balluzzo’s race car includes 137 pictures of Balluzzo and his race cars over the past 25 years. From the start of scanning photos to applying the wrap to the race car took 110 hours, but the result is a truly historic race car.

“Everybody loves it,” Balluzzo says of the reaction to his car’s graphics. “People say it’s really cool. They’ll look at the different pictures of cars I’ve driven and say they remember some of the cars. There’s a picture from my first Late Model feature win, and there’s one from winning the Modified division championship” which he won twice.

The graphic package on the car also includes a Mighty Mouse character.

“I have him on the car because (1992 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion) Alan Kulwicki had one on his car. He had a small team, but it was strong. He was a ‘little guy’ independent racer and so am I.”

Balluzzo was able to get a coveted Late Model feature win during his anniversary season in July. The victory snapped a string of second-place finishes that dated back to 2008.

“That was the best win except for the first win,” Balluzzo said.

In late July, Balluzzo was eighth in the Late Model track points and leading the Modified standings.

Crewmen for the team include crew chief David Oshman and teammates Gary Fletcher, Mark Roberts, Gene Nichols and Justin Posey.

Associate sponsors on his No. 48 Standard Welding Chevrolet include Tidewater DJ’s, Wayne Wyatt Homes and Branscome Concrete.

Edwards is a five-time Langley Late Model division track champion and 1999 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series regional champion. He has an estimated win feature total that approaches 100. He drives the No. 26 Danny’s Glass Chevrolet.

Edwards started racing AMA motocross at a young age, then started hanging out at Langley Speedway on Saturday nights. His dad, Danny Sr., sponsored cars through his Danny’s Glass company.

“I drove a Street Stock for the first time when I was 16 or 17, and I liked it,” Edwards Jr. said. “I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

Edwards also made 10 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts on a limited budget between 1995 and 1997. He had a best qualifying effort of fourth and best race finish of 15th.

“Langley is my home track and I’ve run here my whole career,” Edwards said. “It can take someone new to the track a while to get it figured out. It’s a different type of track.

“The car setup … the chassis setup are key. People struggle because it’s flat. The hard part is getting the car to go fast. You have to pay attention to detail.”

Greg Edwards is interviewed by Ron Kitchen after winning the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model feature at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., June 20. (Photo courtesy Bruce Albin/PicYerPhotos.fotki.com) 

Today’s Best

In addition to Shawn Balluzzo and Danny Edwards Jr., there are plenty of other stars of today at Langley Speedway. Among them, two-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series regional champion Mark Wertz of Virginia Beach, Va., and three-time track champion Greg Edwards of Poquoson, Va., brother of Danny. With Phil Warren’s backing, C.E. Falk has won six feature events so far this season; Danny Edwards Jr. has won twice while Greg Edwards and Woody Howard have won one feature each.

Elton Sawyer, Favorite Son

Joining Phil Warren as a “favorite son” of Langley Speedway is Elton Sawyer.

They share a personal sensibility that helps keep them connected to Langley Speedway: neither has officially retired from driving. Each believed they still have a ‘next race’ on the track they grew up at.

Today Sawyer, 49, of Chesapeake, Va., is the Director of Competition for Team Red Bull and drivers Brian Vickers and Scott Speed.

But in the mid-1980s, he was one of the hot shoes in Virginia NASCAR Late Model racing. He won several Virginia NASCAR Late Model track championships, and won two NASCAR Whelen All-American Series regional championships back-to-back in 1984 and 1985.

When asked what makes Langley Speedway so special to him, Sawyer paused and drew a deep breath.

“It’s a very special place. It defines the foundation of everything I’ve done my whole life. That’s my racing ‘college’ right there,” Sawyer said.

“Dad took me to Langley in 1977, and if you were writing a book of my life, that’s where it starts. In 1978 I worked on his Street Stock and ran a couple of races. I was a senior in high school, and I was still in high school baseball and thinking about racing.

“I met good people. Joe Carver was running the track, and Al Pearce was working for the Daily Press. Al took me and my crew chief, Jamie Jones (today Circle Bar Racing crew chief for rookie driver James Buescher in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series) to Daytona for the first time that summer. It was the Firecracker 400 on July 4, 1984. I remember we picked up Al’s mom’s car in Rocky Mount, Va., because he didn’t think his car could make it. My first introduction to Daytona International Speedway was seeing The King (Richard Petty) win his 200th race.

“When I was racing Late Models, the big guys were Jeff and Ward Burton, Hermie Sadler, David Blankenship and Wayne Patterson. The Grubb kids were just coming up. Danny Hamlin through came after us.”

Sawyer went on to become a big name in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition where he enjoyed a 20-year career between 1983 and 2003. He made 392 starts that generated two wins (Myrtle Beach, S.C., 1994 and Loudon, N.H., 1999), two poles, 51 top fives and 131 top-10s. His best series point finish was fifth, three times (1998, 1999 and 2001)

While he was running a limited schedule 1991-1993, he was working as a mechanic for Bill Davis Racing and its development driver Jeff Gordon in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

As for Sawyer’s driving career, sponsorship didn’t develop for the 2003 season, which put him on the sidelines. Not content to ride the bench, he laid the foundation for the next part of his career. He worked with Ray Evernham on the reintroduction of Dodge to NASCAR racing through research and development. That was Sawyer’s introduction to team management.

With proven records of performance on and off the track, Sawyer was tabbed as the director of competition for the Red Bull Racing Team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2006. Jay Frye is the team’s general manager and vice president. John Probst is the team’s technical director and Joe Hoffman is the manufacturing director.

Yet even with a two-car NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team on the fast track to greater success, Sawyer bares witness to his Langley heritage.

“Winston (then weekly series sponsor) gave us these two huge trophies for winning the regional championships, and those two trophies are in my office. The money was nice, but I still have the special Bell track champion’s helmets, too.

“Joe Carver used to give his Langley Speedway Late Model Stock Car champions a silver Rolex watch. I still wear that watch every day.”

As for retiring from being a race car driver?

“I turn 50 this year. Sometime between 50 and 60 years old, I’d like to go run one more Late Model race at Langley. After that, I can say as a driver, I’ve retired.”

Duke Osborne, 87, is the Senior Pit Steward at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va. He's been a track NASCAR official for 46 years.

Duke Has Seen It All

One person has witnessed the evolution of Langley Speedway, the generations of drivers and changes in track leadership: Duke Osborne.

Osborne, 87, first attended the track in 1963 and has been there through the decades to account for 46 years of the track’s 59 years, and more than half his life. The track still has its dirt surface when Duke first attended.

“When I started going to the track, there were fights all the time and it wasn’t very nice,” Osborne said. “But I enjoyed the racing and wanted to be part of it. Today I think it’s the best speedway on the east coast.”

Today, Osborne is listed on the track’s website as a pit steward, and his post is in the technical inspection area which he secures. He’s sold and stubbed tickets, manned the back gate, sold pit passes and flagged races. He also designed the facility’s infield go-cart track.

“You name it, I’ve done it,” Osborne says, adding that his late wife, Vera, was always working at the track, too.

Having a career that touches five decades, Osborne is certain the track’s best era is the one currently underway.

“I don’t have a bad word about anybody, but I think this is one of the greatest times for Langley Speedway,” Osborne said. “Lou Gotti and Bill Mullis, I’d work for them any place, any time for nothing.

“Lou is the best. I like him. He treats me like a man. And Bill is one great guy, too. They’ve put together the finest group of officials I’ve ever seen at the track.

“Langley Speedway is a beautiful place, and it has the people to back it up.”

Announcer Moore’s First Race Night

Joe Moore, 57, of Chesapeake, Va., has been with MRN Radio for more than 25 years, was once a trade paper publisher and also hosts the nationally-syndicated Raceline television program.

It is a NASCAR racing career that was born at Langley Speedway in the mid-1970s.

Moore, hired by track operator Joe Carver to do his Saturday night announcing at Langley, had a memorable and frantic first race night.

At the time, Moore worked overnights at a local radio station, morphing into the morning news man at 6 a.m. He also made extra money working as a DJ for private parties and events.

He was “double-booked” for his first night as Langley Speedway’s track announcer.

“I was booked to DJ at a country club for my (radio station) boss’s wife, and my boss wouldn’t let me out of that commitment. I was in a pickle.

“I trained someone else how to DJ. They started DJing the party for me. I thought the races would be over by 10 p.m. and then I would come back and pick up the gig.

“As things went back then, two drivers got into a fight and the races didn’t get over until 12:30 a.m. When I got to the party, my substitute had broken two needles on the record player and played the wrong kind of music. My boss was pretty mad at me.

“But I had really enjoyed my first night as Langley’s announcer. I thought to myself ‘this is exactly want I want to do.’”

Moore eventually picked up track announcing jobs on Fridays and Sundays, so he was working three tracks every weekend. Later, he met Steve Lowery, who served as scorer for one of the tracks. Eventually, the duo worked all three tracks together. Later, they went into the publishing business, producing Raceway News, a weekly trade paper that at its peak had 20,000 readers. Today, Lowery is NASCAR’s chief scorer.

Carver knew he had a great track announcer, and wanted Moore to have a chance to try out for MRN Radio. Moore’s chance to audition came during Daytona Speedweeks in 1981.

But Moore had no way to get to Daytona. But he did have an idea who to ask.

“I knew Al Pearce would be going to Daytona to cover Speedweeks for the Daily Press, so I asked him for a ride. The day we left, he picked me up at the radio station, so I made it to Daytona.”

Moore auditioned by announcing a non-broadcast event, a NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series race.

“I struggled through that, and when I was done, I thought I’d never hear from them again.

But Moore did get a call from MRN’s Mike Joy to report to North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, N.C., to work as a turn announcer for half a race. Due to a race accident, Moore didn’t get on the air that day. But two weeks later he worked a full race as turn announcer for the network’s Darlington race broadcast.